Florida Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

To protect trade secrets and other business interests, businesses often enter into non-competition contracts with employees. In Florida, the duration of non-competition covenants is subject to different “reasonableness” presumptions set forth by statute. Florida law distinguishes non-competition covenants that, on the one hand, are meant to protect trade secrets from those that, on the other…

The Mavrick Law Firm recently prevailed on behalf of an employer defending against a former employee’s claim for wages in Broward County state court. The Mavrick Law Firm proved at trial that, despite the employee’s claim for overtime and other wages, no wages were owed to the former employee.

Under Florida law, government records are often admissible both as business records and public records, but it is generally easier to obtain admission as a public record. An evidentiary proponent may easily authenticate public records by requesting the state supply the record under seal. It also is not necessary to show the state created the…

The use of computers in the workplace has become so pervasive that, whether or not employers officially permit personal use, such use has become the norm. Where “reasonable” personal use is allowed, the lines between excessive use and acceptable or normal use may not always be easy to draw. For example, Coleman v. Review Bd.…

Businesses enter into non-competition and confidentiality agreements with employees to protect trade secrets, which are usually in the form of specific practices, processes, designs, or a compilation of information. The agreements are designed to deter misappropriation of the trade secrets after the employment relationship has ended. The most frequent issue in non-competition or confidentiality agreement…

Is there a right to privacy in an employee’s personnel file? A recent Florida appellate court case Walker v. Rout, 2013 Fla.App. Lexis 6466 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013), analyzed this subject in depth. The court observed that personnel files undoubtedly contain private information. See, for example, Regan-Touhy v. Walgreen Co, 526 F.3d 641 (10th Cir.…

Trials in business disputes typically deal with documents such as correspondence, ledgers, contracts, and other business records. While those documents by themselves are often inadmissible hearsay, business trial attorneys usually get the documents into evidence via the “business records exception” to the rule against hearsay. The business record exception is based on the concept that…

In April 2013, the Mavrick Law Firm represented a victorious client in state court in Broward County, Florida. The case involved a lawsuit filed by a construction subcontractor against the general contractor in a commercial construction case. The Mavrick Law Firm successfully defended the general contractor at trial. The verdict was a complete defense verdict…

When a prospective employer contacts a potential employee’s former employer for a job reference, what liability does the former employer potentially face when responding? And is it prudent for a former employer to create potential liability issues by commenting on a former employee? Prior to 1990, employers had a common law qualified privilege to discuss…

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, interpreting the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) before its 2008 amendments, recently ruled in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 707 F.3d 437 (4th Cir. 2013), that an employee’s pregnancy does not justify a disability discrimination lawsuit. The ADA is a federal law that prohibits…