Much is said on this blog about the rights of individual plaintiffs to seek justice when they have been wronged. Businesses have very important rights too and are often empowered under the law to seek their rights to recovery when another company interferes.

Businesses often regulate their employer-employee relationships with employment contracts that contain noncompete and nondisclosure agreements. Additionally, many businesses set their contracts for a length of time in which the employee is employed exclusively.

Other companies may try to steal away top performers for their books of business or expertise. Companies should be sure to act quickly to enforce the rights under their contracts with the employee.

The employment contract, though, is not the only source of recovery. Illinois law provides that a corporation may sue when another person or entity interferes with its contracts, business relationships, or business expectancies. This means that companies have rights to enforce and justice to seek in an tortious interference with contract lawsuit.

Companies who sue under these laws can seek their actual damages, the amount of money they lost as a result of the other company’s interference with the contract, as well as punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

The most common type of tortious interference with contract lawsuit is the standard case of one company having an employment contract with someone which another company pays or entices the employee to break.

Companies should also know that the statute of limitations for tortious interference with a contract is slightly different that other tort causes of action. While most personal injury lawsuits in tort have a two year statute of limitations in Illinois, tortious interference with contract lawsuits have a five year statute of limitations. Usually, a Chicago business litigation attorney would recommend commencing evidence recovery and lawsuit investigation as soon as the injury is discovered to protect a business’s rights.