The Biden Administration plans to issue an executive order calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to adopt rules to limit the use of noncompete clauses in employment agreements. According to Axios, White House Press...more
As many of our blog readers will know, the enforceability of restrictive covenants often depends on which state’s law applies to the dispute. For example, California is well known for refusing to enforce employee...more
Fear of the coronavirus is causing many employers to permit—or in some cases mandate—employees to work remotely. While this measure is designed to minimize the risk of virus transmission, it presents an altogether different...more
3/6/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
China ,
Confidential Information ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Information Security ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Security Standards ,
Telecommuting ,
Trade Secrets ,
UTSA ,
Workplace Safety
Last summer, after a decade of fits and starts, and just minutes before the end of the 2018 legislative session, the Massachusetts legislature finally passed comprehensive non-compete reform, which went into effect on October...more
12/17/2019
/ Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Physician Assistants ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State and Local Government
A law firm can terminate an at-will lawyer who refuses to sign an agreement prohibiting them from soliciting the firm’s customers or clients following cessation of employment, according to the Supreme Court of Kentucky. In...more
12/11/2019
/ Appeals ,
At-Will Employment ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
KY Supreme Court ,
Legal Representatives ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Solicitation ,
Unlawful Practices ,
Wrongful Termination
Following in the footsteps of its neighbors Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, Rhode Island recently enacted legislation that restricts the use of non-competition agreements with certain types of employees. The Rhode...more
11/6/2019
/ Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Regulations ,
Low-Wage Workers ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) have introduced legislation entitled the Workforce Mobility Act (“WMA”). The WMA, like its prior incarnation from last year, seeks to ban non-compete agreements outside...more
10/31/2019
/ Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Low-Wage Workers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Threshold Requirements
On June 28, 2019, Governor Mills signed LD 733, An Act To Promote Keeping Workers in Maine, into law. The Act places limits on non-compete agreements and bans restrictive employment agreements....more
8/7/2019
/ Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Low-Wage Workers ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trademarks
While it is well-settled law that an attorney cannot be bound by an agreement restricting the right to practice law, that does not insulate attorneys from all restrictive covenants. As we have previously discussed, there are...more
Last week, Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced the “Freedom to Compete Act” (the “Act”) proposing to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 to ban non-competes for most non-exempt workers. ...more
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
We reported last week that the attorneys generals of ten states are investigating several fast food franchisors for their use of so-called “no poach” provisions in their franchise agreements. ...more
The Attorneys General of ten states are investigating fast food franchisors for their alleged use of “no poach” provisions in their franchise agreements, according to a press release by the New Jersey Attorney General’s...more
Marc McGovern, the mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts (home to many of the Commonwealth’s established and emerging pharmaceutical, biotech, and other life sciences companies), published an op-ed in the Boston Globe regarding...more
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
We’ve written a lot this summer about the Massachusetts legislature’s latest failed attempt at non-compete reform. Two other states in New England, however, are able to claim accomplishments in that regard. Specifically,...more
8/23/2016
/ Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Former Employee ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Physicians ,
Restrictive Covenants