CHARLES WARE's TRADE SECRETS UPDATE FOR MARYLAND AND D.C., 2014

www.charlesjeromeware.com. This blog is presented for informational purposes, and not intended to be legal advice. The national law firm of Charles Jerome Ware, P.A., Attorneys & Counselors, is conveniently headquartered in the Baltimore and D.C. metropolitan area. For an initial courtesy consultation, contact us at (410) 720-6129 or (410) 730-5016.
The public can expect an increase in trade secret litigation in Maryland and Washington, D.C. in 2014, as well as throughout several other jurisdictions in the United States. Certainly 2013 was a big trade secrets year, but 2014 promises to be an even bigger year.

One very hot trade secrets issue involved the allegation by security company Mandiant in February 2013 that the Chinese government was sponsoring hackers in China that systematically engaging in cyberattacks in the United States. The U.S. responded with outrage, followed with a White House " Executive Order and 5-Point Plan" for combatting Cybertheft; then the Pentagon publicly accused China of cyberhacking in its Annual Report to Congress; and the U.S. Senators called for the creation of a watch list of foreign countries that " engage in economic or industrial espionage". It appeared the U.S. had taken the upper hand on China in terms of the moral high ground and public image on the topic.

Then came the Edward Snowden scandal of the NSA.

Snowden single-handedly snatched America's moral high ground away with his now infamous "revelations" about NSA surveillance programs, including spying on friendly government leaders and allies. America took a huge credibility hit. After all, it is very difficult to complain about others hacking when you are doing the same thing as well as monitoring  "friends' " telephone calls. There will surely be more uproar about this debacle in 2014.

All along, trade secrets legislation has also been gaining ground in the states, including Maryland and D.C.

Maryland is one of 48 states that have adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Texas, by the way, became the 48th state to do so in 2013. And the Massachusetts legislature currently has two bills that would also adopt the uniform act. New York and Massachusetts are the only hold-outs thus far in adopting some form of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act., which celebrates its 34th anniversary in August.

Maryland's own trade secrets law can be found at :  Md. Com. L. Code Secs. 11-1201, et seq. (http://law.justia.com/codes/maaryland/2010/commercial-la/title-11/subtitle-12/) (http://www.lawserver.com/law/state/louisiana/la-laws/louisiana revised statutes title 51 chapter 13-a); and see, http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/Maryland Trade n - Review]/

Attorney Charles Ware's Blog: MARYLAND LEAD PAINT DEFENSE ALERT: CA. LEAD CLEAN-...

Attorney Charles Ware's Blog: MARYLAND LEAD PAINT DEFENSE ALERT: CA. LEAD CLEAN-...: www.charlesjeromeware.com . Lead paint and lead poisoning defense litigation specialists. " We are here to make a difference. We fight;...

MARYLAND LEAD PAINT DEFENSE ALERT: CA. LEAD CLEAN-UP ORDER,www.charlesjeromeware.com

www.charlesjeromeware.com. Lead paint and lead poisoning defense litigation specialists. " We are here to make a difference. We fight; you win."  (410) 720-6129; (410) 730-5016.

A California Superior Court judge in San Diego has ordered three(3) current or former lead paint-producing companies to pay $1.1 billion into a clean-up fund to help clean-up hazards from lead paint in hundreds of thousands of homes in the state of California.

The judge's decision in the 13-year old civil case, filed by 10 city and county governments in California, requires payments by defendants SHERWIN-WILLIAMS Co., NL INDUSTRIES, Inc., and CONAGRA Grocery products company.  defendants DuPont Co. and Atlantic-Richfield Co. (owned by BP PLC) were dismissed from the case. Defendants have vowed to appeal the court's decision.

The judge has ordered the creation of a fund to achieve the goals of using the money to pay to remove lead-paint hazards from homes in Los Angeles County, San Francisco and other places whose local governments joined the legal action. The fund is to be administered by California's existing state Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch program.

[ "Lead-Paint Cleanup Ordered By Judge", The Wall Street Journal, page B1, Tuesday, December 17, 2013]

Attorney Charles Ware's Blog: SCOTUS DISMISSES "UNDER THE RADAR" UNION CASE: CHA...

Attorney Charles Ware's Blog: SCOTUS DISMISSES "UNDER THE RADAR" UNION CASE: CHA...:     w ww.charlesjeromeware.com “We are here to make a difference; we fight, you win.” The U.S. Supreme Court won’t cons...

SCOTUS DISMISSES "UNDER THE RADAR" UNION CASE: CHARLES WARE"S UPDATE

 

 

www.charlesjeromeware.com “We are here to make a difference; we fight, you win.”

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t consider a case on the validity of union-employer “neutrality agreements” after hearing oral arguments on November 13.

 

Salon had called Unite Here Local 355 v. Mulhall an “under-the radar case that could deal a major blow to already embattled U.S. unions.” Unions seek to entice companies to help them in the type of agreement before the court, promising labor peace or other concessions in exchange for an employer’s help. The employer may agree in exchange to remain neutral, for example, or may help the union by providing access to employee lists.

 

At issues is whether such agreements violate the Labor Management Relations Act, which bars companies from paying money or “any other thing of value” to a labor union trying to organize workers.

 

Justice Stephen G. Breyer dissented from the court’s dismissal of the case as improvidently granted in an opinion on Tuesday joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

 

Breyer’s dissent acknowledges that the case could be moot, either because the agreement at issue expired before a federal appeals court issues a decision, or because the employee who challenged the agreement lacked standing. He said the Supreme Court should have asked for additional briefing on a third question: whether the federal law authorizes a private right of action.

 

If the case was found to be moot, the court would likely vacate the decision finding a labor violation by the Atlanta based 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, “thereby removing its precedential effect and leaving the merits question open to be resolved in a later case,” Breyer said.  

NELSON MANDELA, aka " Mandiba": Lawyer, Peace Activist, Pres. of So. Africa, Nobel Prize Winner, Icon ( 1918 -2013).

Attorney Charles Ware's Blog: 1931" SCOTTSBORO BOYS": JUSTICE DENIED , BUT PARDO...

Attorney Charles Ware's Blog: 1931" SCOTTSBORO BOYS": JUSTICE DENIED , BUT PARDO...: www.charlesjeromeware.com . " We are here to make a difference. We fight, you win." For the unfortunate "Scottsboro Boys&qu...