Florida Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

Noncompete agreements sometimes designate the laws of other states to govern the parties’ contractual obligations, even if the agreement is made in Florida. This is known as a choice of law provision. When these choice-of-law provisions are valid and enforceable, they can have significant repercussions on the results of noncompete litigation. Peter Mavrick is a…

The Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) provides businesses with a civil cause of action against unscrupulous business practices. While FDUTPA has limitations, it is applicable in a wide variety of circumstances when a plaintiff can show that a defendant engaged in unfair or deceptive business practices against a consumer. Peter Mavrick is…

Florida employers who seek to protect their client lists from misappropriation by former employees will often need to show that the client list was a trade secret. This is important even when the former employee is subject to a non-compete agreement. This is because non-compete agreements cannot be enforced without a “legitimate business interest,” and…

Misappropriation of a trade secret can occur when there is an acquisition of another’s trade secret by improper means or through disclosure or use of a trade secret without consent by a person who used improper means to acquire the trade secret or knew that the trade secret was improperly acquired. Section 688.002, Florida Statutes.…

When a party appeals a court order before the conclusion of the case, the appellate court’s decision on the questions of law presented on appeal governs how the trial court decides those questions of law throughout all subsequent stages of the lawsuit. This concept is known as the “law of the case” doctrine. The law…

Companies often hire experienced sales and business development professionals to expand their business. A non-solicitation provision in an employment contract is intended to prevent post-termination solicitation of clients with whom the business has substantial relationships. When an employee brings clients to a company, it is important to distinguish whether the employee had a prior business…

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…

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…

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…

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…