Henke & Joseph, LLP, lawyers in Houston, TX, Texas

Employees' Duty of Loyalty

Generally, an employee owes the duty of undivided loyalty to his or her employer. Courts take varying approaches to the issue of an employee's duty of loyalty. Some jurisdictions do not acknowledge a separate cause of action for an employee's breach of loyalty unless there is a fiduciary relationship between the employer and the employee. The claim is usually pleaded as a breach of a fiduciary duty. Some jurisdictions recognize a separate claim for an employee's breach of the duty of loyalty but also acknowledge its relationship to a fiduciary breach. A common thread in all jurisdictions is that employees who occupy a position of trust and confidence owe their employers a higher duty of loyalty than lower-level employees. The scope of the duty of loyalty depends on the particular fact circumstances and the nature of the employment relationship. More...

Public Comment and Judicial Review Regarding Government Antitrust Settlements

Under Section 5(a) of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 16(a), a final judgment in a successful federal government antitrust enforcement action is prima facie evidence in a subsequent private action for treble damages of the defendant's antitrust violation. However, a consent decree agreed to by a defendant in a federal government action before any testimony is taken is not considered prima facie evidence in a subsequent private action.More...

Premerger Notification Under Section 7A of the Clayton Act

Section 7A of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 18a, requires advance notice to federal antitrust enforcement agencies of mergers and acquisitions over a certain size. Pre-merger notification rules must be complied with and notice must be given to the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice before the merger or acquisition may become effective. Those agencies have the option upon receiving proper notification to impose an additional waiting period upon the parties to the transaction in order for the agencies to evaluate any potential effect on competition or tendency toward a monopoly that would suggest an enforcement action to have the merger or acquisition enjoined.More...

Corporate Creditors

Generally, directors do not owe a fiduciary duty to a corporate creditor when that creditor has contracted exclusively with the corporation. However, a director may owe a fiduciary duty to a corporate creditor to protect the corporate assets when the corporation becomes insolvent. More...

DUTY OF CARE--CORPORATE DIRECTORS

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