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Noncompete Reform Continues in New England: Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island All Pass New Laws

Noncompete reform continues to crop up in New England. We previously wrote about comprehensive reform in Massachusetts late last year, and now three more states have passed legislation in recent weeks. All three states –...more

Maryland Joins the Bandwagon: Bans Noncompetes for Low-Wage Workers

Maryland has become the latest state to revise its noncompetition law to clamp down on the practice and further restrict the types of workers permitted to be bound by such restrictive covenants. On May 25, 2019, SB 328...more

The DTSA’s Ex Parte Seizure Remedy – Two Years Later

Enacted in May 2016, the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) created a new remedy that was not available under any state's Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) – the ex parte civil seizure. This remedy permitted plaintiffs to...more

Part II: State Legislatures’ Initial Response to the Call to Action

Following the Obama White House’s Call to Action in October 2016, state legislatures have been busy enacting restrictive covenant reform, particularly to non-compete laws. By our count, eight (8) states have enacted some type...more

State Legislatures Heed the Obama White House’s “Call to Action”: Part 1 of a 3-Part Series Examining State-Level Restrictive...

State legislatures across the country have been active in recent years proposing and enacting legislation concerning employers’ use of restrictive covenants. These new laws alter the legal landscape in an area where...more

Restrictive Covenants Place In-House Attorneys in a Real Predicament – But Are They Enforceable?

Employers enter into restrictive covenants with members of their workforce to protect their trade secrets and confidential information, particularly with employees who have access to such information. As in-house counsel...more

Is My Noncompete With an Independent Contractor Enforceable?

The Eight Circuit recently addressed this question in Ag Spectrum Co. v. Elder, Case No. 16-3113 (8th Cir. August 2, 2017). In that case, Ag Spectrum contracted with Vaughn Elder to work as an independent contractor. Elder...more

Choice-of-Law and Choice-of-Forum May Depend on the Choice of Where to File and When: Multi-State Employers Continue to Face...

Employers who operate in a multi-state environment should take note of a recent case out of the Sixth Circuit (which governs employers that operate in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.) Stone Surgical, LLC v. Stryker...more

Don’t “Hire” A Lawsuit: A New Employee’s Misappropriation of Trade Secrets May Quickly Become Your Own

Companies commonly assume that they will only be sued for trade secret misappropriation if they or someone from their company steal the “secret sauce” of their competitor. Not true. A far more common way that companies get...more

A Key Difference Between the DTSA and UTSA: “Continued Misappropriation” Continues to be a Viable Claim

The Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), unapologetically, was modeled after the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”) in many respects. For background, the DTSA is the federal statute, enacted in 2016, that creates a federal...more

A Primer on “Cross-Referencing” the DTSA Whistleblower Immunity Provision Following 4 Simple Steps

In the spring of 2016, the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA” or “Act”) was signed into law providing trade secret owners for the first time a federal civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation. Although the DTSA...more

Federal Court in California Rules on DTSA’s “Extraordinary” Ex Parte Seizure Remedy

When the Defend Trade Secret Act (“DTSA”) was enacted last year, there was much debate on the remedy provision permitting the ex parte seizure of property. Such an order would not only direct the seizure of information...more

Choice of Forum and the Parties Matter in Med Device Cases (Particularly in Minnesota)!

The medical device industry has seen a litigation boom in recent years in non-compete litigation. A new case out of the District of Minnesota involving Medtronic, Inc. (“Medtronic”), one of the med device industry leaders,...more

Forum Shoppers Beware (But Not in Alabama)!

Since non-compete law can vary drastically by state, many employers who operate in a multistate environment can benefit from utilizing forum-selection and choice-of-law clauses. These clauses are intended to ensure employers...more

Did the White House’s “Call to Action” Get“Trumped”?

The White House, under the Obama Administration, recently issued a “Call to Action” to state legislators across the country for non-compete reform. The Call to Action was a culmination of a months-long investigation by the...more

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