This week, on our Spilling Secrets podcast series, our panelists delve into the implications for employers following the recent blockage of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) non-compete ban.
On August 20, 2024, the U.S....more
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
On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, which struck down decades of deference to administrative agencies known as “Chevron deference,” on July 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court...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
This week, on a special episode of our Spilling Secrets podcast series, we break down the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) purported nationwide non-compete ban and discuss what’s on the horizon for employers:
On April 23,...more
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
This week, in our special Spilling Secrets podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law, we’re discussing the current state of restrictive covenants in the health care industry:
Restrictive covenants are...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
As we have previously discussed, the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel is seeking to invalidate noncompete agreements on the untested legal theory that they violate the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB...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
We wrote previously about how nobody seemed to be talking seriously about the noncompete bill that was passed by both the New York General Assembly and Senate last month. If signed by Governor Hochul, the bill would ban...more
As we wrote almost exactly a year ago – months before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its proposed noncompete rule – the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA made it clear that the FTC does not have the...more
7/5/2023
/ Clean Air Act ,
Confidential Information ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debt Forgiveness ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Higher Education Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Student Loans ,
Trade Secrets ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
West Virginia v EPA
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
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found its first target under recent guidance issued in a memo from its General Counsel claiming that noncompete agreements may violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)....more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found its first target under recent guidance issued in a memo from its General Counsel claiming that noncompete agreements may violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)....more
This week, we bring you our special Spilling Secrets podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law:
Trade secret and non-compete litigation can result in massive damage awards, but those cases can also be...more