The plaintiff staffing firm lost big in Instant Technology, LLC v. DeFazio, 2014 WL 1759184 (N.D. IL 2014). The Northern District Court found for the defendants on the plaintiff’s non-compete counts (see prior post) as well as on its trade secrets, tortious interference and breach of fiduciary duty claims. Trade Secrets Analysis The ex-employee defendants signed broad non-disclosure agreements that prevented them from …
Author Archives: PaulP
IT Recruiting Firm’s Non-Compete and Trade Secrets Claims Against Former Employees Fail – ND IL (Part I of II)
In Instant Technology, LLC v. DeFazio, 2014 WL 1759184, the Northern District of Illinois examines Illinois non-compete law, trade secrets rules and a slew of business torts in the context of a heated battle between rival recruiting firms and some of their key employees. This article distills the case’s key restrictive covenant principles. Part II of …
Illinois Court Gives Agency Law Tutorial In Commercial Lease Fight
Three agency law issues that I regularly encounter in commercial litigation practice are (1) authority, (2) ratification and (3) a contract that doesn’t identify a valid entity. The authority question posed is whether an individual – typically a company employee or independent contractor – can bind the company by the individual’s conduct. Ratification applies where a corporate principal accepts the benefits …
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