The Wall Street Journal’s blog, The Accelerators, features Russell Beck in an article about employee recruiting by startups titled “Lacking Qualified Applicants, ‘Passive Candidates’ Offer Hope.” The article, published on January 29, 2014, is by Dow Jones VentureWire and WSJ reporter, Lora Kolodny.
The story focuses how startups can recruit new employees from other companies by looking for so-called “passive candidates” — i.e., people who aren’t actively seeking a new job.
In the article, Russell Beck addresses a potential risk to this type of employee recruitment strategy:
Startups could also land in hot water if they try to poach too many employees from one company, warns Russell Beck, a founding partner at Boston law firm Beck Reed Riden LLP.
“That company may be harmed as a consequence, and can sue you for it,” he says, adding that the distraction and costs of litigation could put a smaller, less-capitalized venture out of business.
The Wall Street Journal has previously featured Russell Beck’s work on noncompete agreements, including an article titled “When a New Job Leads to a Lawsuit: Litigation Over Noncompete Clauses Is Rising; Does Entrepreneurship Suffer?”
About us
Beck Reed Riden LLP is among the leading authorities in trade secret, noncompete, and unfair competition law, and our experience handling these matters is backed by our extensive employment law and business litigation experience. Our hand-picked team combines attorneys with complementary expertise and practical experience.
Russell Beck’s work in this area is well recognized; it includes:
- Over sixteen years of working on trade secret, noncompete, and unfair competition matters
- Authoring the book Negotiating, Drafting, and Enforcing Noncompetition Agreements and Related Restrictive Covenants (4th ed., MCLE, Inc. 2010), used by other lawyers to help them with their noncompete cases
- Drafting and advising on the current bill pending before the Massachusetts Legislature to define, codify, and improve noncompetition law
- Teaching Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants at Boston University School of Law
- Founding and administrating the award-winning blog, Fair Competition Law
- Establishing and administrating the Noncompete Lawyers and Trade Secret Protection groups on LinkedIn, with over 750 members around the world
- Founded and chaired the Trade Secret / Noncompete Practice for an AmLaw 100 firm
In addition, Russell was honored for his work in this area of law in the 2013 Chambers USA Guide, which included Russell in its “Notable Practitioners” section, adding that “Russell Beck of Beck Reed Riden LLP is respected by commentators for his skills as a litigator. His areas of specialty include noncompete and trade secrets matters.”
Beck Reed Riden LLP is Boston’s innovative litigation boutique. Our lawyers have years of experience at large law firms, working with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups and individuals. We focus on business litigation and labor and employment. We are experienced litigators and counselors, helping our clients as business partners to resolve issues and develop strategies that best meet our clients’ legal and business needs – before, during, and after litigation. We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and help you. Read more about us, the types of matters we handle, and what we can do for you here.