K&L Gates Triage: Reading the Fine Print: A Closer Look at the Proposed Regulation over Arbitration Clauses in Long-Term Care Resident Agreements
In 2021, LKQ Corporation (LKQ) filed suit against Robert Rutledge, its former plant manager, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. LKQ alleged that Rutledge’s working for a competitor within nine...more
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
As every employer in the U.S. is likely aware, the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) near-universal ban on non-competes nationwide, which the FTC voted to implement via regulatory rulemaking on April 23 of this year, has...more
Since it was first published in April, the fate of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final non-compete rule has been, to put it mildly, less than certain. Now, about a month before the rule is scheduled to take effect, the...more
On July 23, 2024, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to stay the effective date of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final...more
On July 23, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a decision in ATS Tree Services, LLC v. FTC, which held that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had the authority to issue its...more
A federal court in New Jersey recently granted a franchisor’s motion for a preliminary injunction, enjoining the former franchisee from using the franchisor’s marks and violating the franchise agreement’s noncompete clause,...more
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed in part, and vacated in part, a district court’s issuance of an injunction preventing a franchisor’s enforcement of a noncompete covenant as written but allowing...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
You may have heard the half-serious joke that California acts as its own independent country. One example of this is California’s strong disfavor of non-compete agreements, which stands in contrast with the rest of the...more
A common example of a non-compete restriction is a new CPA who signs such an agreement as part of his or her onboarding paperwork. Years later, the CPA considers moving to another firm, or opening their own firm, but that...more
In order to seek enforcement of a noncompetition agreement in North Carolina, the plaintiff must show that it is protecting a legitimate business interest. What happens when the company seeking to enforce the agreement has...more
More than two years into the pandemic, most employers are familiar with many of the challenges raised by engaging remote employees. However, one often overlooked issue is whether noncompetition agreements vetted for in-state...more
Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed HB 22-1317 into law on June 8, 2022. The new law significantly limits the enforceability of non-compete agreements executed after August 10, 2022 — the law’s effective date — for employers...more
Historically, employers have used noncompete agreements to prevent competition or dissemination of confidential information when an employee leaves a company. However, the last few years has seen the erosion of their...more
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
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” Notably, the order encourages the FTC to promulgate rules to “curtail the unfair use of non-compete clauses and...more
On August 13, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed into law a bill amending the Illinois Freedom to Work Act governing restrictive covenants and non-competition agreements. On May 30, 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed a...more
As reported in prior blogs, the Illinois legislature for several months has been considering amendments to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act that apply to non-compete and non-solicitation restrictions. SmithAmundsen attorneys...more
Following a nationwide trend, Illinois has proposed significant legislation affecting employee restrictive covenants, such as non-compete agreements. While the proposed law does not dramatically change most aspects of the...more
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to soon sign into law a bill that will make significant changes to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act and affect the enforceability of employee non-competition provisions. The General...more
Government contractors compete in a market that depends on proprietary approaches that frequently involve unique experience, expertise, or key employees. Because the stakes are so high and the competition fierce, government...more
In Pennsylvania, noncompetition agreements must, among other things, be supported by adequate consideration to be enforceable. It is well established that an initial offer of employment constitutes adequate consideration....more
As we recently reported, Virginia recently joined Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Washington in passing a new law restricting the use of non-competes against low-wage earners (DC legislators made a similar...more
Q: Are non-competes enforceable in Iowa? A: Yes, but with a whole lot of caveats. Enforceability depends a lot on how they are structured (too indefinite, poor definitions, the employee will starve because it prevents all...more