Just in time for grilling season in the Midwest, Hormel Foods Corporation (“Hormel”) filed a federal lawsuit in the District of Minnesota against its competitor, Johnsonville, LLC (“Johnsonville”), and two former Hormel...more
Wolfspeed, a Durham-based silicon carbide semiconductor business, has plenty on its plate these days amid media reports of an impending bankruptcy reorganization. While such a filing would be aimed at a short(ish) judicial...more
Over the past two years, employee mobility seems to be at an all-time high. In fact, the labor market is so fluid that pundits and experts often refer to it as the “Great Resignation.” Although employee mobility can be a...more
In 2021, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued two decisions addressing when a contractual party’s affiliates are bound to restrictive covenants in an agreement. In the first case, Sixth Street Partners Management Company,...more
In 1995, the California Supreme Court held that a plaintiff pursuing a claim for interference with a prospective contractual or economic relationship had to plead that the defendant's conduct was wrongful. Della Penna v....more
Called upon by the Ninth Circuit in Ixchel Pharma, LLC v. Biogen, Inc. to answer two key questions concerning the validity of a settlement provision requiring a party’s termination of a collaboration agreement with a...more
The line between aggressive business competition and unlawful conduct can sometimes be difficult to determine. Many different theories of tort liability have developed over the years to address the variations of unlawful...more
Switching from defense to offense, Zillow Group, Inc., best known for its residential real estate marketplace technology, recently filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging a...more
Employers with California operations probably know that traditional noncompetition covenants are unenforceable in that state. Additional state court decisions concluded that customer non-solicitation prohibitions are also...more
Against the backdrop of a continuing trend of low rates of unemployment throughout the United States, there has been a recent surge of people searching for new and better jobs. As a result, there has also been increased...more
Companies and employers around the country seek to protect their intellectual property by, among other things, using non-compete provisions in employment agreements. Generally, these provisions are intended to prevent an...more
Those of you reading our Employee Mobility blog posts are familiar with California’s unique approach to non-compete agreements: they are, except in a few limited circumstances, unenforceable in the Golden State. And that...more