Just over a month ago, employers throughout the United States breathed a sigh of relief after Judge Ada Brown in the Northern District of Texas issued a summary judgment ruling in the Ryan v. FTC litigation setting aside the...more
9/25/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Confidential Information ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Motion To Stay ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Summary Judgment
Once again surprising the country by acting ten days before her own self-appointed deadline, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a ruling on August 20 in the Ryan v....more
8/21/2024
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
This just in: Judge Ada Brown ruled yesterday on the parties’ dueling summary judgment motions – 10 days before her self-imposed deadline to do so – in Ryan LLC v. FTC. Judge Brown granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary...more
8/21/2024
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Restrictive Covenants
In a rapid-fire response, the Ryan Court in the Northern District of Texas this morning denied Plaintiff and Plaintiff-Intervenors’ Expedited Motion for Limited Reconsideration of the Scope of Preliminary Relief, and...more
Having achieved a milestone in obtaining a limited preliminary injunction halting the application of the FTC ban on non-competes effective September 4, 2024 as to the named plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors in its Texas...more
The Court ruled on Wednesday, July 3, what most of the legal community already believed: that the FTC lacked the substantive rulemaking authority to issue a nationwide ban on non-competes between employers and workers....more
The FTC’s recently issued Final Rule banning non-competes for most workers prohibits an employer from (1) threatening to enforce a non-compete against a worker, (2) advising the worker that, due to a non-compete, they should...more
6/21/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Good Faith ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Safe Harbors ,
Unfair Competition
On April 23, 2024, the FTC announced its Final Non-Compete Clause Rule (“Final Rule”), which bans post-employment non-compete clauses between employers and their workers. The Final Rule becomes effective 120 days after being...more
6/12/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
On April 23, 2024, the FTC announced its Final Non-Compete Clause Rule (“Final Rule”), which bans post-employment non-compete clauses between employers and their workers. The Final Rule becomes effective 120 days after being...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
In 2023, Seyfarth’s Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Compete practice group presented a series of dynamic and insightful CLE webinars, addressing pivotal challenges confronting businesses head-on. The breadth of our...more
Introduction -
As we enter a new era of business landscape dynamics, Seyfarth Shaw is pleased to present the latest edition of our annual cornerstone publication. This comprehensive 50-State Non-Compete Desktop Reference,...more
11/8/2023
/ Confidential Information ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforceability ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Risk Mitigation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trade Secrets
The FTC is not alone in taking aim at non-competes. Yesterday, the NLRB’s General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to all regional directors, officers-in-charge, and resident officers at the NLRB stating that...more
For those interested in commenting on the FTC’s proposed rule banning nearly all non-competes, today, April 19, is your deadline to do so!...more
The FTC announced yesterday that it was extending the deadline to submit public comments on its proposed rule banning employment non-competes. ...more
Earlier today, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published a proposed rule which would ban all non-compete agreements between employers and “workers” (broadly defined to include employees, independent contractors, interns,...more
Legislators in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the site of Patrick Henry’s infamous “Give me liberty, or give me death” speech, have enacted legislation that gives more liberty to low-wage workers looking to leave for greener...more
For the first time in 15 years, the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”), Massachusetts’ highest court, issued a decision analyzing the enforceability of non-solicitation covenants, the distinction between such covenants in the...more
2/5/2020
/ Business Disputes ,
Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legitimate Business Interest ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Shareholders ,
Tolling Agreement ,
Trade Secrets ,
Written Agreements
This is the third blog by our Trade Secrets , Computer Fraud & Non-Competes team dealing with Washington state’s House Bill 1450, which dramatically alters non-compete agreements within the state. This blog discusses...more
11/4/2019
/ Article I ,
Confidential Information ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Contract Terms ,
Contracts Clause ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Regulations ,
Low-Wage Workers ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Retroactive Application ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statutory Interpretation
Washington state has joined the ranks of an ever-growing number of states that impose significant restrictions on employee non-compete agreements....more
5/15/2019
/ Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Readers of our blog will recall that this summer, the Massachusetts legislature passed a non-compete reform bill after nearly a decade of fruitless attempts. The new law goes into effect today, meaning that any agreements...more
10/1/2018
/ Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Garden Leave ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
This week, after close to a decade of “will they or won’t they” nail biters, the Massachusetts legislature finally passed a non-compete bill, just minutes before the end of the 2018 legislative session....more
8/3/2018
/ Choice-of-Law ,
Confidential Information ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Garden Leave ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pending Legislation ,
Reformation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
UTSA ,
Venue
Fresh off of signing the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the White House released a report yesterday entitled “Non-Compete Reform: A Policymaker’s Guide to State Policies,” which contains information on state policies related to...more
As we previously reported, Massachusetts is making yet another go at non-compete reform, as the Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development introduced a compromise bill at the end of May that has many in the Commonwealth...more
In Seyfarth's sixth installment of our 2015 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth attorneys will discuss the significant statutory changes to several jurisdictions’ laws regarding trade secrets and restrictive covenants and...more