Miami Business & Commercial Law Blog

Consumers, individuals and businesses alike, drive the global economy. This means that firms trying to reach consumers must compete fiercely for attention to get their products noticed. There are any number of reasons a consumer may choose one product over another: experience with a brand, features, quality versus value, or just the bottom-line price. In making a purchasing decision, consumers often rely on communications from retailers and manufacturers in forms such as advertisements, direct messages and verbal assurances. Sometimes, though, such communications may be less than honest.

When a business attempts to deceive through the use of false or misleading communication, it is engaging in deceptive trade practices. In Florida, the state's consumer protection laws allow buyers who have been tricked or misled by unscrupulous manufacturers or retailers to receive compensation. Deceptive trade practices can include anything from false advertising to outright fraud.

A state-wide program that funds costly treatment for low-income children who suffer from autism was dealt a blow this month when regulators put a hold on enrollment of new behavioral analysis therapists. Regulators blamed the moratorium on widespread fraud and overbilling by individuals and agencies who were supposed to be delivering this effective type of therapy to needy autistic children in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and across Florida.

Medicaid and Medicare fraud has become increasingly widespread in the Sunshine State and elsewhere in the United States. Several therapy providers, pharmacies and home health care agencies in South Florida have run afoul of regulators and law enforcement in recent months. A single case easily represents millions of dollars in fraudulent claims, overbilling or charges for services never rendered.

A trade secret is an important type of a business's intellectual property for which the laws of Florida afford protection. A trade secret can be a formula, a proprietary device, a recipe or even a list of clients. Anything that is proprietary to a business and that gives the business an advantage over competitors who do not possess the information or do not have the knowledge to use the information could be considered a trade secret. Theft of a trade secret in Florida could give rise to a business tort claim and possibly even criminal charges.

In the Sunshine State, trade secrets are protected by the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Under the act, someone whose trade secret has been appropriated can move for injunctive relief to prevent the secret from being used or disseminated in business. The owner of the trade secret can also file suit for monetary damages, including those for actual financial losses, reasonable royalties for unauthorized disclosure of the secret and unjust enrichment.

Health care is one of the fastest growing business sectors in South Florida and across the United States. With such tremendous growth, however, comes the possibility of wrongdoing. In recent months, several individuals have been arrested, charged or sentenced on fraud claims involving health care operations. Typically, these cases involve fraudulent insurance claims.

In a recent case, the co-owner of Miami medical and rehabilitation clinics admitted to submitting more than $10 million in fraudulent health care claims. The scheme netted millions of dollars in ill-gotten insurance payments for the clinic owner and his co-conspirators. As a result, the clinic owner received a sentence of 97 months in federal prison, along with a three-year period of supervised release to follow his sentence.