News & Analysis as of

Contract Terms Non-Compete Agreements Appeals

Jenner & Block

Delaware Supreme Court Reaffirms Reluctance to Blue-Pencil Overbroad Restrictive Covenants in Sunder v. Jackson

Jenner & Block on

The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Sunder Energy, LLV v. Jackson, No. 455, 2023, 2024 Del. LEXIS 407 (December 10, 2024) reaffirmed the courts’ limited willingness to modify or “blue-pencil” overbroad restrictive...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Feeling Competitive: The Reasonableness of Forfeiture-for-Competition Provisions

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In 2024, employers rushed to track the twists and turns of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) noncompete ban, which attempted to limit the enforceability of agreements that restrict employees from working for a competitor...more

FordHarrison

"In Any Capacity" Language Dooms Georgia Non-Compete Provision

FordHarrison on

Prior to the enactment of Georgia’s Restrictive Covenant Act (“GRCA”), Georgia courts uniformly struck down non-compete provisions that used “in any capacity language”, i.e., a non-compete that prohibited an employee from...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Massachusetts High Court To Weigh In on Forfeiture-for-Solicitation Provisions in Era of Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement...

Epstein Becker & Green on

On Monday, March 3, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) heard argument in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., regarding whether the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act, G. L. c. 149, § 24L (the...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Indiana Appeals Court Rejects Noncompete That Prevented Work in Any Capacity

On November 25, 2024, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that a former chief operating officer (COO) at a medical fee collection company did not breach noncompete agreements and a nondisclosure provision when she took a job...more

WilmerHale

Beating the Odds: First Circuit Doubles Down on Massachusetts Decision Enforcing Noncompete Against Sports Betting Executive Newly...

WilmerHale on

Against a growing trend of legislation and broader efforts seeking to limit or eliminate post-employment noncompetition restrictions, recent Massachusetts and First Circuit decisions in a dispute between DraftKings and one of...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Court of Appeal Rules That Partial Sale of Business Can Bind Seller-Owner to a Noncompetition Agreement

In Samuelian v. Life Generations Healthcare, LLC, — Cal. App. 5th —, 2024 WL 3878448 (Cal. App. Aug. 20, 2024), the California Court of Appeal answered two long outstanding questions of California law concerning the...more

FordHarrison

Non-Compete News: Georgia Appeals Court Clarifies What Constitutes Appropriate Definition of Territory In Non-Compete Under RCA

FordHarrison on

Last month, in American Plumbing Professionals, Inc. v. ServeStar, LLC, Georgia’s Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s determination that a non-compete provision was unenforceable and void because its territory was too...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Wyoming Supreme Court Eliminates the Blue Pencil Rule for Noncompete Agreements

On February 25, 2022, the Wyoming Supreme Court issued a decision prohibiting courts from revising, or “blue penciling,” noncompete agreements to be reasonable and enforceable under the law. The decision overrules the Wyoming...more

Stokes Wagner

What Are The Limits Of A Court’s Ability To Enforce A Non-Compete Agreement?

Stokes Wagner on

The parties in the case of Daneshgari v. Patriot Towing Services, LLC, No. A21A0887 (Ga.App. Oct. 21, 2021), had entered into a four-year non-compete agreement in June of 2016 that Daneshgari and his partner began to violate...more

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

First Circuit Enforces Delaware Choice-of-Law Provision in Massachusetts-Based Non-Competition Agreement

The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that a Delaware choice of law provision in a non-competition and non-solicitation agreement with a former Massachusetts employee was sufficient to invoke Delaware law. Notably,...more

FordHarrison

Fifth Circuit Provides Positive Guidance on Independent Contractor Classification

FordHarrison on

Applying the “economic realities” test, the Fifth Circuit (with jurisdiction over federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) recently held that a consultant for an oil and gas company was not subject to FLSA...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Indiana Supreme Court Reaffirms That the Blue Pencil Doctrine Is an ‘Eraser’ for Overbroad Restrictive Covenant Language

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

Lewitt Hackman

Employers, in case you were wondering, your employees cannot compete with you

Lewitt Hackman on

Many California laws seek to restrict the terms and conditions an employer may place on an employee during employment. Tuesday, the California Court of Appeal confirmed that Business and Professions Code Section 16600 is not...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Louisiana Court Upholds Ruling Allowing for the Reformation of a Noncompetition Agreement

The Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal recently held that a noncompetition provision under La. R.S 23:921 affecting a former member of an accounting limited liability company (LLC) could be reformed when the scope of...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

North Carolina Courts Defeat Another ‘Overbroad' Noncompete

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

FordHarrison

Non-Compete News: – Georgia Court Interprets Non-Compete Statute's "Sale-of-a-Business" Provision

FordHarrison on

Georgia’s Restrictive Covenants Act (O.C.G.A. § 13-8-50 et seq.) (“RCA”) governs Georgia non-compete agreements entered into after May 2011. Very few courts have interpreted the RCA since its inception. In Bearoff v. Craton,...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

N.C. Court of Appeals Rejects Customer Non-Solicitation Restriction

When we talk with clients about post-employment “noncompete” agreements, this term actually encompasses a number of different restrictions. In addition to provisions that restrict the employee from working for a competitor...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Colorado Courts Further Restrict Use of Restrictive Covenants

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

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

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Separating the Good From the Bad: UK Supreme Court Clarifies “Blue Pencil” Test in Restraint of Trade Cases

On July 3, 2019, in a long-awaited judgment the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom clarified the correct approach to deciding whether words can be severed from a post-employment covenant to leave an employee bound by the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Oregon Adds Employee-Friendly Requirement to Existing Non-Compete Law… But Also Produces Company-Friendly Trade Secrets Law in...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

On May 14, 2019, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law HB 2992, which, as of January 1, 2020, requires an employer to provide a terminated employee with a signed, written copy of his or her non-competition agreement...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Overbroad Geographic Restriction Dooms Covenant Not to Compete

Texas law allows for the enforcement of covenants not to compete that impose reasonable restrictions on competition. Texas courts frequently enforce geographic and other restrictions on a former employee’s ability to compete...more

Allen Matkins

Court Of Appeal Upholds Injunction Restraining Enforcement Of Non-Solicitation Agreement

Allen Matkins on

California Business & Professions Code Section 16600 is particularly tough on covenants not to compete declaring, with certain exceptions, "every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession...more

FordHarrison

Non-Compete News: In Georgia, Whether It Is a Non-Compete or a Non-Solicit Makes All the Difference

FordHarrison on

Georgia’s Restrictive Covenants Act (the “RCA”) became effective in May 2011, but it took nearly six years before a court published a decision interpreting the statute in the context of a non-competition provision....more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Massachusetts Court Provides Guidance on Choice of Law and Forum Selection Clauses in Restrictive Covenants

With Massachusetts’s comprehensive noncompete law taking effect on October 1, 2018, many employers are reviewing and likely revising their restrictive covenants to ensure that they are compliant with the new law. In...more

31 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide