The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino, or HSR, filing rules for mergers and acquisitions. Brett Beter, a partner in the Corporate Practice Group was recently interviewed by the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report about the FTC’s proposed rule changes to merger and acquisition rules. Read more about this proposed change … Continue Reading
Jones Walker LLP recently released the findings of our 2022 Ports and Terminals Cybersecurity Survey. Since 2018, we have surveyed key US infrastructure industries including the greater maritime industry in 2018 and the midstream oil and gas industry in 2020. The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical events, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, rising … Continue Reading
P.J. Kee, a partner in the Labor & Employment Practice Group and a member of the trade secrets and fair competition team, authored the article “Do’s and Don’ts for Non-Competition Agreements Under Louisiana Law” featured in New Orleans CityBusiness. P.J. provides an outline of La. Rev. Stat. § 23:921, and the courts interpreting it, to better … Continue Reading
A recent Louisiana court of appeal decision provides guidance on two issues that frequently arise in trade secret cases. Southern Marsh Collection, LLC v. State Traditions, LLC, 2017 WL 4985217 (La. App. 1st Cir. 2017) addresses the recurring question of when customer lists qualify as trade secrets and—somewhat surprisingly—holds the Louisiana Uniform Trade Secrets Act … Continue Reading
May an employer enforce a contract provision that forbids an employee to leave and take another job that would require him to use or reveal the employer’s confidential information? In Louisiana, maybe not, unless the agreement complies with Louisiana’s non-compete statute, La. Rev. Stat. § 23:921. In O’Sullivan v. Sunil Gupta, M.D., LLC, 2017 WL … Continue Reading
Prosecutors and employers take notice — one of the most robust, wide-reaching tools against computer fraud and abuse could be blunted. The Second Circuit recently joined the Fourth and Ninth circuits in narrowly interpreting the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) in United States v. Valle, 807 F.3d 508 (2d Cir. 2015). Valle, an ex-cop, was … Continue Reading
Cyber-security and data breaches are hot-button issues that recently received some well-deserved attention from the federal government. Last year we posted about the FBI’s efforts to combat economic espionage and trade secret theft. At that time, the Assistant Director of the FBI—who was testifying before a Senate subcommittee—offered salient advice on how American companies could … Continue Reading
The federal district for the Western District of Louisiana added to the growing list of decisions that have applied Louisiana’s non-compete statute to invalidate choice-of-law or forum-selection clauses. These decisions have struck down clauses that, on their faces, would have required Louisiana employees of non-Louisiana employers to litigate under the law or in the courts of … Continue Reading
A recent Florida appellate court decision may alter long-standing prohibitions against non-compete agreements for certain professionals. In AmSurg New Port Richey FL Inc. v. Vangara, the court upheld a non-compete, finding that it prohibited a physician from operating a rival business—but not from practicing medicine. This was the pivotal distinction for saving the non-compete, and other state courts could … Continue Reading
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana recently held that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts Louisiana’s non-compete statute (La. R.S. 23:921). Among other things, this statute invalidates forum selection clauses in employment agreements unless the employee agrees to or expressly ratifies the clause after the incident that gives rise to the dispute. … Continue Reading
A Louisiana appellate court recently decided that a non-competition agreement was unenforceable. But not because it contained unreasonable geographic or temporal restrictions or failed to strictly comply with Louisiana’s non-compete statute. Instead, the court found that the non-competition obligations had already expired during employment. That is, even though the employee continued to work for the company … Continue Reading
Perhaps the most significant of the employment law bills passed by the Louisiana Legislature this year is the “Personal Online Account Privacy Protection Act” signed into by Governor Jindal on May 23, 2014. Louisiana is now the 17th state to enact a “password protection law” aimed at protecting an employee’s personal online content included in … Continue Reading
Financial regulators continue to sound the alarm about cybersecurity. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”) conducted a cybersecurity webinar on May 7, 2014, targeted at senior management of community banks. The FFIEC noted that attacks on smaller institutions are escalating in number and sophistication. The presenters noted that too many banks regard cybersecurity as … Continue Reading
Are you confident in your ability to prosecute a trade secret case without losing those “secrets” in the process? The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision should give you pause before answering. The Court’s holding in E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co. v. Kolon Industries, Inc., underscores the significant risks of putting evidence into the … Continue Reading
