About David K. Staub Expertise I am a business and tax attorney and have spent more than 30 years assisting people with contracts in a wide variety of business situations. I can answer questions about basic contract issues. My experience includes almost all common contracts including employment agreements, contracts for the purchase and sale of a business, shareholder agreements, partnership agreements, LLC operating agreements, leases, software development agreements, distribution agreements, franchise agreements, joint venture agreements and software license agreements, to name a few. I can also direct people to sources for answers to specific legal questions which cannot be answered in a forum of this nature.
Experience
Experience in the area I have been an Illinois business attorney for almost 30 years. I have an extensive practice in the mergers and acquisitions area and have been involved in the tax and legal issues on hundreds of business transactions.
Organizations Illinois State Bar Association;
Chicago Bar Association (former Chairman of the Corporation & Business Law Committee and former Chairman of the Mergers and Acquisitions Subcommittee; former Executive Committee member, Federal Tax Committee and Chairman of subcommittee on general tax issues); Glenkirk Foundation (Trustee; Vice-Chairman/Strategic Planning); Association for Corporate Growth, Chicago Chapter; Midwest Entrepreneur Forum; Midwest Association of Alpha Delta Phi - President
Publications Commerce Magazine; YLS Journal; ISBA Section of Taxation Newsletter
Education/Credentials Harvard Law School, J.D., 1977; University of Illinois, B.S. in Accounting, with highest honors, 1974
Disclaimer Responses are intended to be informational only. No response is intended to constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Online advice is not a substitute for consultation with an attorney.
Question I signed a Non-Compete/Confidentiality agreement with my ex-employer and I'm now being sought after by a competitor to sign an affidavit and possibly testify against ex-employer in a lawsuit. The competitor's attorneys have said they will give me a written "indemnification and defense agreement" protecting me from breaching my non-compete/non-disclosure, then competitor will pay to defend me and pay any judgment against me. Is this adequate protection for me to assist them with their case? Does this document need to be notarized to be valid? My Non-Compete/Confidentiality agreement has no clause regarding testifying in court. Thanks.
Answer Susan, it is probably safe to testify in court even without an indemnification agreement. However, you should really have an attorney look at both the original Non-Compete/Confidentiality agreement with your ex-employer as well as the indemnification and defense agreement. It should not take a good attorney much time to review the documents and have a discussion with you. I would ask the company that is asking you to testify to also foot the bill for the review.
The document would not need to be notarized to be valid. The seal of the notary would just be additional evidence that the signatures on the document belong to the people who supposedly signed.
