Jonathan Pollard
Jonathan Pollard is a high stakes employment and competition lawyer based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Pollard has litigated more than 150 non-compete and trade secret cases. He has resolved more than 500 such cases outside of litigation. And he has advised more than 1,000 individual and corporate clients on related issues.
Pollard has extensive experience litigating a wide-range of competition claims, including non-compete, trade secret, trademark, false advertising and antitrust claims. Pollard also has extensive experience litigating employment disputes, particularly FLSA claims and workplace sexual assault/harassment claims. He has tried both jury and bench trials to verdict and successfully prosecuted appeals in the Eleventh Circuit and Florida state appellate courts. He is licensed in Florida and numerous federal district courts in Florida.
Jonathan has been quoted on non-compete and trade secret issues in or on the the Wall Street Journal, PBS News Hour, NPR, Bloomberg, The Guardian, FundFire, Digital Guardian, and many more. He has been quoted on issues of litigation strategy and trial practice by The Expert Institute. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Litigation Commentary & Review, Law.com, and Law360. He has taught continuing legal education courses on non-compete and trade secret litigation to other lawyers. He has served as an expert witness in multi-million dollar litigation that relates to his areas of practice.
Practices
Education
Cornell University, B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
- Florida
- Southern District of Florida
- Middle District of Florida
- Northern District of Florida
- District of Colorado
- 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
- 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
Non-Compete Litigation
Jonathan and his firm have extensive experience defending employees, executives, entrepreneurs and companies against non-compete and trade secret claims. Jonathan routinely represents doctors, C-level executives, sales executives, engineers, financial advisors, real estate agents, and other high level employees who are switching companies or who have started their own businesses. Likewise, Jonathan routinely represents companies that are facing litigation over hiring employees who are subject to non-compete agreements. Outside of the employment context, Jonathan routinely represents individuals who have sold their businesses and agreed to certain restrictive covenants but who wish to reenter the market through a new venture. An important note: Jonathan does not prosecute employee non-compete agreements. He does not believe in them. However, this does not extend to sale of a business non-compete agreements. In the sale of a business context, Pollard both prosecutes and defends non-compete claims.
In addition to litigating non-compete matters, Jonathan routinely advises both individuals and corporate entities on a broad range of related issues including employment contracts, employee poaching and raiding, separation agreements, hiring decisions, and the purchase or sale of business interests. A substantial portion of Pollard’s advising practice involves representing C-level executives in all facets of transitioning from one company to another.
Trade Secret Litigation
Jonathan both prosecutes and defends claims for theft of trade secrets, often in connection with non-compete disputes. He routinely advises companies on potential exposure for theft of trade secrets in connection with hiring decisions, joint ventures, or potential acquisitions. He has developed extensive protocols for mitigating exposure on theft of trade secret claims in the aforementioned contexts.
Antitrust Litigation
Jonathan has extensive experience as an antitrust litigator and has both prosecuted and defended complex antitrust claims, including claims based on patent abuse. He has litigated numerous cases under both the Florida Antitrust Law (which encompasses the relevant sub-chapter governing non-compete agreements and valid restraints of trade) and the federal Sherman Act. Most recently, he served as the plaintiff’s expert witness in a $15 million legal malpractice case arising from an underlying antitrust and unfair competition dispute.
Trademark Litigation
Jonathan and his colleagues routinely litigate cases under the federal Lanham (Trademark) Act. Pollard PLLC focuses is trademark litigation practice on false advertising claims.
Representative non-compete matters include:
- ADJ 26 and Fume LLC v. Gigi et. al., Case No. 21-62104 (S.D. Fla. 2021) (defending corporate entity against tortious interference and trademark infringement claims arising from underlying non-compete dispute)
- Larweth v. Magellan, Inc., Case No. 6:18-CV-00823 (M.D. Fla. 2018) (pursuing defamation, unjust enrichment, and related claims for more than $1 million in unpaid commissions and defending counterclaims for breach of non-compete agreement and unjust enrichment that seek more than $12 million in damages)
- Federated Nat. Holding v. Prygelski, Case No. 17-004342 (Broward County, FL 2017) (representing CFO of publicly traded insurance company in defense of non-compete claims and pursuing parallel arbitration proceeding to declare at-issue restrictive covenants illegal restraints of trade under the Florida Antitrust Act)
- Sofia v. Fross et. al., Case No. 01-16-0002-6358 (AAA 2017) (awarding $1 million and declaratory judgment holding non-compete agreement unenforceable to wrongfully expelled LLC member)
- Pro Premium Finance, US Premium Finance, and E.T.I. Financial Corporation Litigation: Multiple cases including Case Nos. 0:16-CV-60009 (S.D. Fla. 2016); 16-002191CACE (07) (Broward County, FL 2016) (prosecuting claims for, inter alia, fraud, breach of contract, and declaratory judgment holding restrictive covenants illegal under Florida Antitrust Act; defending counter and cross claims for, inter alia, breach of contract and tortious interference)
Representative trade secret matters include:
- Gear Up With CPR, Inc. et. al. v. CPR Code, LLC et. al. (E.D.N.Y. 2021): Defending CPR training company and its principal against misappropriation of trade secret and fiduciary duty claims. Plaintiff’s bid for an emergency injunction and seizure order was resolved with no injunction and agreement to return any documents/materials in Defendants’ possession.
- All Star Recruiting v. Ivy Staffing et. al., 21-62221 (S.D. Fla. 2021) (defending healthcare staffing company, its principal, and certain employees against non-compete and trade secret claims)
- Application Development Consultants, LLC v. Appell, 19-CA-2334 DIV L (Hillsborough County, FL 2019) (defending C-level executive against claims for misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty)
- Federated National Holding v. Prygelski, 17-004342 (Broward County 2017): Denying publicly traded company’s bid for injunction against former CFO in non-compete and trade secret matter.
Representative trademark matters include:
- Prosecuting Lanham Act claims for trademark infringement and false advertising against former employee and industry rival in Racing Sports Concepts v. Dickinson, Case No. 13 – 20428 (SDFL)
- Assisting with the prosecution claims under the Anti-Cybersquatting Protection Act in Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences v. Godaddy.com Inc., case No. 2:10-cv-03738, (CD Cal)
Recent decisions include:
- Vital Pharms., Inc. v. Alfieri, 23 F.4th 1282 (11th Cir. 2022) (vacating non-compete injunction and holding that movant (maker of Bang energy drink) failed to establish a legitimate business interest or irreparable harm)
- ADJ 26, LLC v. Gigi, No. 21-CV-62104-WPD/LSS, 2021 WL 6134811 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 10, 2021) (denying non-compete and trademark injunction arising out of a dispute over a $200+ million vape company)
- de Cortes v. Brickell Inv. Realty, LLC, No. 21-21109-CIV, 2021 WL 5768173 (S.D. Fla. July 1, 2021) (denying motion to dismiss claims for declaratory judgment holding non-compete unenforceable, FLSA violations, false advertising, and defamation)
- Kenny v. Critical Intervention Services, 358 F. Supp. 3d 1348 (M.D. Fla. 2019) (denying motion to stay and determine attorneys’ fees in FLSA case absent settlement or offer of judgment)
- Taslidzic v. Luther, 2018 WL 3134419, (S.D. Fla. May 21, 2018) (denying motion to dismiss claims for defamation per se and false advertising in violation of the Lanham Act)
- Trinity Graphic v. Tervis Tumbler Co., 320 F. Supp. 3d 1285 (M.D. Fla. 2018) (denying motions to dismiss fraud and theft of trade secret claims)
- Sofia v. Fross et. al., Case. No. 01-16-0002-6358 (AAA 2017), Final Award (awarding wrongfully expelled LLC member $1 million and declaratory judgment holding non-compete unenforceable under Florida Antitrust Act)
- Salazar v. Hometeam, 230 So. 3d 619 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) (vacating preliminary injunction and holding that trial court must consider illegality as potentially viable affirmative defense to non-compete enforcement under Florida Antitrust Act)
- Lucky Cousins Trucking v. QCER, 223 F. Supp. 3d 1221 (2016) (denying preliminary injunction in trucking industry non-compete dispute under Florida Antitrust Act)
- IDMWorks v. Pophaly, 192 F. Supp. 3d 1335 (S.D. Fla. 2016) (denying preliminary injunction in software non-compete dispute under Florida Antitrust Act)
- Evans v. Generic Solutions, 178 So. 3d 114 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) (vacating injunction in non-compete dispute under Florida Antitrust Act).
- American Registry v. Hanaw, 2015 WL 5687693, (M.D. Fla. Sept. 25, 2015) (awarding prevailing party fees under FDUPTA).
- West v. LQ Mgmt., LLC, 156 F. Supp. 3d 1361 (S.D. Fla. 2015) (denying motion for summary judgment on 42 U.S.C. 1981 claim)
- Moon v. Med. Tech. Associates, 577 F. App’x 934 (11th Cir. 2014) (vacating preliminary injunction in non-compete dispute and remanding for evidentiary hearing)
Substantive areas of interest include:
- Non-compete litigation
- Trade secret litigation
- The intersection of medicine and competition
- Non-compete agreements and antitrust
- Employee poaching and raiding
- False advertising litigation
- Defamation and trade libel
- Choice of law and conflicts of law
Prior to establishing his own practice, Jonathan spent three years at the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner where he represented numerous blue chip companies in complex commercial cases. Jonathan earned his B.A. from Cornell University, where he served as the President of the Cornell Speech & Debate Team, earning honors as a national finalist and an All-American. During his time at Cornell, Jonathan was named a College Scholar, awarded a research fellowship through the Andrew Mellon Foundation, and selected as an inaugural member of the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program. In his senior year, he was tapped by University leaders to represent Cornell in the Rhodes Scholar competition.
Jonathan earned his J.D. from Georgetown University, where he was awarded a Law Center Scholarship, served as an associate editor of the Georgetown Law Journal, and participated in the school’s asylum clinic. Throughout law school, Mr. Pollard served as a contributing writer for a number of legal publications, including The Hedge Fund Law Report and the Native American Report.
Prior to law school, Jonathan taught high school English in southwest Baltimore, Maryland.
