Nondisclosure Agreements and Divorce In Illinois

If knowledge is power then giving away knowledge is equivalent to giving away power…which people never want to do. In order to preserve control after revealing a business secret, employers and business partners often require their employees or coworkers to enter into nondisclosure agreements (NDAs). A nondisclosure agreement is “a contract or contractual provision containing a person’s promise not to disclose any information shared by or discovered from a holder of confidential information, including all internal or proprietary matters.” Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) Nondisclosure agreements are everywhere now. The signers to a nondisclosure agreement are bound by that agreement to not disclose to third-parties whatever particular information is covered by that agreement. Sometimes, those signers get divorced and their spouses want to exactly what those valuable secrets are…because they might be entitled to half of them. Nondisclosure Agreements And Discovery In An Illinois Divorce In an Illinois divorce, those spouses are entitled to ask for anything in the divorce litigation process. “[A] party may obtain by discovery full disclosure regarding any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action… including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any documents or tangible things, and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of relevant facts” Ill. S. Ct. R. 201(b) “The purposes of litigation are best served when each party knows as much about the controversy as is reasonably practicable.” Mistler v. Mancini, 111 Ill. App. 3d 228, 231 (Ill. App. Ct. 1982) The production of any information covered by the nondisclosure agreement will likely violate the nondisclosure agreement. Hopefully, the nondisclosure agreement includes a clause that governs what happens if non-disclosable information is revealed to a third party through litigation. If so, the party disclosing the information should follow that clause’s instructions. Usually, a clause in an nondisclosure agreement that addresses litigation asks the parties to request a protective order from the court. Protective Orders And Nondisclosure Agreements In An Illinois Divorce “Protective Orders. The court may at any time on its own initiative, or on motion of any party or witness, make a protective order as justice requires, denying, limiting, conditioning, or regulating discovery to prevent unreasonable annoyance, expense, embarrassment, disadvantage, or oppression.” Ill. S. Ct. R. 201(c)(1) A protective order issued by a court will read “all information supplied during discovery in the lawsuit that shall be designated by the party or person producing it […]

from Russell D. Knight | Family Lawyer Chicago https://rdklegal.com/nondisclosure-agreements-and-divorce-in-illinois/