On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted in a 3 to 2 decision along party lines to adopt its Final Non-Compete Clause Rule (“Noncompete Rule”) banning post-employment non-compete clauses between employers...more
5/1/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Restrictive Covenants
On April 23, 2024, the FTC announced its Final Non-Compete Clause Rule (“Final Rule”), which bans post-employment non-compete clauses between employers and their workers. The Final Rule becomes effective 120 days after being...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
This afternoon, the FTC voted to adopt a proposed final rule banning most non-competes with workers in the United States. The final rule provides that it is an unfair method of competition—and therefore a violation of Section...more
4/24/2024
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Trade Secrets
On March 21, 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) approved a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on its proposal to revise its current Statement of Policy on Bank Merger Transactions. Among the...more
4/11/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Bank Merger Act ,
Banks ,
Comment Period ,
FDIC ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules
The FTC is not alone in taking aim at non-competes. Yesterday, the NLRB’s General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to all regional directors, officers-in-charge, and resident officers at the NLRB stating that...more
For those interested in commenting on the FTC’s proposed rule banning nearly all non-competes, today, April 19, is your deadline to do so!...more
The FTC announced yesterday that it was extending the deadline to submit public comments on its proposed rule banning employment non-competes. ...more
On January 4, 2023, the Dallas Court of Appeals in Texas affirmed a summary judgment in a trade secrets physician staffing case that stands as a warning to practitioners regarding (1) what constitutes sufficient damages...more
As our colleagues have previously reported in this blog, on January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) concerning its unprecedented effort to ban all non-compete clauses with...more
On August 10, 2022, Colorado’s new statute further restricting non-competition and non-solicitation provisions becomes effective. The new law, which passed earlier this year, continues Colorado’s trend toward increased...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently set its sights squarely on non-compete agreements in merger transactions, making them ripe for further scrutiny. In a Consent Order issued June 14, 2022, the FTC ordered GPM...more
A federal court in Texas recently provided useful insights on what constitutes “solicitation” by a former employee under that employee’s restrictive covenant with his former employer, and the court provided further insights...more
Throughout 2021, our dedicated Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes Practice Group hosted a series of CLE webinars that addressed significant trade secret and restrictive covenant issues facing clients today. This...more
On August 7, 2020, the Fifth Circuit addressed an issue presently undecided by the Texas Supreme Court; namely, whether reformation of an overbroad non-compete restriction is appropriate, and perhaps even required, at the...more
In a strengthening of company contractual rights, the Louisiana Legislature recently expanded its state non-compete statute by permitting a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company to enter into agreements with...more
The “return to normal” in courts across the country has brought with it a flurry of trade secrets decisions that address some interesting and instructive issues, both procedurally and substantively....more
In Seyfarth’s first installment in its 2020 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth attorneys Robert Milligan, Jesse Coleman, and Joshua Salinas reviewed the noteworthy legislation, cases, and other legal developments from...more
A Texas Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment last month in favor of an ex-employee declaring that a noncompete clause in an asset purchase agreement and separate noncompete agreement did not bar him from competing...more
12/28/2016
/ Appeals ,
Asset Purchaser ,
Competition ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Resignation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Summary Judgment
On October 27, 2016, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s order denying an application for temporary injunction seeking to enjoin Thomas Musgrave, the former president of Henry F. Coffeen III Management,...more
12/3/2016
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Consideration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Contract ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Scope and Duration of Restrictive Covenant ,
TRO
In a clash between two major oil companies, the Texas Supreme Court ruled May 20, 2016 that the recently enacted Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“TUTSA”) allows the trial court discretion to exclude a company representative...more
6/1/2016
/ Breach of Contract ,
Confidential Information ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Due Process ,
Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Registered Representatives ,
Trade Secrets ,
TRO ,
TX Supreme Court ,
Writ of Mandamus
On January 13, before the Texas Supreme Court, two major oil-and-gas-services companies disputed whether Texas’s new trade secret laws require a trial court to exclude a party’s corporate representative from a hearing at...more
In a case solely comprised of state-law claims to enforce employment covenants, a United States District Judge in the North District of Texas ruled last week in Leica Microsystems Inc. v. Hernandez et al., No. 3:15-CV-2531-D,...more