On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to broadly ban the use of non-compete covenants throughout the country. The proposed rule, which would supersede all contrary state laws, is remarkable for its sweeping definition of “non-compete clauses” that fall within the ban. Jackson Lewis provided an...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to broadly ban the use of non-compete covenants throughout the country. The proposed rule, which would supersede all contrary state laws, would extend to “de facto” non-compete clauses, i.e., contractual provisions that have the effect of prohibiting workers from seeking or accepting employment or operating a business after...
Having initially enacted a total ban on non-compete agreements that went so far as to ban prohibitions against moonlighting with competitors, the District of Columbia City Council has significantly changed the law’s scope. Details of the amended D.C. “ban,” including how the act permits non-compete agreements for “highly compensated employees,” are laid out the article,...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) hosted a virtual workshop on December 6-7, 2021, bringing together agency representatives, lawyers, economists, academics, and other experts to discuss issues affecting competition in the labor market (“Workshop”). We attended the Workshop virtually and co-signed a response letter (drafted by our friends Russell Beck and...
Earlier this month, President Joseph Biden issued an Executive Order encouraging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to “curtail the unfair use of non-compete clauses and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit worker mobility.” We joined more than 50 lawyers and paralegals around the country – all of us experienced restrictive covenant practitioners –...… Continue Reading
The post Why We Signed a Joint Letter Urging Caution in Non-Compete Regulation appeared first on Restrictive Covenant Report.
There have been whispers of federal regulation of non-compete agreements for years. Multiple bipartisan bills aiming to ban non-competes have fallen to the wayside without traction. The Federal Trade Commission hosted a workshop in January 2020 (attended by our own Erik Winton) “to examine whether there is a sufficient legal basis and empirical economic support”...… Continue Reading
The post President Biden Issues Executive Order Calling on FTC to “Curtail Unfair Use” of Non-Competes and Other Restrictive Covenants appeared first on Restrictive Covenant Report.
It’s not every day the U.S. Supreme Court issues an opinion relevant to this blog, so we are understandably excited when it does. In a landmark decision, the Court has ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030 et seq., does not prohibit improper use of computer information that an...… Continue Reading
The post “So” What? SCOTUS Adopts Narrow Interpretation of CFAA appeared first on Restrictive Covenant Report.
(This is part of the Restrictive Covenant Report “Employers’ Toolbox Series,” where we examine lesser-utilized methods of protecting confidential information, trade secrets, and other business interests.) The Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), 18 U.S.C. § 1836, et seq., is approaching its fifth anniversary after being signed into law by President Barack Obama on May 11, 2016. ...… Continue Reading
The post Employers’ Toolbox Series: Lessons on Ex Parte Seizure in Five Years of the DTSA appeared first on Restrictive Covenant Report.
The District of Columbia appears poised to join the growing number of nearby states regulating and limiting restrictive covenant agreements in the employment context. Unanimously passed by the D.C. City Council on December 15, 2020 and signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser on January 11, 2021, the “The Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020”...… Continue Reading
The post D.C. Mayor Signs Bill to Ban Non-Competes appeared first on Non-Compete and Trade Secrets Report.
Over the past few years, legislators and government agencies at both the state and federal levels have pushed reforms limiting the use of non-competes and other restrictive covenants by U.S. businesses. Some of those efforts have extended to covenants that restrict a party’s ability to solicit and/or hire employees who are not party to the...… Continue Reading
The post Massachusetts High Court Upholds Enforcement of Employee Non-Solicitation Covenant appeared first on Non-Compete and Trade Secrets Report.
