Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 292: Listen and Learn -- The Erie Doctrine (Civ Pro)
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 126: Listen and Learn -- The Erie Doctrine
Just in time for grilling season in the Midwest, Hormel Foods Corporation (“Hormel”) filed a federal lawsuit in the District of Minnesota against its competitor, Johnsonville, LLC (“Johnsonville”), and two former Hormel...more
Employers in Ohio may soon need to reexamine employment agreements and internal policies if a proposed non-compete ban becomes law. A state Senate bill was recently introduced aiming to prohibit agreements that restrict a...more
Last month, in DraftKings Inc. v. Hermalyn, the First Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision concerning the application of California’s non-compete ban to agreements formed outside the state. Broadly, the decision...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
On September 26, 2024, a Boston-based federal appeals court refused to extend California’s sweeping noncompete ban to agreements that were signed outside the state and governed by another state’s law....more
The ongoing battle between DraftKings Inc. and its former executive, Michael Hermalyn, remains contentious, with the District of Massachusetts’ decision to enforce Hermalyn’s non-compete now appealed and argued to the First...more
Washington Governor Jay Inslee recently signed Senate Bill 5935 into law, amending and expanding Washington’s statute restricting the enforceability of noncompetition covenants (Revised Code of Washington 49.2). The amended...more
The 2024 Washington State Legislature passed Substitute Senate Bill (S.S.B.) 5935 in February 2024, and Governor Jay Inslee signed the bill into law on March 13, 2024, updating and clarifying Washington law regarding...more
On September 6, 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court reaffirmed that Georgia courts must first determine whether a restrictive covenant is enforceable under Georgia law before applying a foreign choice-of-law provision....more
Historically, Georgia courts have declined to apply another state’s law to determine whether to enforce restrictive covenants against a Georgia employee, regardless of whether the agreement stated that another state’s law...more
It is no hidden secret that many employers use various restrictive covenants to protect their trade secrets, confidential information, goodwill, and customer relationships. For example, employers often use non-compete...more
The New Jersey legislature is currently considering legislation that would add the state to the growing list of jurisdictions that have significantly limited the scope and enforceability of non-competition agreements and...more
Our business clients tell us everyday what we are all seeing in the headlines on a regular basis: employees are hard to hire and retain. Some commentators have coined the term “the great resignation” to aptly describe the...more
In novel and important decision, DePy Synthes Sales v. Howmedica Ostionic’s, Ninth Cir. Case No. 21-55126, on March 14, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decisions to prevent a former employer...more
The landscape for restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements is changing rapidly across the country. Notice periods, compensation thresholds, and consideration requirements are increasingly common, and the days...more
Colorado law is not particularly friendly to noncompete agreements. A Colorado statute prohibits all such agreements unless they fall within one of four specific exemptions....more
Choice of law and choice of forum clauses in employment agreements are tricky business. Even though a Delaware LLC employer may think they have strong, iron-clad selection provisions in their employment agreements, the...more
Employment agreements with restrictive covenants typically contain both a forum selection clause, which determines the forum where a dispute must be heard, and a choice of law clause, which determines the law that applies to...more
As many of our blog readers will know, the enforceability of restrictive covenants often depends on which state’s law applies to the dispute. For example, California is well known for refusing to enforce employee...more
A recent Delaware Chancery Court opinion has elucidated Delaware’s approach to judicially modifying, or “blue-penciling,” overly broad noncompete agreements and deferring to parties’ choice of law provisions. The case, FP UC...more
Late last spring we reported on the second published decision out of the District of Massachusetts citing the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (“MNCA”), NuVasive, Inc. v. Day....more
Many employers have national and international workforces. When entering into contracts with employees, inclusion of a choice-of-law provision is important for determining what jurisdiction’s laws will apply if one of the...more
Many Arizona employees are often subject to non-compete agreements, or “covenants,” in which the employee agrees in advance to not compete with his or her employer for some time after leaving or being terminated by the...more
There are many notable east coast-west coast rivalries. In sports (Celtics versus Lakers basketball), in leisure (Atlantic versus Pacific beaches), or in food (Shake Shack versus In-N-Out Burger), to name a few. With respect...more
On August 26, 2019, the Delaware Chancery Court invalidated a California employee’s customer and employee non-solicitation covenant on the grounds that it violated California law. In doing so, the Court rejected the plaintiff...more