Our Employee Defection and Trade Secrets thought leaders have pulled together their top predictions for the new year so that employers can get a running start to 2026.
The FTC Isn’t Done – Healthcare Will Become Ground Zero
Even with a scaled-back agenda, the FTC will target non-competes and mobility-restricting agreements in healthcare, including B2B no-hire arrangements. Expect more enforcement actions focusing on competition in the labor market even without a federal non-compete ban.
Noteworthy Local Trends Will Reshape the Landscape
2026 will bring major local developments that create real compliance headaches for multi-state employers:
- Florida’s CHOICE Act will produce its first mandatory injunctions, raising fights over how federal courts apply state substantive law versus federal procedure.
- New York City will ban non-competes, setting up a jurisdictional clash with the state legislature.
- California courts will clarify the reach of its non-compete ban and confirm that California employers can still enforce lawful restrictive covenants in other states where they’re permitted.
AI Will Become a Central Player in Trade Secret Battles
Trade secret litigation will increasingly revolve around AI systems. We’ll see AI notetaker transcripts, voice records, and auto-summaries will become critical discovery material. Employees departing with custom AI agents or model-trained assets will give rise to new misappropriation claims. And courts will wrestle with ownership questions involving model weights, training sets, and AI-generated engineering artifacts. This means employers will need stronger controls around AI-enabled workflows, clearer IP assignments, and updated exit protocols.
