Violations of Illinois Trade Secret Act--Confidential Business Information

The other day I had a very surprising and amazing situation where not one, but TWO licensed Illinois attorneys admitted to me, in front of a hearing officer, that they were in receipt of an employee manual which was clearly marked "confidential" on its cover.

Further, she admitted she induced the breach via an ex-employee--most likely another attorney.

So I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there IS an Illinois Trade Secret Act, and that it covers:

Sec. 2. As used in this Act, unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Improper means" includes theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a confidential relationship or other duty to maintain secrecy or limit use, or espionage through electronic or other means. Reverse engineering or independent development shall not be considered improper means.
(b) "Misappropriation" means:
(1) acquisition of a trade secret of a person by another person who knows or has reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means; or
(2) disclosure or use of a trade secret of a person without express or implied consent by another person who:
(A) used improper means to acquire knowledge of the trade secret; or
(B) at the time of disclosure or use, knew or had reason to know that knowledge of the trade secret was:
(I) derived from or through a person who utilized improper means to acquire it;
(II) acquired under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or
(III) derived from or through a person who owed a duty to the person seeking relief to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or
(C) before a material change of position, knew or had reason to know that it was a trade secret and that knowledge of it had been acquired by accident or mistake.
(c) "Person" means a natural person, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or any other for‑profit or not‑for‑profit legal entity.
(d) "Trade secret" means information, including but not limited to, technical or non‑technical data, a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, drawing, process, financial data, or list of actual or potential customers or suppliers, that:
(1) is sufficiently secret to derive economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and
(2) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy or confidentiality.
(Source: P.A. 85‑366.)

Clearly what happened was a violation of the act. The document is marked. It is kept on a secure, encrypted server in an office locked with a finger print lock.

Damages are as follows:

(765 ILCS 1065/4) (from Ch. 140, par. 354)
Sec. 4. (a) In addition to the relief provided for by Section 3, a person is entitled to recover damages for misappropriation. Damages can include both the actual loss caused by misappropriation and the unjust enrichment caused by misappropriation that is not taken into account in computing actual loss. If neither damages nor unjust enrichment caused by the misappropriation are proved by a preponderance of the evidence, the court may award damages caused by misappropriation measured in terms of a reasonable royalty for a misappropriator's unauthorized disclosure or use of a trade secret.
(b) If willful and malicious misappropriation exists, the court may award exemplary damages in an amount not exceeding twice any award made under subsection (a).
(Source: P.A. 85‑366.)

It is my belief that all parties involved acted in an knowing manner.

The manual contains business methods and means to protect and manage the business. Other law firms do not need to see what works for that business.

Oh and in case anyone thinks that violating confidentiality of documents is no big deal and all you get is a slap on the wrist, I was was working on a case where one of the attorneys in the firm (about 15 years ago) inadvertently showed an expert witness confidential documents without having him first sign a confidentiality agreement under a protective order. The judge awarded $35,000 in damages upon hearing and the law firm and client were BOTH liable.

The Banks ARE responsible for the economic collapse

According to Proessor Alan Nasser, Professor Emeritus of Evergreen State University, the US banks have been squeezing the consumer for years with higher interest rates on loans to consumers, plus fees, fines and penalties--all of which are illegal.

Apparently the US banks have put pressure on the President AND the federal reserve to raise the fees, fines, penalties and interest to take what they can from the consumer.

There has been a huge backlash with consumers shutting down on credit cards and turning to debit cards.

Home loans and refinancing are all but gone.

25% of all payments on student loans are now fees, fines and penalties and it turns out that the banks have squeezed Congress on the student loan program and laws prohibit normal consumer protections, such as filing bankruptcy, truth in lending and other consumer protections.

During the bailout, banks promised Congress they would use the money to loosen up on consumer credit, lower rates and fees--all of which they never did.

What they did instead was continue to clamp down on credit to consumer, raise fees and rates and they bought up many smaller banks to eliminate competition.

see

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10724

http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/02/the-student-loan-swindle/

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike-whitney/34172/the-student-loan-swindle-an-interview-with-professor-alan-nasser

and of course google "professor alan nasser" for updated articles.

no one is telling the truth about this, but ask around and you will find the following:

1) loans to students come with high rates and onerous contracts and are limited;

2) credit cards routinely ask for 33% interest and have $35 to $50 overlimit rates--overlimits the companies allow, further they have the same fines for being one day late!

3) home loans and refi's have all but vanished, causing a complete collapse in home loans and sales.

no one else but the banks can charge these excessive fees, fines and penalties.

when there is breach of contract for any other business, the small business is limited to "actual damages" while the banks add on 20 to 25% fees for 25 cent transgressions.

the wealthy are getting wealthier, congress and the presidents--both obama and bush--have sold out and now it's up to the lawyers and courts to start fighting this insanity.

note that sales of ultra luxury items and homes are up. $100,000 cars, tens of millions of dollar homes--all going up.

a great way to ruin the US economy!

Class Action--"credit reporting" agencies Equifax, TransUnion and TRW

One of the interesting aspects of credit reporting is that they do not address the issue of illegal fees, fines and penalties.

They do not have a provision for unconscionable behavior, nor do they acknowledge that the consumer has a complaint against the vendor or credit holder for breach of contract for lack of good faith and fair dealing.

This, I believe leaves them open to class action litigation for those issues: unconscionability, breach of contract for good faith and fair dealing, which in turn leads to consumer fraud violations.

contact me if your credit score is low due to these issues and if you have contacted the "big three" complaining that they report "credit" even though the vendor has violated laws with respect to breach of contract for good faith and fair dealing, unconscionability and consumer fraud.

Class Actions on Student Loans

And from Professor Alan Nasser

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike-whitney/34172/the-student-loan-swindle-an-interview-with-professor-alan-nasser

apparently student loans are becoming nothing but a scam, and you can't even declare bankruptcy to get out of them.

taking in 20% fees fines and penalities on these loans is a national disaster!

Class Action--University of Illinois Student Accounts Late Fees

A possible class action against the University of Illinois. My son was a few days late on a tuition bill of a few hundred dollars and the U of I in Champagne charge a $50 late fee. $50!!!!! that's insane. We're supposed to promote education, incentivize children to get college degrees, and what do we do? We scam them and their parents. Teach them it's okay to be greedy like that and violate the law. The law provides that when a contract is breached all the aggrieved party gets is actual damages. The current fed rate on short term t-bills is about .5%. Why don't they charge that?

Contact me if you are interested in becoming a class representative for this class action

Class Action--Public Storage

Public Storage charges absolutely unconscionable late fees of 50% of the bill.

Further they send out their certified mail with wrongful statements in it leading the consumer to pay more than she has to.

Great situation for a good class action to return these fees, fines and penalties to the consumer.

The overcharges should be returned directly to the consumer's account and then the consumer can elect to apply the fees, fines and penalties to what is owed, or click on the link, "send me a check" or transfer to a bank account and input the routing and account number. Failing that in 6 months, the monies should be turned over to the secretary of state "cash" fund.

Contact me if you are interested in becoming a class representative for a class action on illegal fees, fines and penalties

Class Action Litigation to protect consumers

Over the years I have thought about all the great class actions out there against large corporation that are simply not responsible to or responsive to consumers.

The Fixer in the SunTimes does a great job, but sometimes, lawyers have to look at litigation, and in particular, class action litigation.

So fi you're a lawyer on your own, struggling to make ends meet, or if you are out of work, here are some things to look at that I have noticed:

1) My Minolta repair man tells me there is a spate of failures of motherboards in copiers. I don't understand that, because these machines are priced at $7500 to $10,000 and up! And a lousy component like a mother board fails? I think even the hard drives they put in there are not imaged or backed up so that the consumer can just slap in another one if the hard drive fails. Great class action. Contact me if you have been damaged by the failure of a Minolta or other copier motherboard and I will save your information and if we get enough plaintiffs, I can file suit and help this problem.

2) My class action against Chase in Illinois for overdraft fees. I would like to add in other banks because they do the same things and violate federal laws that say that, in essence, according to the OCC or Office of Control and Currency (Bank Examiners) that these fees must be set fairly to both the bank and the consumer. Discovery in numerous cases has shown that is not in fact the case. Tons of documents and emails have been uncovered in the banks figuring out ways to "be more profitable" on these fees or "get more from the consumer" but NONE, read NONE have been found discussing ways to be fair to the consumer.

3) A possible class action against the University of Illinois. My son was a few days late on a tuition bill of a few hundred dollars and the U of I in Champagne charge a $50 late fee. $50!!!!! that's insane. We're supposed to promote education, incentivize children to get college degrees, and what do we do? We scam them and their parents. Teach them it's okay to be greedy like that and violate the law. The law provides that when a contract is breached all the aggrieved party gets is actual damages. The current fed rate on short term t-bills is about .5%. Why don't they charge that?

I'll post other possible unfair to consumer and small business situations as they are pointed out to me.