Mitchell Markel

Last week, I wrote a story about Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's pollster and close political advisor, and his former business associates. As I noted earlier, Penn is suing his former business partner Michael Berland, and several other former employees of their company, Penn, Schoen & Berland, for setting up a rival consulting company, allegedly in violation of a non-compete clause in their contracts. Berland and the other defendants are accused of trying to woo away Penn's corporate clients, but the suit also has political implications, because Berland and another recently departed partner, Doug Schoen, have worked for Michael Bloomberg before, and would presumably be on board for a presidential campaign should the mayor decide to run. That is, if the non-compete clause allows them to.

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