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If you’ve worked in the legal field for any length of time, you’ve met one of them — the lawyer who uses scorched-earth tactics, ad hominem attacks, and a needlessly aggressive, rude and unethical approach to legal proceedings.

Think of them as the Rambo litigator — the legal equivalent of the hypermacho character first played by Sylvester Stallone in the 1980s.

Unfortunately, we’re not going to rid the legal profession of these kinds of lawyers anytime soon, but there are some things you can do the next time you find yourself facing off against them in court — virtually or in person.

Read the full Expert Analysis article on Law360 here >>

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D.C.’s new ban on non-compete agreements may go into effect in a matter of weeks. D. Margeaux Thomas takes an up-close look at how this goes farther than similar bans in other states and how it will affect businesses in the District.

Brian Hall had a great job at Amazon, but he had an even better offer from Google. But when the former cloud services employee tried to switch jobs, Amazon sued him, noting a non-compete clause he’d signed several years earlier.

He’s not alone. Researchers estimate that as many as one in five U.S. workers are subject to non-compete agreements which restrict their ability to take a job in a nearby area or perform similar duties for a competitor.

Employers say these agreements are necessary to retain talent and prevent their employees from taking skills, resources and proprietary information to a rival or even starting their own business. But critics say that many non-competes are overly restrictive, hurting workers’ ability to move up the corporate ladder and hurting the economy overall.

In Hall’s case, the parties reached a confidential settlement which resolved the suit out of court. While we don’t know what was decided, we can say that his case shows how important the venue is in determining the outcome.

Continue reading on LinkedIn Pulse >>

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D. Margeaux Thomas Says D.C.’s New Ban on Non-Compete Agreement Goes Further Than Most

Bill prohibits virtually all non-compete provisions, regardless of income

In an analysis of D.C.’s ban on non-compete agreements, business litigation lawyer D. Margeaux Thomas found that it goes much further than similar bans in other states.

The Ban on Non-Compete Agreements is far-reaching, covering most workers in D.C., regardless of income, and prospectively bars employers from restricting who else their employees work for.

“This law not only bars employers in D.C. from prohibiting employees from working for competing businesses following their employment, but also while they are currently employed,” said Thomas. “While non-competes have always been generally disfavored by the Courts, this Act pushes the envelope and embraces the importance of employees’ rights to work.”

By comparison, a 2019 law passed in Maryland bars all non-compete agreements for employees earning less than $31,200 a year, or $15 an hour. Virginia’s law, passed in 2020, bars non-compete agreements for those earning less than the state’s annual average weekly wage, currently $62,608 a year.

The only exceptions for the D.C. law are unpaid volunteers, lay members elected or appointed to office within a religious organization, babysitters – all of whom were rarely the target of noncompetes – as well as medical specialists earning at least $250,000 a year.

The D.C. ban was passed in December by the District of Columbia Council and signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser in January. A 30-day congressional review period ended this week, allowing it to become law. Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Washington have also passed similar bans on non-competes, which have increasingly come under scrutiny from lawmakers.

“Non-compete agreements tilt the landscape in favor of the employer,” added Thomas. “These bans put significant leverage back in the hands of the worker.”

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A business partnership isn’t all business. When two people start a company together, they often were friends already, and they see that bond strengthened by the hard work they put into building it up.

So when things go south, it can be traumatizing.

In fact, the emotional stages of the breakup of a business — what people in my line of work sometimes call a business divorce — are strikingly similar to that of a marital divorce.

Just as Covid-19 has put a financial and emotional strain on marriages, it has also strained business partners struggling to work through the pandemic. In some cases, the pandemic is also making pre-existing issues harder to avoid.

Many business owners say that they knew they had issues in their business partnership arrangement before Covid-19 and their problems only worsened in the current climate.

A business divorce is by far the most traumatic event that a business owner will experience. The foundation of a business partnership is usually a familial relationship or a very good friendship. Just as employers tend to hire people they’d like themselves, people tend to go into business with people they have strong relationships and connections with.

Business divorces typically evoke the same feelings of stress, resentment, doubt, blame, betrayal, guilt, fear, and other emotionally fueled reactions seen in a typical divorce.

Continue reading on Global Trade Magazine >>

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A business partnership isn’t all business. When two people start a company together, they often were friends already, and they see that bond strengthened by the hard work they put into building it up.

So when things go south, it can be traumatizing.

In fact, the emotional stages of the breakup of a business — what people in my line of work sometimes call a business divorce — are strikingly similar to that of a marital divorce.

Just as Covid-19 has put a financial and emotional strain on marriages, it has also strained business partners struggling to work through the pandemic. In some cases, the pandemic is also making pre-existing issues harder to avoid.

Many business owners say that they knew they had issues in their business partnership arrangement before Covid-19 and their problems only worsened in the current climate.

A business divorce is by far the most traumatic event that a business owner will experience. The foundation of a business partnership is usually a familial relationship or a very good friendship. Just as employers tend to hire people they’d like themselves, people tend to go into business with people they have strong relationships and connections with.

Business divorces typically evoke the same feelings of stress, resentment, doubt, blame, betrayal, guilt, fear, and other emotionally fueled reactions seen in a typical divorce.

In fact, they go through somewhat predictable stages of grief.

Continue reading on LinkedIn Pulse >>

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