News & Analysis as of September 25, 2024

Non-Compete Agreements › Sherman Act

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Non-Compete Agreements are contracts, typically formed in employment or business purchase contexts, where one party agrees to refrain from engaging in a particular line of work or pursuing business within a certain industry or locale. The purpose of these agreements is to protect employers or business purchasers from competition stemming from former employees or former owners of a business. less -

FTC Votes to Issue Final Rule Banning Most Non-Compete Agreements Nationwide

Husch Blackwell LLP on 4/25/2024

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 to issue a final rule that would ban virtually all non-compete agreements for nearly all workers of for-profit employers. Commissioners Melissa Holyoak and...more

Heard at the 2024 Antitrust Law Section Spring Meeting: Part II

McDermott Will & Emery on 4/15/2024

The American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s annual Spring Meeting concluded on April 12. The annual Spring Meeting featured updates from federal, state and international antitrust enforcers and extensive discussion...more

California DOJ to Ramp Up Criminal Antitrust Enforcement

Troutman Pepper on 3/14/2024

On March 6, the California Department of Justice’s (California DOJ) Antitrust Chief Paula Blizzard, announced at the American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime that her office is planning to...more

Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Boycott Conspiracy Claim Against Heavy Equipment Dealers

Lathrop GPM on 12/12/2023

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has recently affirmed a summary judgment order dismissing all claims by an importer of new Chinese construction equipment alleging a conspiracy to boycott and tortious interference with...more

Client Alert: Acquittal of Aerospace Employees Marks the Department of Justice’s Fourth, and Most Damaging, Criminal No-Poach Loss

Jenner & Block on 5/11/2023

United States District Court Acquits all Defendants in US v. Patel - On April 28, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut acquitted the defendants in US v. Patel of the charges of conspiring...more

Can Non-Compete Agreements Lead to Jail Time?

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 5/5/2023

Can non-compete agreements lead to criminal fines—or even jail time? Yes, they can. That is because violating the Sherman Antitrust Act can result in criminal charges, not just civil liability....more

Sports law may have a partial fix for FTC noncompete ban

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 1/11/2023

The non-statutory labor exemption might help some employers. On January 5, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a proposed rule that, if implemented, would ban nearly all post-employment covenants not to compete...more

The FTC Continues to Broaden Its Enforcement Authority to Pursue Chair Khan’s Agenda

Fenwick & West LLP on 11/16/2022

On July 9, 2021, just days into her tenure as Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) Chair, Lina Khan led the Commission’s charge to rescind the agency’s 2015 policy statement (2015 Statement) on its approach to...more

Franchisor 101: All the King’s Poachers

Lewitt Hackman on 9/30/2022

A federal appellate court held that Burger King and its franchisees may violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act (antitrust) by engaging in concerted action when entering into “no-hire” agreements. The appellate court reversed...more

Latest Decisions in Criminal No-Poach and Civil Non-Compete Cases Indicate Continuing Scrutiny of Restrictive Covenants

Jenner & Block on 7/13/2022

Parties in Criminal No-Poach Case Reach Pre-Trial Resolution - Recently, the parties in United States v. Hee notified District Court Judge Boulware of the District of Nevada that they reached a preliminary plea deal. The...more

Employee Talent Wars Gain Unprecedented Ammunition from Changing Antitrust Landscape

Holland & Knight LLP on 6/16/2022

The current labor market is fraught with challenges for employers. In the wake of the COVID-19 market disruptions, the demand for employees, especially for experienced or highly trained employees, far exceeds the supply....more

Are the Federal Antitrust Laws Now a Weapon for Employee Rights?

Amundsen Davis LLC on 5/19/2022

Perhaps flying under the radar of everyone except antitrust lawyers (and the employers who have been targeted), the Department of Justice (DOJ) has made a concerted push recently to use federal anti-trust laws as a tool to...more

King & Spalding Analysis: Enforcement of Labor Agreements

King & Spalding on 4/20/2022

Recent actions by the Biden administration, including the Treasury Department’s report on the State of Labor Market Competition in the U.S. Economy, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Labor (DOL) and...more

Department of Justice suggests that employee non-competes could be criminally prosecuted

Hogan Lovells on 3/4/2022

On 25 February the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted a statement of interest in a Nevada State court lawsuit filed by a group of anesthesiologists alleging that non-compete provisions in their employment agreements...more

Reaction and Response to the FTC & DOJ Workshop on Labor Market Competition

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 12/23/2021

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) hosted a virtual workshop on December 6-7, 2021, bringing together agency representatives, lawyers, economists, academics, and other experts to discuss...more

Ninth Circuit Denies Sherman Act Challenge To No-Poach Provision

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 9/16/2021

In an important decision on August 19, 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Aya Healthcare Services, Inc. v. AMN Healthcare, Inc. affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of AMN, finding that the...more

Labor, Defense, And Rail Services Among Top Competition Concerns Targeted In President Biden’s Executive Order

Vinson & Elkins LLP on 7/19/2021

As has been well-publicized, on July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy” (the “EO” or “Order”).1 As the preamble articulates, the EO’s focus is to “promote the...more

FTC Requires Divestiture In $21 Billion Acquisition Of Retail Fuel Chain

Cozen O'Connor on 7/2/2021

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) reached a settlement with 7-Eleven, Inc. and Marathon Petroleum Corporation (“Marathon”) to resolve allegations that 7-Eleven’s acquisition of Marathon’s retail fuel chain subsidiary,...more

Florida Oncology Provider to Pay $100 Million Fine in DOJ Criminal Antitrust Investigation

King & Spalding on 5/5/2020

On Thursday, April 30, 2020, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute LLC (“FCS”), the largest independent medical oncology/hematology practice in the U.S., agreed to pay a $100 million fine to resolve a criminal...more

Top 10 Developments and Headlines in Trade Secret, Non-Compete, and Computer Fraud Law for 2019 & 2020

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 2/27/2020

Continuing our annual tradition, we have compiled our top developments and headlines for 2019 & 2020 in trade secret, non-compete, and computer fraud law. Here’s what you need to know to keep abreast of the ever-changing law...more

A Solution in Search of a Problem? FTC Hosts Workshop to Consider Authority to Abolish Non-Competes

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 1/24/2020

Within the last five months, the two executive arms responsible for enforcing antitrust laws—the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”)—held public workshops to examine the effect of...more

Top 10 Noncompete Developments of 2019

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 1/14/2020

If there was any question about whether there is a growing national trend to limit the enforceability of noncompetition agreements, 2019 settled the matter. Seven states enacted new statutes designed to limit the...more

State Attorneys General Keep Pressure on FTC to Regulate Non-Competes

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 12/16/2019

As we previously covered, a group of 18 state attorneys general in July filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), asking the FTC to incorporate labor concerns when reviewing corporate mergers and to use its...more

Maryland Enacts a Statute Prohibiting Non-Competes for Lower Wage Employees

ArentFox Schiff on 7/11/2019

On May 28, 2019, the Maryland Governor permitted (without signature) the Noncompete and Conflict of Interest Clauses Act (the Act) to become law. ...more

Managing Employee Mobility Today: Are You Succeeding or Scrambling? - Take 5 Newsletter

Epstein Becker & Green on 6/27/2019

The 2019 legal landscape of employee mobility continues to evolve, at times drastically. Courts and legislatures are giving increased scrutiny to employers’ claims to protect the confidentiality of their trade secrets and...more

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Non-Compete Agreements › Sherman Act

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