Canadian Court Says đź‘Ť Emoji A Valid Signature

(July 10, 2023)  Don’t replace the signature line on written contracts with a thumbs-up emoji đź‘Ťjust yet. A Canadian court found a farmer entered into a valid contract to deliver flax at a fixed price by texting back a thumbs-up emoji đź‘Ť to the buyer’s text that contained a photo of a written agreement. The […]
Continue Reading

Collecting Entity Liable for Each Scan of Biometric Information

(February 21, 2023)  Entities that collect, store, or share biometric information without obtaining the person’s written permission in Illinois may be liable for damages for each scan or transmission of the individual’s information under a ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court. Under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), no private entity may collect, capture, receive, […]
Continue Reading

Illinois Law Restricts Use of Covenants Not-To-Compete and Non-Solicitation

(October 8, 2021) New statutory restrictions on the use of covenants not-to-compete and non-solicitation provisions in Illinois employment contracts will become effective starting on January 1, 2022. The law codifies court rulings that restricted the use of non-compete agreements and offers specific criteria for their use. The law also sets limits on the use of non-solicitation […]
Continue Reading

Comma Case Settles. Period. Scratch Comma; Law Now Uses Semicolons

(February 11, 2018) The lack of a serial comma in a statute has cost a Maine dairy $5 million in a settlement with truck drivers who originally were denied overtime pay. The case gained the attention of English majors because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit devoted 17 pages of its 29-page […]
Continue Reading

Court Finds Grubhub Driver Was Independent Contractor

(February 9, 2018) A Grubhub driver was an independent contractor and not an employee of the online food ordering and delivery service because the company lacks control over the driver’s work. The California district court noted it is an “all-or-nothing proposition” whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor. “With the advent of the […]
Continue Reading

A Comma or Not a Comma Can Turn a Case

(March 20, 2017) The comma may be a small punctuation mark but its presence, or absence, can have a huge impact, as shown in an overtime dispute involving delivery drivers and a dairy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit devoted 17 pages of a 29-page opinion to discussing the lack of a […]
Continue Reading

Jimmy John’s Abandons Non-Compete Agreements for Low-Paid Workers

(December 8, 2016) A settlement agreement with the Illinois Attorney General has torpedoed submarine sandwich maker Jimmy John’s non-compete agreements with low-paid workers and drivers. Under the agreement, Jimmy John’s Enterprises LLC and Jimmy John’s Franchise LLC agreed to drop its requirement that all employees and drivers sign a non-compete. The non-compete had prohibited the […]
Continue Reading

FTC Issues Guide for Responding to a Data Breach

(October 25, 2016) Need guidance when your business suffers a data breach? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released Data Breach Response: A Guide for Businesses both as a pamphlet and a video. It outlines the steps a business should take after a data breach. The booklet also includes a model notification letter to send when […]
Continue Reading

Balough Uses Autonomous Vehicles to Explain IoT Intellectual Property Issues

(October 11, 2016) The intellectual property issues associated with autonomous vehicles provides a timely case study to assist business lawyers in advising their clients on use of the Internet of Things (IoT). In a presentation entitled “Autonomous Vehicles A Stalking Horse for Intellectual Property Rights in the Internet of Things,” Richard C. Balough explained how […]
Continue Reading