Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: confidentiality agreement

If you do not sue your employer at the time you answer their complaint you will be barred from suing at a later time. They may have a viable case as client lists are included in the trade secrets act. Call me directly at (619) 222-3504.

Re: confidentiality agreement

You are in a pickle. First thing you need to do is respond to the complaint. Failure to do that could result in a default judgment, which will cost you more money to get reversed.

Next, have the employment contract reviewed to see if there are grounds for a counter-suit.

Any other answer is going to be based upon all the facts and what you can prove.

925-924-0100

Re: confidentiality agreement

I would take the offense against your former employer and sue them for declaratory relief and a restraining order. A breaching party cannot continue to expect performance by the non-braching party. The actions I have described are equitable in nature and, therefore, have a prefered status on the court calendar. Check your contract and see if disputes must be referred to arbitration, that is even faster.

Re: confidentiality agreement

your situation is too complex to get a reliable answer here. you really need someone to review the letter, the contract and the lawsuit. there are just too many variables.

Re: confidentiality agreement

I am defending a similar suit for a client at present. It sounds as though you have been served with a summons and complaint and therefore, as you no doubt know, you must answer promptly in order to avoid default. The time for response depends on the court (state or federal) and other particulars, but in no event should you tarry in retaining an attorney to defend you. That lawyer would then be in the best position to advise you on counterclaims and the assortment of defenses and other strategies available to you.

On the facts presented, you are likely to prevail. However, it will be expensive. You are probably pitted against a large law firm given a large budget by the plaintiff to intimidate you and induce you to accept a settlement that will tie your hands, not to mention scare the heck out of you. Under some sets of facts, you can recover your legal expenses if you prevail, so fighting right through trial rather than settling may be an option, but often merely some show of willingness to resist immediate cave-in will result in a much more favorable settlement offer.

These cases involve two closely-related but very different sets of statutes. On the one hand, an employer may not bar an ex-employee from pursuing his/her trade or occupation. Non-compete clauses of this kind are made void by statute, and in some cases such a clause has been held to render the entire contract unenforceable against the former employee. On the other hand, a former employee must not use any trade secret of the employer, and this includes customer lists, whether written or memorized. If you merely announced your new whereabouts and fact of self-employment to your former employer's customers, but relied upon a printed, handwritten or memorized list, you at minimum have a problem, but perhaps can show your mailing did not rely upon secrets because the same information could be obtained from a standard industry guide, for example.

The best defense to a defamation action is truth of the matters stated. Generally the plaintiff must prove the statements were false.

Agreements thrust upon an employee well after initial hiring raise enforceability issues, too. Probably enforceable, but not necessarily!

As info, they can seek a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction before trial, and in some cases on very short notice, even without a hearing (unlikely here)....so be alert to short-time-frame action by the plaintiff.