Trade Secrets & Employee Mobility

Now on Spilling Secrets, our podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law:

Trade secret and non-compete litigation can result in massive damage awards, but those cases can also be unpredictable. Many viable trade secret claims go unexplored due to financial limitations or a lack of willingness to invest in litigation.

Attorney and Spilling Secrets host Erik W. Weibust and three special guests—Epstein Becker Green’s Managing Partner, James P. Flynn; Stephanie Southwick of Omni Bridgeway; and Mary Guzman of Crown Jewel Insurance—discuss the monetization of trade secrets litigation.

One of the most elusive forms of damage that a company may suffer when its trade secrets are misappropriated or its former employees breach their post-employment restrictive covenants is the loss of goodwill. When seeking money damages for lost goodwill, it is essential for businesses to carefully select their supporting evidence and legal arguments. One information technology service provider recently found out the hard way when the Virginia Supreme Court slashed its $14 million verdict by over $11 million based on the company's failure to present sufficient evidence of the value of its lost goodwill.

Florida law, specifically section 542.335, Florida statutes, which generally authorizes courts to enforce non-compete and other post-employment restrictive covenants if reasonable, leaves a number of issues unaddressed. Several of those issues are addressed in an opinion issued recently by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Proudfoot Consulting Co. v. Gordon (11th Cir., July 30, 2009). The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's injunction, but reversed the $1.66 million damages award to the former employer.