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Attorney Yasir Billoo Explains NDA Law (Video)
Yasir Billoo, an attorney with Golden & Grimes in Miami, Florida, is licensed to practice law in both Florida and California, and works heavily in the areas of business/commercial law, employment and labor, and civil appeals. Yasir also has a business-oriented blog titled Small Business Law.
In this Slashdot video interview hosted by Timothy Lord, Yasir gives what is essentially a primer on the law behind Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and how they differ from Non-Competes. Sooner or later you're going to encounter -- or even write -- an NDA, and you'd better know the law behind what you're doing. Naturally, today's interview isn't specific legal advice about a particular situation. If you want that, you need to hire a lawyer to advise you. But Yasir (a long-time Slashdot reader. BTW) has shared enough knowledge in this interview that it will help you deal with many NDA situations on your own, and how to tell when you really should have a lawyer by your side.
In this Slashdot video interview hosted by Timothy Lord, Yasir gives what is essentially a primer on the law behind Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and how they differ from Non-Competes. Sooner or later you're going to encounter -- or even write -- an NDA, and you'd better know the law behind what you're doing. Naturally, today's interview isn't specific legal advice about a particular situation. If you want that, you need to hire a lawyer to advise you. But Yasir (a long-time Slashdot reader. BTW) has shared enough knowledge in this interview that it will help you deal with many NDA situations on your own, and how to tell when you really should have a lawyer by your side.
As long as I don't have to sign an NDA to watch the video ... :-)
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
I've walked away from bad agreements, and I'm not shy about crossing stuff out that I don't find acceptable. So far I haven't had anyone refuse to hire me because of that. As Billoo said, you have to be assertive about your own best interests because you're the only one looking out for them.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
The NDAs that I've signed as function of interviewing for a job, e.g., typically only stipulate that I can't disclose anything that I learn about the companies intellectual property over the course of the interviewing process.
Some of the companies I've been employed by have required me to sign an Assignment of Inventions. Some were fairly broad, asserting that _any_ idea I had, on the clock or off, belonged to the company. Others were less broad.
And while IANAL, I do remember from the business law courses that I took during my undergrad studies that contracts are not enforceable when there's a great large difference in the bargaining power of the two parties. When you have a potential employer holding a job over your head telling you to sign or else, that's not an agreement between equals. I can't predict how any court is going to rule, but right off the bat I'd be willing to bet that if you were required to sign an overly broad Assignment of Inventions in order to get the job, there's a fair chance that it might not be enforceable. As always, consult an attorney.
Wow, a Slashdot video that I actually found useful, interesting, relevant to the site, and not a slashvertisement. A very pleasant surprise, and thanks to Yasir for his time and insight.
Timothy, though... c'mon, man... pay a few bucks for a backdrop and a reasonable microphone and step up the game a little, rather than looking like a teenager hiding from your parents in your bedroom... even a few bucks for a laptop stand or a cheap video camera so we don't get the camera-is-sitting-on-my-desk-nasal-shot. Some reasonable lighting, etc., is step two. It's not hard.
#include "standard_disclaimer.h"
I've had plenty of clients requiring an NDA, and had no problem signing them. One employer I had wanted to me sign an updated employment agreement. I didn't mind the NDA portions of it, but there were some unappealing non-compete provisions, like whatever I did for myself on my own times was theirs. I quietly avoided signing it until my manager forgot about it and worked there for another few years.