by Mike Maslanka

On May 2, Governor Rick Perry signed the newly enacted Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which takes effect September 1. Texas is the 48th state to pass the law, proving that while Texas may not always be first, it is never last!

The law, put simply, is a big deal. It wipes away, with a stroke of the governor’s signature, all existing case law regarding misappropriation of trade secrets. So what will be a trade secret under the new law? “Information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, process, financial data, or list of potential customers or suppliers.”

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Time is running out to cast your votes in the ABA Journal’s fifth Annual Blawg 100 contest to choose the most popular law blogs. To vote for your favorites, go to abajournal.com/blawg100 by December 30.

The blogs are divided into 12 categories, and voters are allowed 12 votes. But you are allowed to vote more than once in each category.

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Four employment law blogs published by law firms that are part of the Employers Counsel Network (ECN) have been named to the LexisNexis Top 25 Labor and Employment Law Blogs of 2011.

Those making the list are: read more…

The new Texas state law that allows employees to bring guns to work, so long as they are secured in a locked vehicle, goes into effect September 1.

Senate Bill 321 was passed in the state legislature in May and was signed by Governor Rick Perry on June 17. The law allows employees who are licensed to carry a concealed handgun or otherwise are lawfully allowed to possess a firearm to have the weapon secured in a locked vehicle in an employer’s parking lot, garage, or other parking area provided for employees.

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