Welcome to your daily briefing on legal developments in North Dakota. Today we're covering 6 key stories including updates on north dakota legal headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
3 stories
CorpNet has published contact and document filing information for the North Dakota Secretary of State to help create or maintain businesses.
Legal professionals handling ND business formations, registrations, or compliance can use this centralized resource to expedite filings and advise clients more efficiently.
The North Dakota Secretary of State registers businesses and nonprofits, issues licenses and registrations, and maintains the state's central UCC filing system.
Legal professionals advising clients on entity formation, secured transactions, or compliance filings need to navigate this central registry for proper registration and lien perfection.
The Secretary of State's office now provides an online booking service for business and nonprofit registration-related assistance, with options for virtual or in-person meetings.
Legal professionals advising ND clients on entity maintenance can direct them to streamlined scheduling rather than relying solely on phone callbacks.
Reach professionals in this market
3 stories
A consistently followed retention policy provides a defense against spoliation claims when documents are destroyed in the ordinary course before litigation was anticipated. Without a policy, every routine deletion looks like targeted destruction in hindsight.
Adverse-inference instructions arising from spoliation routinely turn winnable cases into losses. A documented policy, consistently applied, is the cleanest defense available.
A preservation (litigation hold) letter is appropriate as soon as litigation is reasonably anticipated, not just after a complaint is filed. The letter should identify the matter, the document categories at issue, and the recipient's preservation duty. Failure to send one is the leading evidence of spoliation in subsequent motion practice.
Sanctions for spoliation can include adverse-inference instructions, monetary fines, and in severe cases default judgment. The cost of issuing a hold letter is one paralegal hour.
Enforceability of employee non-competes varies dramatically by state and is trending toward narrower enforcement nationally. Common defects include geographic scope broader than the employer's actual market, duration longer than necessary to protect a legitimate interest, and lack of consideration beyond continued employment.
An overbroad non-compete is often unenforceable in its entirety, not just blue-penciled down — meaning the employer gets no protection at all. A narrower, defensible clause protects more than an aspirational one.
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