Non-Competes Now a Nonstarter This is really big news! Businesses that have entered into non-compete agreements with current or recently departed employees will need to come up with other ways of achieving the investment-protecting goals those non-competes were designed to accomplish. That’s because the Federal Trade Commission has issued a…
Aret Smart Contracts Smart? Imagine if the paper on which your business’ contracts are written could somehow come to life and automatically send payments to your collectors—and receive payments from your debtors—at the appropriate times, as different provisions of said contract are triggered. That’s more or less how electronic smart…
Are Non-Competes Really Enforceable? Most non-compete agreements between employers and employees violate the National Labor Relations Act, according to a May 30 memo from Jennifer A. Abruzzo, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board. Such agreements, which bar employees from taking certain types of positions or running certain types…
Independent Contractors A recent Illinois Court of Appeals decision in an Illinois Wage Claim Act case puts a magnifying glass on the sticky wicket employers can find themselves when they are unable to pay an outside contractor, at least under certain circumstances. The decision in O’Malley v. Udo, 2022 IL…
Illinois Freedom to Work Act Illinois Employers who want to protect their business and trade secrets by using restrictive employment contracts will find new hoops to jump through. The enforcement of non-compete and non-solicit agreements, designed to erect roadblocks to prevent former employees from gaining an unfair advantage due to…
Wills Can Be Signed Electronically Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, wills needed to be signed in person and witnesses (including notaries) needed to be on hand to see the will creator’s actually sign the will. When the pandemic got underway, Illinois Governor Pritzker signed an Emergency Order declaring that for…
For the first time to our knowledge a judge has ordered rent relief for a Chicago restaurant. The bankruptcy judge ruled that the “Act of God” clause in the lease gives the restaurant rent relief when it was forced to closed during the the COVID-19 mandatory closings. CoronaVirus FAQs The…
Cyber Security Issues while working remotely. Does your cyber liability insurance cover data breaches that occur while employees are working at home, using their personal devices such as tablets and laptops? There’s no time like the present to look into this issue, with most employees telecommuting and hackers perhaps sensing…
Did someone say force majeure? COVID-19 Pandemic and Force Majeure clauses According to Black’s Law Dictionary, force majeure is defined as “An event or effect that can be neither anticipated nor controlled.” It is generally viewed as an unexpected event that prevents someone from doing or completing something that he…
The Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which prevents non-governmental employers from requiring that low-wage employees enter into non-compete agreements, has begun to impact case law in the past three years since it was enacted. Employers would be wise to take note. Chicago Business Lawyers The act, which defines “low-wage employees”…