The beginning of the year is a time of high employee mobility, and with that mobility comes a risk of litigation between the hiring employer and the former employer – particularly when the two companies are direct competitors.
When a lawyer is asked to weigh in on a potential hire and to advise regarding the litigation risk, the legal analysis is just one part of the puzzle; the human element is equally important. Not infrequently, raw human emotion — anger, feelings of betrayal, and/or pure competitive fire – serves as the triggering straw for litigation in such situations. Fortunately, there are practical steps that employers can take to minimize the risk of such litigation. The attached article, which was recently published by the author in Law360, discusses ten suggested ones; some to address the legal elements, others the human ones.