Noncompete Agreement Litigation Strategies
Leveraging Trial Techniques, Identifying Causes of Action, Preparing for Defense Theories and Counterclaims
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Employment and Workers Comp
- event Date
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE course will explore noncompete agreements and related disputes and litigation. The panel will provide a general discussion of noncompete agreements and other restrictive covenants, discuss developments in the courts and the legislature that impact such agreements, and offer strategic perspectives on how to address potential breaches in and out of the courts.
Mr. Boling represents domestic and international clients doing business in the US and around the world, especially in the areas of employment law counseling, litigation, compliance, internal investigations, and crisis counseling in emergency situations, including those arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. He counsels clients through all phases of the employment cycle, including hiring, restrictive covenants, disciplinary action, and leave management, and has substantial experience in successfully handling both large-scale reductions in force and high-profile individual employee separations.
With more than three dozen trials to verdict and over $90 million recovered in judgments and settlements in employment and whistleblower actions, Mr. Oswald is an accomplished trial lawyer in whistleblower retaliation, qui tam, wrongful discharge, discrimination, FMLA, USERRA, noncompete, and wage and overtime actions in federal and state courts. He is a frequent lecturer on employment law topics.
Mr. Schoenstein has 25 years of experience handling business and employment disputes, through trials and appeals, arbitration and mediation, and internal and external investigations. He has represented clients from individuals to large corporations and financial institutions, specializing in commercial and employment contracts, restrictive covenants and employee mobility, and employment discrimination claims defense, among others.
Employers often require employees to sign noncompete agreements or other restrictive covenants to safeguard their trade secrets, client lists, customer data, and business relationships. Noncompetes can include restrictions on employees engaging in their own business as well as becoming an employee of a competitor.
Although noncompetes have drawn increasing criticism, they can have legitimate and valid uses. For example, a former employee divulging closely guarded confidential information and/or trade secrets can cause millions of dollars in damage, and it is not surprising that many companies look for protection. For employees, however, noncompetes can be burdensome and overly restrictive on efforts to advance one's career. It is a delicate balance.
As the use of such provisions has proliferated, noncompete lawsuits also have increased over the years. They are among the most challenging for employers' counsel given the complexity, time sensitivity, and high dollars and risk involved. Variation in controlling legal standards only increases the difficulty for counsel.
Listen as our distinguished panel reviews best practices for pre-litigation, as well as trial strategies once litigation has commenced. The panel will provide counsel with an analysis of applicable causes of action and possible defense theories.
- The prevalence and form of noncompete agreements
- Noncompete litigation, trial tactics, and settlement
- Employee's anticipation of litigation
- Noncompete litigation: preparing for prosecution
- Employee's initial analysis: noncompete agreement pre-litigation concerns
- Employer's perspective: drafting enforceable agreements
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- The prevalence and form of noncompete agreements
- The employer's perspective and considerations in drafting enforceable noncompetes
- The employee's perspective and concerns regarding noncompetes
- Preparation for prosecuting breaches of noncompetes, viewed from both sides
- Noncompete litigation, trial tactics, and settlement strategy
- Strategies for using and enforcing restrictive covenants outside the United States
