Noncompete Agreements - Traps for the Unwary: Part 2
Ohio has long recognized the enforceability of non-compete agreements. Broadly speaking, a court can do one of three things with an unenforceable non-compete agreement: (1) the court can apply the “red pencil” doctrine and...more
The Wyoming Supreme Court decided four cases in the last 12 months against the enforcement of employees’ agreements not to compete with their former employer. Although each case was unique, the tenor and direction of these...more
Many non-compete agreements face challenges in both execution and enforcement. Each state has its own standards for what is permissible regarding duration and scope. And many states layer on additional restrictions and...more
A non-competition agreement (or “non-compete”) is an agreement between an employer and employee where the employee agrees not to engage in “competitive activity” for a defined term and geographic scope. These agreements can...more
Yes, but with caveats. For non-compete agreements in Arkansas, there are separate rules for non-medical and medical employees. This variance stems from Arkansas’ non-compete statute, which applies to non-medical employees,...more
In employment law, “blue penciling” a non-compete agreement refers to the practice whereby a court concludes that a non-compete agreement is unenforceable because it is overly broad, but rather than throw out the agreement...more
Since the passage of the Georgia Restrictive Covenants Act (O.C.G.A. § 13-8-50 et seq.) in May 2011, there has been some level of uncertainty regarding the extent to which a court may “blue pencil” or modify an otherwise...more
This is a two-part series where we are doing a deep dive into noncompete agreements and traps for the unwary. Noncompete agreements have a reputation for being technical, but what is it exactly that makes them so tricky? Join...more
Non-compete and non-solicitation agreements (“restrictive covenants”) can be a helpful tool for protecting a business, as they allow employers to restrict their employees’ ability to seek employment with competitors and/or...more
The Nevada Supreme Court recently addressed the question of whether lower courts may blue-pencil an otherwise unenforceable noncompetition agreement pursuant to a provision in the agreement that allows for court modification...more
In another strike against restrictive covenants in employment contracts, Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the Southern District of New York ruled in Jessica Denson v. Donald J. Trump For President, Inc. that the non-disclosure and...more
On December 31, 2020, the Nevada Supreme Court issued an opinion addressing and clarifying several issues relating to the power of the court to reform or modify an unreasonable noncompetition agreement often referred to as...more
Since the landmark New York Court of Appeals decision in BDO Seidman v. Hirshberg, 93 N.Y. 2d 382 (1999), the restrictive covenant landscape in New York has remained relatively constant....more
A recent Delaware Chancery Court opinion has elucidated Delaware’s approach to judicially modifying, or “blue-penciling,” overly broad noncompete agreements and deferring to parties’ choice of law provisions. The case, FP UC...more
On December 3, 2019, in Heraeus Medical, LLC v. Zimmer, Inc., the Indiana Supreme Court reaffirmed the “blue pencil doctrine,” likening the doctrine to an eraser and stating that Indiana courts may only delete language from...more
Under Indiana law, courts have routinely employed the "blue pencil doctrine" to revise noncompetition agreements that they have deemed to be unreasonable. Specifically, a court will delete the problematic terms and enforce...more
In recent years, North Carolina courts have become increasingly resistant to enforcing noncompetition and non-solicitation restrictions they view as insufficiently narrowed to the specific competitive threat presented by the...more
Welcome to the latest issue of the Ogletree Deakins International Employment Update - a newsletter aimed at human resources professionals and in-house employment counsel operating on an international basis. Please scroll...more
On April 15, 2019, the Indiana Court of Appeals issued a ruling that significantly developed restrictive covenant law in two areas: whether courts may reform contracts (as opposed to blue-penciling them) and whether...more
In this issue of UK Employment Flash, we examine the latest employment law developments, news and insights from the UK, including the Court of Appeal's ruling regarding pay for fathers or other caregivers taking shared...more
Refusing to enforce a non-solicitation provision that violated public policy, the Colorado Court of Appeals held that parties to a non-solicitation agreement cannot contractually obligate the court to “blue pencil” the...more
The Supreme Court in the UK, the highest court in the country, last week ruled on a restrictive covenant case for the first time in 100 years [Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2019] UKSC 32 (3 July 2019)]. It has clarified...more
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recently signed House Bill 1450, which limits the enforceability of noncompete clauses in written and oral employment contracts between employers on one hand and employees and independent...more
Washington is the most recent state to adopt a law restricting the use of noncompetition agreements. The new law (HB 1450), which was signed by Governor Jay Inslee on May 8, 2019 and is scheduled to go into effect on January...more
...In an industry so focused on the development and promotion of personalities and distinguishing its information and entertainment from the competition, talent non-competition agreements can be critical. But, as the saying...more