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
Yesterday, the Court in the ATS Trees v. FTC case denied Plaintiff ATS Trees’ Motion for Stay and Enjoin the FTC recent Ban on Non-Compete agreements (“Final Rule”), because, the Court held, ATS Trees failed to establish...more
7/24/2024
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Regulations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws
An administrative law judge (“ALJ”) of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) in J.O. Mory, Inc. recently required an employer to rescind certain restrictive covenants in its employment agreements. The decision is yet...more
7/19/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 7
In a rapid-fire response, the Ryan Court in the Northern District of Texas this morning denied Plaintiff and Plaintiff-Intervenors’ Expedited Motion for Limited Reconsideration of the Scope of Preliminary Relief, and...more
Having achieved a milestone in obtaining a limited preliminary injunction halting the application of the FTC ban on non-competes effective September 4, 2024 as to the named plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors in its Texas...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
The district court in the Northern District of Texas recently set the briefing schedule on Plaintiff Ryan’s Motion to Stay the FTC Non-Compete Ban and Preliminary Injunction...more
On May 3, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered an Order staying the proceedings in Chamber of Commerce v. FTC by granting the FTC’s motion to apply the first-to-file doctrine, in...more
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
This afternoon, the FTC voted to adopt a proposed final rule banning most non-competes with workers in the United States. The final rule provides that it is an unfair method of competition—and therefore a violation of Section...more
4/24/2024
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Trade Secrets
By any measure, the world has changed vastly since we issued our first Commercial Litigation Outlook in 2020. We are now on our fourth installment of providing insights and flagging trends for what to expect in the coming...more
2/16/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Court ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Copyright ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Merger Agreements ,
Patents ,
Trademarks
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
Introduction -
As we enter a new era of business landscape dynamics, Seyfarth Shaw is pleased to present the latest edition of our annual cornerstone publication. This comprehensive 50-State Non-Compete Desktop Reference,...more
11/8/2023
/ Confidential Information ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforceability ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Risk Mitigation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trade Secrets
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
Welcome to the third annual installment of Seyfarth Shaw’s Commercial Litigation Outlook, where our nationally recognized team provides insights about litigation issues and trends to expect in 2023. The continuing global...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
A non-fungible token (“NFT”) is a type of financial asset that is made up of digital data stored in a blockchain. Clear as mud, right? The person or entity that owns the NFT records the ownership in the blockchain, which...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
On April 13, 2020, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition released a joint statement and press release regarding “competition in labor markets” and potential...more
4/27/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Vertical Mergers ,
Wage-Fixing
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 8, 2020, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order 122, which requires that all essential retail, manufacturing and warehousing businesses and businesses engaged in essential construction projects...more
4/9/2020
/ Construction Industry ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Essential Functions ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Murphy ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Non-Essential Businesses ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Public Health ,
Public Projects ,
Social Distancing