Author Archives: PaulP

Greeting Card Giant Wins $30M-Plus Jury Verdict in Trade Secrets Case (8th Cir.)

In Hallmark Cards, Inc. v. Monitor Clipper Partners, LLC, 2014 WL 3408853 (8th Cir. 2014), the Eighth Circuit affirmed a $31.3M dollar jury verdict in favor of the greeting card giant against a private equity firm that used Hallmark’s confidential market research. Hallmark hired a consultant to research consumer behavior as it relates to greeting cards.  Hallmark had the …

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Non-Compete Signed 16 Years After Employment Start Date Is Too Late (To Be Enforced) – Says KY High Court

In prior articles, I’ve discussed how restrictive covenants (i.e., non-disclosure, non-solicitation and non-competition provisions) are staples of modern-day employment contracts and business sale agreements.  In Creech, Inc. v. Brown (http://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/supreme-court/2014/2012-sc-000651-dg.html) the Supreme Court of Kentucky struck down a non-competition provision in a hay supplier’s written contract the supplier made a long-time employee sign several years after he started working there. The …

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Serving The Corporate Defendant – An IL Case Note

(Photo credit: www.corbusimages.com) This case piqued my interest since I recently spent an obscene amount of time trying to serve a defendant in a commercial lease dispute.  It wasn’t until after my process server gave sworn testimony for nearly an hour at an evidentiary hearing that the court finally (and mercifully) put the service issue to bed and allowed …

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