This week, on our Spilling Secrets podcast series, our panelists discuss the current state of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) nationwide non-compete ban amid ongoing legal challenges:
The FTC’s ban on non-competes...more
As we have previously written, on April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a sweeping final rule (“the Rule”) that purports to ban virtually all post-employment noncompete agreements in the United States. The...more
5/20/2024
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
We recently reported on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) 3-2 vote to issue its final noncompete rule that, unless it is enjoined, would ban all new noncompetes and a majority of existing noncompetes (the Noncompete...more
4/26/2024
/ Chamber of Commerce ,
Competition ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
As expected, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 yesterday to issue its final noncompete rule, with only a few changes from the proposed rule that are discussed below. Unless it is enjoined, which we expect, the rule...more
4/24/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
Health care employers face unique challenges and considerations when deciding whether to litigate non-compete agreements with physicians.
However, in such a quickly evolving legal landscape, the decision to take the matter...more
In a bombshell ruling last year that upended longstanding Delaware law, the Delaware Chancery Court ruled in Ainslie v. Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., 2023 WL 106924 (Del. Ch. Jan. 4, 2023), that forfeiture-for-competition clauses,...more
2/1/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Forfeiture Statutes ,
Former Employee ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Trade Secrets
2023 started off with a bang, and it is certainly not ending with a whimper. On January 4, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the settlement of two enforcement actions against employers arising out of their...more
12/27/2023
/ Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
In this special year-end episode, recorded live from our 42nd Annual Workforce Management Briefing in New York City, Epstein Becker Green attorneys discuss the biggest employment law trends and crucial workforce changes in...more
This week, we bring you our special Spilling Secrets podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law:
The year 2023 was significant for trade secret and non-compete law, full of enforcement actions and...more
As we predicted when the New York legislature passed a bill that would ban noncompetes in the state without even an exception for the sale of a business, Governor Kathy Hochul has said that she wants changes to the bill –...more
11/30/2023
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
As federal administrative agencies wade further into rulemaking and adjudicative efforts to outlaw noncompetes and restrictive covenants, defendants are beginning to raise preemption arguments in response to state court...more
11/29/2023
/ Breach of Contract ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Mobility ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preemption ,
Restrictive Covenants
This week, we bring you our special Spilling Secrets podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law:
Restrictions on non-competes have dominated the headlines this year. The Federal Trade Commission has...more
This week, we bring you our special Spilling Secrets podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law:
Most restrictive covenant disputes are resolved out of court. However, what about the restrictive...more
On June 21, 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis issued a report entitled “New data on non-compete contracts and what they mean for workers” that calls into question the assumptions made by the Federal Trade...more
Earlier this year, legislation was proposed in New York that would effectively ban all post-employment noncompetes. Few paid close attention to the proposals, ostensibly because similar legislation is proposed virtually every...more
As expected, on May 24, 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed a new law banning noncompete agreements in Minnesota. The ban will be effective for such agreements entered on or after July 1, 2023....more
On Thursday, January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made headlines with its announcement that it is proposing a new rule that would ban employers from using noncompete clauses (the “rule”)....more
This week, we bring you our special Spilling Secrets podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law.
An employer often overlooks training employees on what their restrictive covenant means and how to honor...more
9/21/2022
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Former Employer ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets
As our antitrust colleagues explained recently, on August 26, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its “Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022–2026,” as required under the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. Readers...more
As we have previously reported, the Colorado Assembly passed sweeping changes to the state’s noncompete law that, among other things, (1) set compensation floors for enforcement of both noncompetes ($101,250) and customer...more
As readers of this blog likely know, many states have entirely different statutory schemes for noncompetes in the healthcare industry. Indeed, while 47 states generally permit noncompetes, more than a dozen expressly prohibit...more
This week, we introduce Spilling Secrets, a new monthly podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law.
If you're hiring from a competitor amid the Great Resignation, one of your top priorities is not...more
As we previously reported, the Colorado General Assembly passed a bill in May making substantial amendments to Colorado’s noncompete statute, C.R.S. § 8-2-113. Governor Jared Polis signed the bill on June 8, 2022, meaning the...more
Several states over the past few years have passed legislation prohibiting the use in noncompete agreements (and other employment-related agreements) of out-of-state choice-of-law and forum selection provisions. A few of...more
As readers of this blog are aware, many states now require employers to provide prospective employees with copies of any noncompetes (and, in some cases, other restrictive covenants) they will be required to sign as a...more