Thirty years ago, recognizing that comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance policies were “tailor made” to provide coverage for most pollution-related injuries, insurers added an exclusion to CGL policies in an attempt to avoid coverage for such claims.1
Depending on how the pollution exclusion is read, its breadth may effectively render the insurance coverage under
With the rise in GPS technology, employers have unprecedented access to their employees’ whereabouts. For several years, employers have been able to track their field or mobile employees’ locations through GPS devices in vehicles. With more recent technology, employers are able to track locations through GPS apps in employees’ smartphones. But tracking presents risks employers
The Department of Labor’s new guidance about what constitutes a “joint employer” should cause businesses that use staffing agencies or other indirect “employment” structures or relationships to carefully review these arrangements.
Specifically, on Jan. 20, 2016, in a departure from what had been somewhat settled, the DOL issued guidance interpreting “joint employer” expansively, making clear
To some it may seem obvious, but before a business can take reasonable steps to protect its trade secrets, it must be able to identify which of its intellectual assets are protectable as trade secrets. A business may not differentiate between trade secrets and confidential information, but there is a difference and a business should
The following is a non-exhaustive checklist of steps that a business might take to protect information it considers to be a trade secret. While these steps will provide a good overview, it is highly recommended that any business consult with an attorney familiar with litigating trade secret matters to develop a robust plan to protect
In all but three states, trade secrets are defined under some variant of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA)1. Trade secret information is a subset of confidential information. All information that qualifies for trade secret protection is confidential information. But not all “confidential information” falls within the coverage of the UTSA.
Confidential information
Most policyholders that have experience with insurance claims will likely confirm that the mere fact that you have given the insurer timely notice of a claim is no guarantee of a timely response. Consequently, the policyholder may be required to go it alone by funding its own defense while awaiting a response from its insurer.
While viability of strict ‘two-year rule’ is in question in Illinois, employers should consider alternatives to make sure non-competes are enforced
Some Illinois appellate courts, beginning with Fifield v. Premier Dealers Services, Inc., 2013 IL App. (1st) 120327, have applied a bright line rule requiring two years of continuous at-will employment to support an employee
The new year is upon us, and franchisors across the U.S. are focusing on updating their franchise disclosure documents and renewing their franchise registrations. In this busy time, it is easy to overlook other filing requirements for franchisors.
Since 2009, franchisors that have at least one franchisee that does business in New York state and
A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision serves as a good reminder that when it comes to restrictive covenants, one size does not fit all. A consistent theme in recent court decisions has been that “form” employment agreements with overly broad restrictions not anchored to the employee’s job responsibilities and related to the employer’s protectable interests