Once again surprising the country by acting ten days before her own self-appointed deadline, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a ruling on August 20 in the Ryan v....more
8/21/2024
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
This just in: Judge Ada Brown ruled yesterday on the parties’ dueling summary judgment motions – 10 days before her self-imposed deadline to do so – in Ryan LLC v. FTC. Judge Brown granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary...more
8/21/2024
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Restrictive Covenants
Wednesday, a third court weighed in on the FTC’s proposed ban on non-competes, set to go into effect on September 4, 2024. Judge Corrigan of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the...more
Against the backdrop of the FTC’s rule banning non-compete agreements nationwide and the lawsuits challenging that rule, many states have considered legislation narrowing or outright banning non-competes. Minnesota recently...more
On May 31, 2024, the Governor of Colorado signed House Bill 24-1324, titled “Attorney General Restrictive Employment Agreements,” putting into place a law to toughen protections for employees who are subject to abusive...more
6/17/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Reimbursements ,
Restrictive Covenants
On April 23, 2024, the FTC announced its Final Non-Compete Clause Rule (“Final Rule”), which bans post-employment non-compete clauses between employers and their workers. The Final Rule becomes effective 120 days after being...more
6/12/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
On April 23, 2024, the FTC announced its Final Non-Compete Clause Rule (“Final Rule”), which bans post-employment non-compete clauses between employers and their workers. The Final Rule becomes effective 120 days after being...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
Effective January 1, 2020, Washington enacted a noncompete statute which, among other things, required employers to satisfy notice obligations and compensation thresholds to use noncompete agreements with employees and...more
Delaware has long been favored by businesses for many reasons, including its courts’ deference to parties’ ability to contract. Recently, however, the Delaware Chancery Court was seemingly less deferential to restrictive...more
In 2023, Seyfarth’s Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Compete practice group presented a series of dynamic and insightful CLE webinars, addressing pivotal challenges confronting businesses head-on. The breadth of our...more
On October 12, 2023, the Wisconsin legislature introduced Assembly Bill 481, which proposes the ban of employee non-compete agreements in the Badger State. Currently, employee non-compete agreements in Wisconsin are allowed...more
11/2/2023
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets
On January 1, 2022, the latest amendments to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act (“Act”) became effective. As we previously described, that Act sets forth various requirements governing restrictive covenant agreements in...more
For those interested in commenting on the FTC’s proposed rule banning nearly all non-competes, today, April 19, is your deadline to do so!...more
The FTC announced yesterday that it was extending the deadline to submit public comments on its proposed rule banning employment non-competes. ...more
On February 16, 2023, the FTC hosted a public forum for the purpose of examining the proposed rule banning non-compete agreements. The agenda included, among other things, opening remarks from Chair Kahn, an overview of the...more
Earlier today, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published a proposed rule which would ban all non-compete agreements between employers and “workers” (broadly defined to include employees, independent contractors, interns,...more
On September 1, 2022, Representative Mike Garcia (CA-25) introduced H.R. 8755, titled The Restoring Workers’ Rights Act (the “RWRA”), which would effectively ban non-compete agreements for non-exempt (low-to-mid wage)...more
As in real estate, as in law. A recent ruling in the USDC for the District of Colorado demonstrates that procedural considerations of where to file may often have substantive consequences. Plaintiff LS3, Inc. (“LS3”) sued...more
On August 13, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 102-0358, which amends the Illinois Freedom to Work Act and sets forth specific requirements for the enforceability of restrictive covenant agreements in...more
Earlier this month, plaintiff Bright Side, LLC dba Herbal Edibles, a manufacturer of cannabis edibles, filed a lawsuit in New Mexico state court to enforce a 3-year non-compete and enjoin the misappropriation of its trade...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
The “return to normal” in courts across the country has brought with it a flurry of trade secrets decisions that address some interesting and instructive issues, both procedurally and substantively....more
We previously wrote about whether Peloton instructors are (or should be) subject to non-compete agreements owing to their prominent role as the “face” of the company. ...more
6/1/2020
/ Advertising ,
Competition ,
Contract Terms ,
Endorsements ,
Influencers ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Marketing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Social Media
As the global economy falters, a fortunate few companies have seen tremendous growth as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Among the companies benefitting from the shelter-in-place orders currently in effect is Peloton...more
One of the first things a company should do when it suspects that its trade secrets have been compromised or that an employee has violated post-employment restrictive covenants is to conduct an investigation. ...more
4/20/2020
/ Confidential Information ,
Data Security ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Forensic Examination ,
Information Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investigations ,
Misappropriation ,
Remote Working ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Risk Management ,
Trade Secrets