Employment Law Commentary

August 22, 2024 - Non-Compete
Good News for Employers: Texas Court Blocks FTC’s Non-Compete Ban
By: Eric Akira Tate, Alexander Okuliar, Lisa M. Phelan, Eric Gebert and Helen He
On August 20, 2024, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a nationwide injunction against the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC’s”) rule banning non-competes with employees (the “ Rule ”). As we previously reported, the court foreshadowed this
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May 01, 2024 - Non-Compete
Potential Exceptions Under FTC’s Non-Compete Ban
By: Cooper J. Spinelli, Eric Akira Tate, Alexander Okuliar, Lisa M. Phelan, David J. Shaw and Megan E. Gerking
On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) promulgated its final rule prohibiting non-competes for most workers in the United States (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule raises several issues, including enforceability, legal challenges, policy implications, how it interacts with other laws,
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April 23, 2024 - Announcements, Non-Compete
FTC Issues Final Rule Banning Non-Competes
By: Eric Akira Tate, Andrew R. Turnbull, Cooper J. Spinelli, Alexander Okuliar, Lisa M. Phelan, Megan E. Gerking, Michael Schulman and Melissa M. Harclerode
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (the “Commission”) voted to issue its final rule (the “Final Rule”) barring non-competes for most workers in the United States, with exceptions for non-competes entered into in the context of a sale of business. The Final
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March 14, 2024 - Non-Compete, Legislation, PAGA
Non-Compete Q1 2024 Round Up - FTC, California, and New York
By: Eric Akira Tate, Cooper J. Spinelli and Caleb D. Woods
While the FTC was relatively quiet in 2023 on the non-compete front, California forged ahead with two amendments to its non-compete statute (Business and Professions Code section 16600) that, depending on how courts interpret them, could be one of the most significant developments in
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June 23, 2023 - Non-Compete, Legislation
New York State Slated to Join Post-Employment Non-Compete Ban Bandwagon
By: Michael Schulman and Kwan Park
New York State is expected to join the growing number of states that significantly limit or prohibit non-compete agreements. On June 20, 2023, the New York State legislature passed S3100A , a bill broadly prohibiting post-employment non-compete restrictions. S3100A is expected to be signed
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June 05, 2023 - NLRB, Non-Compete
NLRB General Counsel Memo Seeks Aggressive Enforcement Against Employee Non-Competes
By: Eric Akira Tate, Andrew R. Turnbull, Melissa M. Harclerode and Kwan Park
On May 30, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board’s (the “NLRB’s”) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo (the “General Counsel”) issued Memo General Counsel 23-08 (the “Memo”), expansively finding that non‑competes with employees violate the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”), except in limited circumstances. As
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May 25, 2023 - Legislation, Non-Compete
Minnesota Passes Near Total Ban of Non-Compete Agreements
By: Andrew R. Turnbull and David F. Papas
On May 16, 2023, the Minnesota legislature passed SF 3035 (the “Bill”), banning nearly all post-termination non-compete agreements with employees and independent contractors. Although the Bill marks another state in the trend of jurisdictions passing laws limiting the use of employee non-competes, the Bill goes
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May 11, 2023 - Non-Compete, Workplace Misconduct
No-Poach Case Alert: DOJ’s No-Poach Strategy Dealt Another Blow As Court Tosses Case Before It Reaches Jury
By: Eric Akira Tate and Cooper J. Spinelli
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ’s”) ongoing efforts against no-poach agreements suffered their latest setback on April 28, 2023, following the Connecticut federal court’s ruling in U.S.A. v. Mahesh Patel , acquitting all six defendants of criminal liability for allegedly entering into a horizontal
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April 06, 2023 - Non-Compete
Recent Non-Compete Trends: Courts Continue to Enforce Non-Competes While Politicians Seek to Narrow Them
By: Eric Akira Tate, Andrew R. Turnbull, Michael Schulman and Cooper J. Spinelli
The FTC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking of its Non-Compete Clause Rule, which would ban non-competes altogether if promulgated, opened 2023 with a bang. Whether it goes into effect, in what form, and whether the Rule will survive the legal challenges it will encounter, all
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March 31, 2023 - Non-Compete
Trio of Delaware Cases Signal Stricter Review of Sale-of-Business Non-Competes
By: Andrew R. Turnbull, Cooper J. Spinelli and David F. Papas
On March 16, 2023, the Delaware Chancery Court in Intertek Testing Services NA, Inc. v. Eastman found a sale-of-business non-compete was overbroad, given its worldwide geographic scope, and refused to modify it to make it enforceable. Intertek marks the third time in less than
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Topic Archives: Non-Compete

Good News for Employers: Texas Court Blocks FTC’s Non-Compete Ban

By: Eric Akira Tate, Alexander Okuliar, Lisa M. Phelan, Eric Gebert and Helen He

Potential Exceptions Under FTC’s Non-Compete Ban

By: Cooper J. Spinelli, Eric Akira Tate, Alexander Okuliar, Lisa M. Phelan, David J. Shaw and Megan E. Gerking

FTC Issues Final Rule Banning Non-Competes

By: Eric Akira Tate, Andrew R. Turnbull, Cooper J. Spinelli, Alexander Okuliar, Lisa M. Phelan, Megan E. Gerking, Michael Schulman and Melissa M. Harclerode

Non-Compete Q1 2024 Round Up - FTC, California, and New York

By: Eric Akira Tate, Cooper J. Spinelli and Caleb D. Woods

New York State Slated to Join Post-Employment Non-Compete Ban Bandwagon

By: Michael Schulman and Kwan Park

NLRB General Counsel Memo Seeks Aggressive Enforcement Against Employee Non-Competes

By: Eric Akira Tate, Andrew R. Turnbull, Melissa M. Harclerode and Kwan Park

Minnesota Passes Near Total Ban of Non-Compete Agreements

By: Andrew R. Turnbull and David F. Papas

No-Poach Case Alert: DOJ’s No-Poach Strategy Dealt Another Blow As Court Tosses Case Before It Reaches Jury

By: Eric Akira Tate and Cooper J. Spinelli

Recent Non-Compete Trends: Courts Continue to Enforce Non-Competes While Politicians Seek to Narrow Them

By: Eric Akira Tate, Andrew R. Turnbull, Michael Schulman and Cooper J. Spinelli

Trio of Delaware Cases Signal Stricter Review of Sale-of-Business Non-Competes

By: Andrew R. Turnbull, Cooper J. Spinelli and David F. Papas