Florida Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

Another article discusses how a business can lawfully sue a competitor under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) when the competitor issues deceptive charges against its own customers. Several recent cases have explained that whether a charge is unlawfully deceptive is highly dependent on the exact language of the charge. Minor nuances…

Companies are fictional entities that can only act through their agents. So logically, if a company is bound by a non-compete agreement, then it may also be enforced against the company’s officers. In other words, if a signatory company’s officer opens up a new company for the purpose of competing in a way that violates…

Employees who are terminated because of their poor performance or conduct sometimes accuse their former employers of employment discrimination. Employment discrimination claims can be based on a variety of “protected categories,” such as race, national origin, sex, or age discrimination. Such claims are most commonly asserted under federal law (such as Title VII of the…

Florida businesses are responsible for the contractual obligations arising from agreements that the business authorized their employees to enter. In certain circumstances, however, a Florida business can be responsible for contractual obligations even when the employees lacked actual authority to agree to the contract. The legal doctrine of “apparent authority” can apply to make a…

Non-compete agreements are often drafted with broad provisions to prevent a business’s former employee from competing for its customers for a period of time. To be enforceable non-compete agreements must be based on a legitimate business interest, such as trade secrets, confidential information, and substantial customer relationships. However, a legitimate business interest must be harmed…

Florida businesses often enter into contracts that define the rights and responsibilities of the contracting parties. Each contracting party is presumed to understand the terms of the contracts that they agree to. Courts will generally enforce contracts as they are written; however, complications can arise when a party to a contract recognizes that he made…

Courts generally have discretion as to whether to grant an injunction to enforce a non-compete agreement. That discretion, however, does not allow courts to avoid enforcing a valid non-compete agreement which has been breached. Peter Mavrick is a Boca Raton non-compete attorney and business litigation attorney who has substantial experience with non-compete litigation, including injunction…

While the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA) aim to ensure that disabled people are given adequate accommodations for their disability, both statutes only protect persons who are, or are perceived as, “disabled” as defined under the ADA. Some terminated employees have sued their former employers under the ADA and…

Contracts often prohibit parties from changing the contract terms unless it is in writing and signed by the parties. The purpose of this clause is to establish proof that the parties agreed to the modification of the contract. Parties will often ignore or forget about these clauses. So, when parties appear to have modified the…

Prior material breach is a defense to a contractual claim when an employer breached an essential term of the contract. The effect of this defense against enforcement of the non-compete agreement is that the employee can be released from his or her obligations under the contract. Because sexual harassment is strongly prohibited by both Florida…