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Chicago, August 15, 2017

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Highlights Appellate Court Ruling in Noncompete Case

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin highlighted a recent appellate court decision regarding a noncompete agreement and LinkedIn solicitations.

According to the article:

"In a ruling that broke new legal ground Monday, a state appeals panel found that connecting with a former colleague on a social media platform is not enough to violate a noncompete agreement.

The 1st District Appellate Court upheld the summary judgment granted to Gregory P. Gelineau, who was sued by Bankers Life and Casualty Co. for allegedly trying to recruit other Bankers Life employees from the Warwick, R.I., area.

This makes legal precedent out of an unpublished Rule 23 order issued in the case on June 26. Catherine A. Basque Weiler, a partner at Swanson, Martin & Bell LLP and one of Gelineau’s attorneys, argued in a July 14 motion to publish that the panel’s decision is actually a case of first impression.

“As social networking websites continue to grow and their use becomes more ubiquitous, this is an issue which may repeatedly arise in litigation over nonsolicitation agreements,” Weiler wrote. “Yet, Bankers’ arguments have not been addressed in a published opinion from any Illinois court of appeal.""

Weiler, partners Joseph P. Kincaid and Ronald S. Wisniewski and associate Troy M. Sphar represented the client.

Please visit this link to read the full Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article.

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