Perhaps one of the most hotly contested areas of the law right now are disputes between employers and former employees over the lateral transfer of employees and protecting employer trade secrets when these moves occur. In a digital-centered world, all of the intellectual property, trade secrets and confidential information of a business can be stored on a thumb drive. Moreover, as the flow of employees from one employer to another increases, the opportunity for valuable trade secrets to move with an employee increases.
The laws of our State allow employers to protect their trade secrets. In addition, employees can be restricted from engaging in immediate competition with an employer after terminating employment. However, the law governing enforcement of such agreements is complicated and nuanced. Increasing the likelihood of a Court’s enforcement of a non-solicitation or non-competition agreement turns on the use of appropriate agreements, signed by employees that identify reasonable financial consideration.
In many instances, when an employee departs and takes valuable information with them, the former employer will want to move swiftly to protect against the release and use of that information, particularly in a competitive fashion. In such cases, an employer needs its lawyers to move with the all due speed and obtain a Court Order imposing an injunction upon the employee. Ideally, such an Order would prohibit the employee working for a competitor, but at a minimum, it must protect against the use of confidential information. If this relief is not sought immediately, the likelihood of ever obtaining such a relief diminishes rapidly.
Contact Byrnes, O’Hern & Heugle Law Firm
The lawyers at Byrnes, O’Hern & Heugle have filed many such claims for legal relief. We have appeared frequently in the Courts in the State of New Jersey having filed Orders to Show Cause seeking emergent and injunctive relief to bar employees from using the confidential information of a client. In other instances, we have represented employees who have left their firms and been subject to efforts to restrain them from engaging in legitimate work unencumbered by such restrictions. We have litigated these cases, we have tried these cases, and we continue to advise our clients on the ever-evolving legal landscape involving the enforcement of non-solicitation and non-competition agreements. If your firm is vulnerable to the loss of such information or needs to insure that its confidential information is protected, we encourage you to contact us.
