Distinguishing between a franchise relationship and an agency relationship can be difficult in a jury trial. A jury deciding may need to understand the difference between them in business litigation. The two relationships are distinguishable. In a franchise relationship, the franchisor and franchisee are separate businesses. The franchisor licenses its business’ trademark(s) and operating system…
Continue reading ›Parties who seek the forensic examination of a personal electronic device (like a computer, tablet or mobile phone) during business litigation need to address the other party’s privacy concerns. A forensic image, otherwise known as a “mirror image” will “replicate bit for bit sector for sector, all allocated and unallocated space, including slack space, on…
Continue reading ›When the wording of a contractual provision is confusing or ambiguous, courts must interpret the contract in a rational manner. Some examples of vague contractual provisions include, “during business hours” and time frames with no clear anchor date, i.e. “within six months of commencement.” The courts generally agree that where one interpretation of a contract…
Continue reading ›Court appointment of a provisional director to a corporate entity is a remedy that recently became available in business litigation. Where corporate deadlock exists, a court has discretion to appoint a provisional director to a corporate entity “if it appears that such action by the court will remedy a situation in which the directors are…
Continue reading ›An exculpatory clause is a contract provision that is often raised in business litigation. The purpose of an exculpatory clause is to relieve one party of liability if damages are caused during the execution of the contract. Exculpatory clauses are enforceable only where and to the extent that the intention to be relieved was made…
Continue reading ›Company websites often play a vital role in business litigation, both as a source of biographical and background information, as well as intellectual property disputes. Some lawsuits involve content that was displayed on the website at one point in time but is no longer available. A resourceful method of obtaining records of historical website content…
Continue reading ›Former employees who are accused of breaching their noncompete agreements with their former employer sometimes try to claim that the former employer engaged in illegal conduct, and thus, a noncompete agreement cannot be enforced. While there are certain types of unlawful conduct which a court may cite to justify the denial of request for a…
Continue reading ›Businesses have several available causes of action to claim when a competitor attempts to replicate the business’ appearance in advertising or its products. Trademark law, such as the Lanham Act, provides many remedies to a business which believes that a competitor is emulating the business and creates a “likelihood of confusion.” Consumer protection laws, like…
Continue reading ›Most contractual disputes involve parties that dispute the meaning of particular contract terms. Whether a party will prevail in a breach of contract case will often depend on the interpretation of terms or phrases within the contract. Peter Mavrick is a Miami business litigation lawyer, and also represents clients in business litigation in Fort Lauderdale,…
Continue reading ›Congress enacted the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) to supplement the state law trade secret protection available to aggrieved businesses. While the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act (FUTSA) and DTSA cover essentially identical conduct, the DTSA provides unique opportunities for plaintiffs to pursue their case in a federal forum and allows plaintiffs to seek an…
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