Posted December 14, 2023 with Tags Firm News
We defend many financial advisory firms and individuals in restrictive covenant and trade secret litigation. When an advisor moves from one firm to another, we help manage legal risk, and, if necessary, defend against the resulting lawsuit from the prior …
Posted December 4, 2023 with Tags Firm News
Hiring an applicant who has a non-compete or non-solicit agreement with a prior employer creates risk for the both the individual and the new employer. The prior employer can sue both the applicant for violating the contract and the new …
Posted November 20, 2023 with Tags Firm News
NJL and numerous attorneys have been recognized in the 2024 editions of Best Law Firms and Best Lawyers respectively. As a firm, NJL has been recognized for the Minneapolis metro area for practices in Business Litigation, Labor and Employment, and …
Posted May 17, 2023 with Tags Firm News
Minnesota is banning employment non-compete agreements and restricting provisions that require non-Minnesota laws or venues for disputes. The law will become effective on July 1, 2023, and will apply to agreements entered into on or after that date. Minnesota’s changes …
Posted January 19, 2023 with Tags Firm News
The FTC’s proposed rule banning non-competes nationally has received much attention, but the far likelier change to non-compete law for Minnesotans is from the all-DFL state government. Barely into session, the Minnesota legislature is considering two companion bills, HF295 and …
Posted September 30, 2022 with Tags Firm News
NJL was short-listed as a “recommended firm for labor and employment” by Benchmark Litigation, one of the most definitive and objective rankings of preeminent litigation firms and practitioners in the U.S. Benchmark Litigation created a separate labor and employment edition in response to …
Posted September 7, 2022 with Tags Firm News
Several NJL attorneys were named to the 2023 Best Lawyers in America list. Best Lawyers considers more than 12 million evaluations by asking attorneys to evaluate their peers through exhaustive, confidential peer-review surveys. NJL Of Counsel Elizabeth Thompson (labor and …
Posted February 17, 2022 with Tags Labor and Employment, Employment law
The Minnesota legislature is currently considering HF999, which would ban all non-compete agreements with all Minnesota employees making less than a certain salary threshold, and would require garden leave payments for employees making higher incomes. The bill is being heard …
Posted July 8, 2021 with Tags trade secrets, Non-competes, For Employers
On July 8, 2021, President Biden announced that he would issue an Executive Order (EO) calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to adopt rules curtailing the use of non-compete agreements. While the announcement offers few details so far, questions remain about the FTC’s legal authority to regulate non-competes in the manner sought by President Biden.
Posted December 3, 2020
In a first-of-its-kind decision, NJL non-compete litigator Katie Connolly convinced a Minnesota federal court to apply a novel advice-of-counsel defense to an employer’s hiring of an individual with a non-compete agreement.
Posted October 21, 2020 with Tags Labor and Employment, COVID-19 for Employers
With the presidential election looming, discussions about politics are happening in the workplace now more than ever. In the current political environment, these conversations may be disruptive and may not align with Equal Employment Opportunity and Harassment-Free Workplace Policies, diversity and inclusion goals, and organizational brands. This means that HR professionals and other supervisors walk a very fine line as they draw distinctions between what violates or contradicts employment policies versus free speech.
Posted June 29, 2020 with Tags California Labor and Employment Law, Labor and employment law, Wage Statements
The California Supreme Court issued an important pair of decisions today clarifying that California-compliant wage statements need to be provided only to workers who perform the majority of their work in California, or who are based for work purposes in California.
Posted May 13, 2020 with Tags COVID-19, California Law, COVID-19 for Employers
Home-bound employees must use their home internet to perform work, but is it reimbursable?
Posted April 14, 2020 with Tags Non-competes, No-Poaching Agreements, Employers, Retailers, Employment Class Actions
Saks Fifth Avenue and several luxury designers were recently hit with a nationwide class-action lawsuit regarding their alleged use of no-poach agreements to limit solicitation of retail store employees between Saks and the designers. Employers using similar agreements (written or otherwise) not to hire other companies’ employees should reconsider those agreements in light of this emerging litigation.
Posted March 25, 2020 with Tags Employers, Hospitality, Video, COVID-19 for Employers
NJL’s Joel O’Malley and Courtney Blanchard joined Emily Mauter of Hospitality Minnesota for a Q&A regarding labor and employment issues facing the Minnesota Hospitality Community.
Posted March 10, 2020
Plaintiffs’ lawyers are exploiting Minnesota’s confusing tip-pooling laws to bring class-action lawsuits against restaurateurs. These cases entail substantial costs, both in defending them and in potential damages. Thankfully, restaurants can take proactive steps to address possible compliance issues to limit potential liability or to avoid a lawsuit altogether. Here are five actions restaurants can take now.
Posted March 4, 2020 with Tags Minnesota Tip-Pooling, Minnesota Tip Statute, Restaurants, Minnesota Restaurants
Restaurants are getting hit with tip-pooling class action lawsuits. Now is the time to audit your practices, or, at the very least, review your tip pooling policies. This is especially important for Minnesota restaurateurs, as they face the difficult challenge of complying with the state’s unique tip-pooling statute—which is unlike federal laws and those of other states. Restaurants can make specific changes now to meet the law’s requirements and avoid class action litigation.
Posted February 28, 2020
The Minnesota legislature is currently considering HF 3673, which purports to ban all non-compete agreements with all employees, and may also ban all customer non-solicit and non-disclosure agreements. The language of the bill—which currently has 30 co-sponsors—is confusing and internally contradictory, so its progress through the legislative process warrants close watching.
Posted February 14, 2020 with Tags Wage and Hour
California wage laws have taken another alarming departure from federal standards. The highest state court recently held in Frlekin v. Apple that non-exempt employees must be paid for the time their bags and personal belongings are inspected before leaving the office. According to the California Supreme Court, that time is compensable even though the employees brought the items voluntarily and for their own benefit. The determinative question for the court was whether they remained under the employer’s control during inspection time.
Posted December 6, 2019
The American Bar Association just issued an opinion about what lawyers and law firms can and should do when lawyers move from one firm to another. A key point of the opinion is that, according to the ABA, “ethics rules do not allow non-competition clauses in partnership, member, shareholder, or employment agreements” among attorneys. Remember, though, that these rules may not be the ultimate authority in the in-house counsel context.
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