Why Your Data is Key to Reducing Risk and Increasing Efficiency During Investigations and Litigation
The 'Secrets' of Trade Secrets in Government Contracting
Does Cellular 5G Equal 5x the Fraud and Misconduct Risk?
On-Demand Webinar | Protecting Information in a Work-From-Home World
Coronavirus and the workplace (Housebound edition)
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) adopted a Non-Compete Clause Rule (the “Rule”) that bans non-compete clauses between workers and employers as unfair methods of competition under Section 5 of the FTC...more
In a groundbreaking move aimed at fostering fair competition and empowering workers, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule last week to ban noncompete agreements nationwide. This ruling may carry profound...more
With the issuance of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC or Commission) much-anticipated final rule on its "non-compete ban" (see Holland & Knight's previous alert, "New FTC Rule Bans Non-Compete Agreements in All Employment...more
As Bradley previously reported, the Federal Trade Commission at the beginning of last year issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to effectively ban employee noncompete provisions as an unfair method of competition in...more
As we have previously covered in EmployNews, in June 2023, the general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a memo arguing that most noncompete agreements violate Section 7 of the National Labor...more
Can you still have noncompete agreements with your employees? What if you explicitly state that the agreement protects trade secrets or other proprietary information? There has been a lot of buzz about this issue, and...more
Abruzzo has been busy. Within the last few months, she has issued two notable memorandums that could have significant impacts on how employers must comply with the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). It is important to...more
In a recent memorandum to all Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge, and Resident Officers, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, sets forth her view that the proffer, maintenance,...more
Challenges to non-competes by the federal government continue unabated under the Biden Administration. In the latest effort by the federal government to curtail the use of non-competes, which are traditionally governed by...more
An Ohio appellate court upheld the state trial court’s decision to grant a permanent injunction against two former franchisees of an auto body shop franchise working for a competitor in violation of the franchise agreement’s...more
Two months ago, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) changed the rules for confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements. In McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023), which we previously wrote...more
Employee restrictive covenants, in particular non-competition agreements, are under scrutiny at the state and federal level. State legislatures are working to narrow the circumstances under which restrictive covenants may be...more
It is often said that the best defense is a good offense. That is certainly true if you are an employer conducting a risk assessment of potential employee defections that could expose your company to losses of valuable...more
Federal and state laws are becoming increasingly unfriendly to employers' efforts to impose post-employment restrictions on workers via nonsolicit and noncompete agreements. However, even in states that have historically...more
In a recent trade secrets litigation in the United States District Court in the Northern District of California, a jury awarded the plaintiffs 40 million dollars, half of which was punitive damages. The Court also...more
On July 27, 2022, Mayor Muriel Bowser signed into law the Non-Compete Clarification Amendment Act of 2022, scaling back certain aspects of D.C.’s original Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020. As we previously...more
It is common for private company owners to wonder what price they would receive if their company was offered for sale. When a business owner wants to formally determine the company’s actual value in the marketplace, however,...more
A new DC law restricts DC employers from entering into non-compete agreements with employees earning less than $150,000 as of October 1, 2022, whereas the prior iteration of the law would have imposed a near universal ban on...more
What’s the difference between an employee and an independent contractor? Does it matter that you hired an engineer for your game in another country? What’s a PIIA? Wilson Sonsini Partners Jason Storck and Barath Chari know...more
29th Annual Employment Practices Liability Insurance - ACI’s 29th Annual Employment Practices Liability Insurance conference returns on January 26-28, 2021 in an interactive, virtual format! This yearly conference is the...more
In a rare appellate decision on enforceability of non-disclosure agreements and a plaintiff’s burden to establish the existence of trade secrets, the First Circuit recently overturned a district court summary judgment order...more
An institution’s trade secrets generally include confidential information with commercial value. Trade secret protection may be available by common law, under state laws, or under federal law. In addition, there may be both...more
Manhattan restaurant Sottolio, Inc., d/b/a Norma Gastronomia Siciliana hired Giuseppe Manco—“a noted Italian pizza chef, or pizzaiolo”—to consult on its menu. At the same time, Manco and his wife purchased a 9% interest in...more
A new state law in Maryland now prohibits employers from requiring low-wage employees to enter into noncompete agreements. Maryland Senate Bill 328, which took effect on October 1, 2019, prohibits employers from obligating...more
Effectively drafted restrictive covenants are valuable tools employers can utilize to protect their proprietary interests. Covenants not to compete and covenants not to solicit an employer’s clients or employees are the most...more