Lawrence Kamin regularly advises and represents companies and individuals in battles over the enforceability of restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, and the protection of customer relationships, proprietary information and trade secrets.
The customer relationships and proprietary information at stake can be amongst a company’s most valuable assets. Employers routinely adopt restrictive covenants and confidentiality policies to protect this vital information. A breach of a restrictive covenant or violation of a confidentiality policy may result in a company losing its customers, its employees, and its competitive edge. Employees (sometimes with the cooperation of a competitor who has hired them away) often disregard those agreements and argue that they are unenforceable. Our attorneys understand both the legal and business imperative in quickly and effectively responding to attacks on our clients’ proprietary and trade secrets. Just as significantly, our clients look to us to help assess the business and legal risks to their business relationships and stave off unfair competition.
These cases often require immediate action—a cease-and-desist letter or response, an emergency motion or response to a motion for temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, or expedited investigation and a call for expedited discovery. Lawrence Kamin’s litigation team understands that, when injunctive relief is at issue, a client must act quickly to protect the rights of their business and to optimize their legal case for a judge’s review. Repeatedly, our firm has been called upon to and has responded to meet this need for our clients.
Lawrence Kamin attorneys have demonstrated skill in litigating disputes between participants in the financial services sector, including between banks and securities firms and their employees, loan officers, registered representatives and investment advisor representatives. We have both pursued and defended emergency actions seeking injunctive relief to enforce non-solicitation and non-competition agreements, and represented firms and individuals in industry arbitrations concerning employment disputes, including “raiding” cases. We understand the nuances and limitations of forgivable loans, “garden leave” provisions, the Protocol for Broker Recruiting, the Certified Financial Planning Board Code of Ethics, and the various applicable regulatory rules and pronouncements. In addition to litigating these matters, our firm regularly assists clients in the drafting of enforceable agreements and advises clients in the adoption and implementation of policies and procedures designed to better protect proprietary relationships and information. Our attorneys have executed consultations with hundreds of individuals and new employers about the effects of existing restrictive covenants on new hires, and have guided them in how to avoid liability and litigation, as employees transition to new employers.