Florida Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

When an employee brings a claim for unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the employee must prove that he or she worked overtime without proper compensation. If the employer kept accurate records of the employee’s work hours, the employee could easily prove his or her case by referring to those records. For…

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that all employers covered by the FLSA pay their employees overtime wages for hours worked over 40 hours per workweek. Generally, “overtime” wages are 1.5 times the regular wage. The FLSA, however, identifies several classes of employees who are exempt from the overtime provision. One such class of…

Because arbitration usually is cheaper and faster than litigation, employers often include arbitration agreements in their employment contracts. However, courts do not always enforce arbitration agreements. Although federal law favors arbitration, state and federal courts may find an arbitration agreement unenforceable for several reasons. One such reason is when the arbitration agreement contains a provision…

Under Florida law, non-competition covenants are generally enforceable if they protect one or more legitimate business interest. However, certain acts by the employer could defeat the enforceability of the non-competition covenant. Under contract law, a party’s material breach of a contract will render the entire contract unenforceable against the other party. In other words, if…

Before drafting a will, the testator, i.e., the person who owns the assets that will be distributed after his or her death, must fully understand any restriction placed on the alienation of his or her assets. A testator might erroneously believe he or she has the power to devise an asset as he or she…

The right to testamentary disposition of property is a right protected by the Florida Constitution. To be valid under Florida law, a will must satisfy certain formalities: the will must be (1) in writing, (2) signed by the testator at the end of the will (or at the direction and presence of the testator), and…

Parties to contracts with non-competition covenants should take note of the effects that a stock purchase, merger, or asset purchase has on the enforceability of those non-competition covenants. A company’s ability to enforce a non-competition covenant can be determined by several factors including how the non-competition covenant was acquired by the company seeking to enforce…

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…