As we approach the end of the first quarter in 2025, we have seen notable developments in non-compete law over the last 12 months. As the new administration decides what to do with non-competes at the federal level, state...more
On August 20, 2024, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a nationwide injunction against the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC’s”) rule banning non-competes with employees (the “Rule”)....more
8/22/2024
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Injunctions ,
Lack of Authority ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Statutory Authority ,
Texas ,
Unfair Competition
Earlier this year, on April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”) barring nearly all non-competition provisions for most workers in the United States. The Final Rule is set...more
Judge Ada Brown in the Northern District of Texas has stayed the effective date of the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule and granted plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction against the Rule, effective July 3, 2024. The court found...more
On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) promulgated its final rule prohibiting non-competes for most workers in the United States (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule raises several issues, including...more
5/2/2024
/ Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchises ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Nonprofits ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Selling a Business ,
Unfair Competition
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (the “Commission”) voted to issue its final rule (the “Final Rule”) barring non-competes for most workers in the United States, with exceptions for non-competes entered into in...more
As we last reported in March, the Federal Trade Commission’s (the “Commission’s”) final vote on its Proposed Rule to Ban Noncompetes (“Proposed Rule”) was slated to take place as early as April 2024. Today, the Commission...more
While the FTC was relatively quiet in 2023 on the non-compete front, California forged ahead with two amendments to its non-compete statute (Business and Professions Code section 16600) that, depending on how courts interpret...more
On May 30, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board’s (the “NLRB’s”) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo (the “General Counsel”) issued Memo General Counsel 23-08 (the “Memo”), expansively finding that non‑competes with...more
The FTC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking of its Non-Compete Clause Rule, which would ban non-competes altogether if promulgated, opened 2023 with a bang. Whether it goes into effect, in what form, and whether the Rule will...more
Following a year of unprecedented M&A deal activity, 2022 saw the global M&A market settle back into a more familiar pace. The year finished 38.8% lower than 2021’s record level, but only 9.3% lower than 2015-2019 averages,...more
1/23/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
CFIUS ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Excise Tax ,
Export Controls ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Mergers ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
National Security ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
REIT ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Technology ,
UK
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a proposed rule broadly seeking to ban non-compete agreements with nearly all U.S. workers, with only limited exceptions. The proposed rule would:
•make it...more
20 second read: While courts generally appear to give greater deference to enforcement of sale of business non-competes, at least one Delaware court confirmed that if a court thinks the restrictions go beyond the scope of the...more
On the heels of the bi-partisan introduction of the Workforce Mobility Act in Congress in February 2021, on May 31, 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed amendments to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act (the “Amendments”)...more
7/1/2021
/ Amended Legislation ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Illinois ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General
This week, on August 3, 2020, the California Supreme Court issued its opinion in Ixchel Pharma, LLC v. Biogen, Inc., which resolved two questions regarding the standards to be applied for non-competition agreements and...more
Last year, jurisdictions across the nation issued new laws and regulations further complicating compliance issues for employers, particularly for multi-state employers. Some of the most significant developments related to new...more
2/24/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Misclassification ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour