News & Analysis as of

Non-Compete Agreements Employment Litigation Non-Solicitation Agreements

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 -
Husch Blackwell LLP

Supreme Judicial Court Limits Scope of Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement

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The Massachusetts legislature passed the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA) in 2018, culminating a longstanding effort to balance employers’ rights to protect legitimate business interests—such as trade...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

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

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

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

Massachusetts High Court Rules for Employer in Nonsolicitation Challenge

Although the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act expressly excludes nonsolicitation agreements from its definition of “noncompetition agreements,” the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently responded to a...more

Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Scope of Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act

On Friday, June 13, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its decision in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., SJC-13967, holding that forfeiture clauses tied to non-solicitation agreements were definitively...more

BCLP

Hong Kong High Court Grants Injunction to Enforce Restrictive Covenants

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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

Lathrop GPM

Massachusetts Federal Court Grants Preliminary Injunction for Noncompete Violations, Denies Injunction for Trademark Infringement

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A federal court in Massachusetts recently granted, in part, a Motion for Preliminary Injunction as to enforcement of franchise agreement noncompete covenants but denied the motion as to claims of trademark infringement,...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Two business court rulings offer insights on trade secret pleadings, employment agreements, and credibility

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Maven Advantage, Inc. and Square One Storm Restoration, LLC are competing roofing businesses. Maven alleged that two employees (Couch and Daniels) stole Maven’s trade secrets (customer lists) and then quit to work for Square...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Noncompetes in Flux: What Else Can Employers Do to Protect Themselves?

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As we continue to report, noncompete agreements have been subject to unprecedented scrutiny over the past few years. Last April, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized a rule (“Final Rule”) ostensibly banning...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Customer Non-Solicitation Restrictions Face Increasing Scrutiny

When considering whether to place employees under post-employment restrictive covenants, employers often consider including customer non-solicitation provisions in addition to or as an alternative to the traditional...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

Employment Litigation Roundup: December 2024

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Arizona employer cannot exclude settlement communications from former employee’s retaliation complaint - In Flores v. Rafi Law Group PLLC, the plaintiff accused her law firm employer of retaliating against her by (i)...more

Mayer Brown

When Is Client Contact Information Confidential?

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Confidentiality is a key consideration in any commercial endeavour. To retain a competitive edge in the market, a business will often do its utmost to maintain the confidentiality of client information and business...more

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

Louisiana Court Rules Employee Nonsolicitation Agreements Are Not Governed by Noncompete Law, but Duration Must Be Limited

Louisiana noncompete agreements must comply with a statute—La. R.S. 23:921—to be enforceable. Does this statute also apply to employee nonsolicitation—or “anti-poaching”—agreements? A Louisiana appellate court recently held...more

Fisher Phillips

October’s Spookiest Restrictive Covenant Developments: An Employer’s 5-Ingredient Witches’ Brew to Ward Off Harm

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“Magic words,” “TRAPs,” and the federal non-compete ban rising from the dead? October had several spooky developments in restrictive covenant law, but no need to be frightened! We’ve got you covered with updates, insights,...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

The FTC’s Rule Banning Noncompete Agreements is Dead. Long Live Noncompete Agreements?

Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a Final Rule outlawing nearly all noncompete agreements between employers and employees. That Final Rule, however, was overturned at the end of August 2024....more

Seward & Kissel LLP

Employment Litigation Roundup: April 2024

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Employer sues former traders for using an allegedly confidential trading strategy but loses bid for emergency injunctive relief. On April 12, Jane Street Group LLC (“Jane Street”) sued two of its former traders and...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

Employment Litigation Roundup: November 2023

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Ex-employee’s golf outing with customer does not violate non-solicit - An auto parts manufacturer in Michigan sought a preliminary injunction against a former sales employee for violating his restrictive covenants,...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

Employment Litigation Roundup: October 2023

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October 2023: Public information can be a trade secret; Litigants get creative to contest non-competes; NJ addresses the enforceability of non-disparagements; Law firm DEI programs face legal challenges - Compilation of...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Georgia Maps Out New Requirement for Employee Non-Solicits

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On May 11, 2011, Georgia passed the Restrictive Covenants Act, which made enforcing employee restrictive covenants far easier than it was under Georgia common law. In an odd twist, a law that Georgia intended to make it...more

FordHarrison

Non-Compete News: Georgia Court Holds Non-compete and Non-solicit of Employee Provisions With Missing Territory Unenforceable and...

FordHarrison on

Earlier this year, in Steuer v. Tomaras, et al., Georgia’s Statewide Business Court again refused to modify certain restrictive covenants that were missing a territory. Dr. Steuer, a former partner of the defendant doctors,...more

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Judge Strikes Fiduciary Duty Claims Asserted by FTI Against Former Employees, But Not Aiding and Abetting Claim Asserted by FTI...

FTI sued three of its former employees who went to work for Berkeley Research Group (Berkeley), an FTI competitor. The former employees, FTI alleged, breached their FTI employment contracts and their fiduciary duty of loyalty...more

Perkins Coie

Major Changes to Illinois’ Non-Compete and Non-Solicit Laws: Company Agreements Likely Require Revision

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As of January 1, 2022, Illinois employers are more limited in their ability to bind employees to non-competition and non-solicitation agreements. These changes stem from a recent amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act,...more

Jenner & Block

DOJ Continues Push Against Non-Competes, Non-Solicitations, and Other Post Employment Restrictions

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Aggressive Attacks on Employers’ Post-Employment Restrictions Continue - Employers beware. The Department of Justice’s attack on employee restrictions has gotten a new boost in a no-poach antitrust case alleging that...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Illegal Deal? Ninth Circuit Rejects Attempt to Revive No-Poaching Claims

No-hire or “no-poaching” agreements have recently come under increasing scrutiny by the federal government, as well as various state regimes.  However, a recent Ninth Circuit decision upholding a no-poach agreement highlights...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Antitrust Regulation And The Labor Market

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Employment-related antitrust regulation is intensifying amid a volatile labor market so Mark Henriques asked David Hamilton and Sarah Motley Stone, two of Womble Bond Dickinson's brightest minds on this subject, to share some...more

Fisher Phillips

The Top 18 Workplace Law Stories from August 2021

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It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more

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