Practice Areas: Labor & Employment

Non-Competes, Trade Secrets and Employee Fraud

McGuireWoods attorneys have extensive experience representing companies in enforcing non-compete, confidentiality and trade secret agreements throughout the United States. As employers have become more dependent on sophisticated technology, the need to draft comprehensive agreements and policies, and then enforce them in court through injunction proceedings, has grown ever more important. At the same time, due to rapid developments in technology, confidential information and trade secrets become stale in the blink of an eye. As a result of these and other fundamental changes, companies must have an up-to-date arsenal of cogent agreements and policies that are well-drafted and readily enforceable in court.

The Best Offense

McGuireWoods attorneys help companies protect what is theirs by drafting and enforcing effective non-compete, trade secret, and confidentiality agreements and policies. We also counsel employers on how to negotiate settlements prior to litigation and, when needed, we fight for our clients’ interests in court.

We primarily represent employers in both challenging and defending non-competition and other similar agreements. We also represent individual employees in such matters on behalf of the companies who seek to hire them. We have pursued former employees on theories such as unfair competition, conspiracy, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, misappropriation of trade secrets, quantum meruit, breach of fiduciary duty (based on activity against the employer's interest while still employed), and similar bases. These matters are staffed by lawyers from our Labor & Employment, Commercial Litigation and Intellectual Property Litigation departments.

The Best Action

Often parties do not realize the level of commitment required to engage in such litigation until they are in the middle of it. We believe that a well-defined analysis of the risks and rewards serves our clients’ interests. That said, once the decision is made to proceed, we move rapidly and decisively to take the appropriate course of action.

Speed is often critical in such matters, and we have not only the legal experience, but also the practical experience and resources to strike quickly. We have an established network of supplemental resources such as investigators and computer forensic analysts, who allow us to maneuver effectively when prompt action is required.

Representative Matters

• Won summary judgment for national retailer in a $5 million adversary proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The retailer was accused of violating a restrictive covenant prohibiting it from operating a "supermarket" in a shopping center also occupied by the plaintiff's supermarket. The plaintiff claimed that retailer’s violation of the covenant caused its bankruptcy and a significant diminution of its value. We argued that although the retailer sold grocery products at the subject store, it was not operating a "supermarket" as that term is commonly defined. The Court agreed and granted summary judgment on all counts.
• Successfully defended the plaintiff's motion for temporary injunction in the Eastern District of Virginia, where a new hire employee of leading financial service provider was sued by her former employer for alleged breach of a non-compete agreement. The court found that the plaintiff had failed to show irreparable harm and refused to enter a restraining order prohibiting the employee from working for her new employer. The opinion was one of the first to address irreparable harm in any amount of detail since the recent Fourth Circuit opinion The Real Truth About Obama, Inc. modified the 30 year precedent in Blackwelder stating the elements required to obtain a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction.
• Successfully obtained a TRO, a consent injunction and forfeiture of extensive stock options in a suit filed against a former employee and his new employer in Georgia state court on a theft of trade secrets and "inevitable disclosure" theory.
• Won a decision in favor of our regional financial services client and its senior officers in a North Carolina Court of Appeals decision involving a claim by one bank against another (our client) for tortious interference with contract after our client hired two of plaintiff's senior employees to become president and vice president. McGuireWoods lawyers led the way by getting the case dismissed against our client, having trial court sanction the opposing counsel and plaintiff, and confirming the dismissal and order for sanctions on appeal.
• Obtained preliminary injunctive relief in the 9th Circuit in Orange County, California for a bank broker-dealer against a securities broker who had misappropriated confidential customer information and used it to solicit business for a competitor. We obtained entry of an immediate ex parte order due to the nature of the information misappropriated (Social Security numbers and personal financial information) and harm to the bank's reputation when customers realized that their information was in the hands of a third-party. We also obtained the immediate return of the information and written executions under oath that no copies had been retained.