The fight to resurrect the FTC’s Final Rule (the “Final Rule”) banning noncompetes continues in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In August 2024, mere days before the Final Rule was to take effect, Judge...more
2/20/2025
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Appeals ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unfair Competition
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
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
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
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
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
Christine Wilson, the only remaining Republican Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), published an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal today in which she announced her resignation from the FTC and explained her...more
This week, we bring you our special Spilling Secrets podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law:
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed rule that would ban...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it will be hosting a public forum on February 16, 2022, from 12:00-3:00 p.m. ET, to discuss its proposed nationwide noncompete ban. The forum is intended to supplement the...more
Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced legislation on February 1, 2023 entitled the Workforce Mobility Act (the “Act”). This bill has been introduced previously, but never made it out of committee....more
As we predicted, earlier today, 100 industry organizations submitted a request to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to extend the comment period for its proposed rule banning noncompetes nationwide by an additional 60 days....more
As previously reported, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a rule on January 5, 2023, that would ban noncompetes nationwide. There are serious questions about the FTC’s authority to promulgate such a rule and many...more
1/19/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
“Practices that three unelected bureaucrats find distasteful will be labeled with nefarious adjectives and summarily condemned, with little to no evidence of harm to competition. I fear the consequences for our economy, and...more
On Thursday, January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made headlines with its announcement that it is proposing a new rule that would ban employers from using noncompete clauses (the “rule”)....more
1/10/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
On Thursday, January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made headlines with its announcement that it is proposing a new rule that would ban employers from using noncompete clauses (the “rule”)....more
Perhaps we were wrong. Or perhaps we were just not thinking creatively enough. After President Biden issued his “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” in which he “encourage[d]” the Federal Trade...more
As our antitrust colleagues explained recently, on August 26, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its “Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022–2026,” as required under the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. Readers...more
Despite the Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA that regulatory agencies must have “clear congressional authorization” to make rules pertaining to “major questions” that are of “great political...more