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Non-Compete Agreements › Breach of Contract › Employment Contract

Non-Compete Agreements are contracts, typically formed in employment or business purchase contexts, where one party agrees to refrain from engaging in a particular line of work or pursuing business within a... more +
Non-Compete Agreements are contracts, typically formed in employment or business purchase contexts, where one party agrees to refrain from engaging in a particular line of work or pursuing business within a certain industry or locale. The purpose of these agreements is to protect employers or business purchasers from competition stemming from former employees or former owners of a business. less -
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Executive Contracts: What’s Common and What to Look For

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on

For both employers and executives, having a well-drafted executive employment agreement is key to defining the relationship between an employer and one of its most important employees. The contract also sets the parties’...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

Employee Non-Competes: Where We Stand Today

Amundsen Davis LLC on

A little less than a year ago, businesses were scrambling to get ready for the then-impending Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final rule that would have blocked nearly all non-compete agreements between employers and...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Florida Passes Employer-Friendly Restrictive Covenant Legislation

Epstein Becker & Green on

In May of this year, we reported that Florida was on the cusp of enacting employer-friendly restrictive covenant legislation. Earlier this month, Florida passed that bill, enacting the “Florida Contracts Honoring...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Delaware Court Confronts Issue of First Impression: When a Company Attempts to Enforce a Noncompete Seeking Only Damages, Does the...

Foley & Lardner LLP on

In Fortiline, Inc. v. McCall, the plaintiffs sought to enforce a noncompetition agreement against its former employees through a preliminary injunction. The court denied the injunction, holding the noncompetition agreements...more

ArentFox Schiff

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Ruling: Noncompetition Agreement Act Does Not Apply to Forfeiture Clauses

ArentFox Schiff on

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently clarified the scope of the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA). In Susan Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., the SJC held the MNAA does not apply where a...more

Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Narrows the Path for Enforceable Non-Competes: Lessons from North American Fire and Payscale

Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP on

A notable trend has emerged in Delaware with respect to the enforceability of non-competes – while once considered a management-friendly jurisdiction, two recent decisions demonstrate a marked shift towards a closer scrutiny...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Top Massachusetts Court Clarifies That Non-Solicitation Covenants Fall Outside the State’s Non-Compete Law

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints on

In a closely watched decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc. clarified that the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA) (G.L. c. 149, § 24L) does not apply to...more

Morgan Lewis

Massachusetts High Court Clarifies Noncompete Law’s Scope, Declines to Let Nonsolicits ‘Through the Back Door’

Morgan Lewis on

In Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) clarified that the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA or the Act) does not apply to a forfeiture clause triggered by a breach...more

BCLP

Hong Kong High Court Grants Injunction to Enforce Restrictive Covenants

BCLP on

In two separate decisions in April 2025, the Hong Kong High Court first refused, but then allowed, an IT company’s application for an interlocutory injunction to enforce post-termination restrictive covenants against its...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Forfeited Equity Trap: Why Your Non-Compete Might Be Worthless

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Imagine you’re a private equity firm. You buy a company, and you want to retain and incentivize key employees, so you give them some equity in the form of incentive units.  You also want to prevent them from running off and...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Restrictive Covenants Unenforceable Where Consideration Forfeited

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In North American Fire Ultimate Holdings, LP v. Alan Doorly, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that the restrictive covenants included in an incentive unit grant agreement were unenforceable when the units received by the...more

Jenner & Block

Delaware Supreme Court Reaffirms Reluctance to Blue-Pencil Overbroad Restrictive Covenants in Sunder v. Jackson

Jenner & Block on

The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Sunder Energy, LLV v. Jackson, No. 455, 2023, 2024 Del. LEXIS 407 (December 10, 2024) reaffirmed the courts’ limited willingness to modify or “blue-pencil” overbroad restrictive...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Employee pirates can plunder a business. Arrrgh ye ready?

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

Piracy is defined as robbery by ship- or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, with a goal of stealing cargo or other valuables. During the Golden Age of Piracy, from the 1680s to the 1720s, infamous...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Massachusetts High Court To Weigh In on Forfeiture-for-Solicitation Provisions in Era of Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement...

Epstein Becker & Green on

On Monday, March 3, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) heard argument in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., regarding whether the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act, G. L. c. 149, § 24L (the...more

WilmerHale

Beating the Odds: First Circuit Doubles Down on Massachusetts Decision Enforcing Noncompete Against Sports Betting Executive Newly...

WilmerHale on

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Unpacking the (Un)Reasonableness of Non-Compete Provisions

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

New York law generally does not favor non-compete agreements, viewing them as unreasonable restraint of trade. As a result, New York courts apply a rigorous standard when deciding whether to enforce these restrictive...more

Lathrop GPM

After Bench Trial, Texas Federal Court Finds No Breach of Noncompete for Selling Competing Product

Lathrop GPM on

A federal court in Texas has denied Penthol’s claim for breach of contract against Vertex Energy for the improper sale of competing products in violation of noncompete clause. Penthol, LLC v. Vertex Energy Operating, LLC,...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

North Carolina Court of Appeals Limits Grounds for Review of Noncompete Injunction Denial

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

When litigating employment non-competition covenants, issuance by the court of a preliminary injunction may be more important than the ultimate outcome of the litigation. Depending on the circumstances, the injunction can...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Preemption Questions Continue as FTC and NLRB Fight Restrictive Covenants

Epstein Becker & Green on

As federal administrative agencies wade further into rulemaking and adjudicative efforts to outlaw noncompetes and restrictive covenants, defendants are beginning to raise preemption arguments in response to state court...more

Fisher Phillips

Former Employees Who Couldn’t Wait to Leave Their Florida Employer Before Illegally Competing Ordered to Pay Heavy Price

Fisher Phillips on

A Florida Circuit Court judge sternly rebuked two former employees of a private South Florida provider of Autism treatment services who began competing illegally with a new employer – while still employed with their old...more

Hendershot Cowart P.C.

Changing Jobs with a Non-Compete: What Do You Say and When Do You Say It?

Hendershot Cowart P.C. on

Changing Jobs with a Non-Compete: What to Say and When? Changing jobs when you have a non-compete agreement in place can be tricky. Before making a move, plan your exit strategy – set a date, practice your resignation, and...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Protecting Trade Secrets In States That Disfavor Noncompetes

Foley & Lardner LLP on

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

Rumberger | Kirk

Florida Still Strongly Favors Employer’s Non-Compete Agreements 

Rumberger | Kirk on

Non-compete and confidentiality clauses have long been a fixture in employment agreements in Florida. However, there has been some dissention as to whether such restrictive covenants continue to apply where an employment...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Georgia Courts Cannot Toll Duration of Noncompete Agreement, Even Against Willful Violator

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on

Since the passage of the Georgia Restrictive Covenants Act (O.C.G.A. § 13-8-50 et seq.) in May 2011, there has been some level of uncertainty regarding the extent to which a court may “blue pencil” or modify an otherwise...more

BCLP

Colorado Law May Govern Noncompete Despite Choice-Of-Law Provision

BCLP on

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

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