Non-Compete/Trade Secrets

A company's clients and its trade secrets are often its most valuable assets. The firm’s Non-Compete/Trade Secrets practice group protects your business from unfair competition by implementing safeguards to protect these assets and by pursuing effective litigation strategies when these assets are threatened. The practice has significant experience in handling a diverse array of non-compete and trade secrets cases.

In today's technology-driven environment, it is often critical to utilize computer forensics research in non-compete and trade secrets cases. The ability to recover deleted files, browser history, and document routing can often protect a company. Therefore, we have developed an In-house Technology Forensics Team. This unique capability allows our team to react immediately to an emergent non-compete /trade secrets situation.

Recent Non-Compete and Trade Secret Successes

• Won a two-year consent injunction against a former employee of an insurance carrier. Although the employee had not signed a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement, the two-year consent injunction prohibited the former employee and his new employer from soliciting or accepting business from any customers serviced by the employee while employed by our client.
• Obtained a permanent injunction and the payment of attorneys’ fees for a national commercial equipment entity against two former salespersons and their new employer. The permanent injunction prevented the former salespersons from disclosing or using our client's trade secrets, soliciting our client's customers, and hiring our client's employees and sales representatives.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction for a Las Vegas, Nevada construction industry client enforcing a five-year non-compete agreement enjoining a former employee from working in a particular industry segment.
• Won a jury trial on a breach of contract claim for a medical group against two of its former physicians/partners.
• Obtained a permanent injunction in a trade secret case against a former executive on behalf of a national franchisor.
• Won a declaratory judgment invalidating the non-compete agreement of a senior executive of a major department store chain.
• Obtained a two-year permanent injunction against the senior officer of a major corporation and prevented the officer from working for a major competitor.
• Defeated a major corporation from obtaining an injunction against its number one former salesperson.
• Obtained a temporary restraining order, a permanent injunction, damages, and attorney’s fees from former employees of our client, a publicly traded bank.
• Won a temporary restraining order and a two-year permanent injunction that prevented a departing employee of a publicly traded bank from soliciting customers and misappropriating trade secrets. The injunction prevented the key employee from misappropriating the bank's trade secrets, soliciting customers for two years, and required the former employee to pay attorney's fees in the event of a violation of the injunction.
• Obtained injunctions against departing high level sales producers of a nationwide staffing company that prevented them from soliciting its customers and recovered attorneys’ fees on behalf of the staffing company.
• Won injunctive relief that prevented a competitor and former employees of our client, a nationwide company that markets vacation club properties, from raiding our client's managers and sales personnel.
• Represented a scientist in defeating his non-competition agreement.
• Enforced a non-compete agreement against a salesman despite a one-year delay in bringing suit.
• Obtained a one-year permanent injunction against a physician for all hospitals served by his former group.
• Won a temporary restraining order, permanent injunction, and damages against several former employees of a not-for-profit agency that prohibited the solicitation of our client’s customers and the use of our client’s trade secrets.

Significant Accomplishments of the Practice Group:

• Co-authors of a comprehensive article in 2009 on computer tampering that was published in the Journal of the Missouri Bar
• Honored as a member of BTI Client Service All-Star Team
• Two of our attorneys Co-authored a comprehensive article in 2008 on Kansas non-compete and trade secret law
• One of our attorneys serves as national non-compete counsel for a publishing and advertising company with thousands of employees nationwide
• Two lawyers selected to Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers 2007
• Eleven lawyers selected as The Best Lawyers in America 2008
• Eleven lawyers selected for inclusion in Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers 2007
• American College of Trial Lawyers
• Co-authors of a comprehensive article in 2006 on Missouri non-compete law. The article was cited as authoritative by the Missouri Supreme Court, and The Missouri Bar honored the two lawyers with the outstanding article of the year award
• Co-authors of a comprehensive article in 2007 on trade secret litigation in Missouri
• American Academy of Hospital Attorneys
• Two past Presidents of The Missouri Bar
• Two Past Presidents of the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers

Members of the Non-Compete/Trade Secrets Practice Group

Chatman, Darryl	Moore, Craig
Corrigan, Bill	Nissenholtz, Todd
Covington, Brent	Quinn, Jack
Greene, Dione	Raleigh, Robert
Jermann, David	Schultz, Jeffrey
Kaiser, Bob	Schwendinger, Bob
Kass, Michael	Spalty, Ed
Kaveney, Brian	Summerville, Jay
Kenny, Patrick	Symank, Narcisa
Kozak, Scott	Virtel, Jim
Laue, Brant

The non-compete/trade secrets group works closely with our business and IP Litigators to offer a comprehensive approach to the variety of problems businesses face in the area of intellectual property assets and competitors.

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