Prof. Cotter Quoted in Mpls/St. Paul Business Journal on Nonsolicitation Agreement

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal quoted Professor Thomas Cotter in a story on a lawsuit in which an employer alleges that a former employee violated a nonsolicitation agreement by contacting former customers through use of a social networking site. Cotter stated that there is nothing inherently different about contacting former business contacts through a social networking site and "doing it the old way, other than this way is much more efficient.” He also noted that courts have considerable discretion in deciding whether customer lists and contacts are trade secrets and whether social networking activity can be covered by noncompete agreements.