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Jenner & Block

Delaware Court Refuses to Enforce or Modify Overbroad Noncompete in Cleveland Integrity Services v. Byers

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In Cleveland Integrity Services, LLC v. Byers (Del. Ch. Feb. 28, 2025), the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to enforce a two-year non-compete agreement that it found to be geographically overbroad and refused to narrow or...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

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

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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

Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP

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

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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

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Enforcement of Forfeiture-for-Competition Provisions

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LKQ Corp. v. Rutledge, C.A. No. 110, 2024 (Del. Dec. 18, 2024) - In this en banc decision, the Delaware Supreme Court answered a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit...more

Jenner & Block

Jenner & Block Japan Newsletter - April 2025

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Welcome to the April 2025 edition of the Jenner & Block Japan Newsletter, a publication containing updates about legal developments in the United States that may be noteworthy to our clients and other leaders in the Japanese...more

Jenner & Block

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

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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

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Non-Compete Round Up- FTC, NLRB, California and Delaware

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As we approach the end of the first quarter in 2025, we have seen notable developments in non-compete law over the last 12 months. As the new administration decides what to do with non-competes at the federal level, state...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Broadens Utility of Noncompete Enforcement Tool

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In a recent en banc decision, Delaware’s Supreme Court upheld a key tool available to employers to enforce forfeiture-for-competition provisions against former employees. Delaware’s Chancery Court has shown an increasing...more

Proskauer - Trade Secrets

Seventh Circuit Decision Highlights Distinction Between Traditional Non-Compete and Forfeiture-for-Competition

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A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit allowed an employer to enforce a “forfeiture-for-competition” against a former plant manager. The Court explained that, under Delaware law, forfeiture-for...more

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

Seventh Circuit Rules Forfeiture-for-Competition Clauses Under Delaware Law Enforceable and Not Subject to Reasonableness Review

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In 2021, LKQ Corporation (LKQ) filed suit against Robert Rutledge, its former plant manager, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. LKQ alleged that Rutledge’s working for a competitor within nine...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

Employment Litigation Roundup: January 2025

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Seventh Circuit upholds forfeiture-for-competition provision in restricted stock unit agreement - A Seventh Circuit panel, in LKQ Corporation v. Rutledge, held that an employer could enforce a “forfeiture-for-competition”...more

Morris James LLP

Key Takeaways from Recent Delaware Restrictive Covenant Case Law

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Partners Vincent Cannizzaro and Barnaby Grzaslewicz recently presented Recent Developments in Delaware Restrictive Covenant Case Law: The Alternative Entity Creep, providing key insights into how Delaware’s courts are...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Complying With Recent Guidance From Delaware Courts Regarding Enforcement of Noncompetes

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In line with the national trend making noncompetes more difficult to enforce, a number of Delaware courts have recently refused to “blue pencil” overbroad noncompetition agreements and have stricken them in their entirety. As...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Kodiak Two Years Later: Is Delaware’s Blue Pencil Turning Red for Non-Competes?

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October 6, 2024 marks the two-year anniversary of Kodiak Building Partners, LLC v. Adams—the case in which the Delaware Chancery Court refused to enforce a sale-of-business non-compete against an executive who received $1...more

Allen Matkins

Will Your Next California Non-Compete Dispute Be Adjudicated In The Delaware Court Of Chancery?

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Sunder Energy, LLC recently sought to enforce a non-compete agreement against its former head of sales in the Delaware Court of Chancery.  Sunder Energy, LLC v. Jackson, 2023 WL 8166517.  Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Delaware Court Of Chancery Refuses To Enforce Both Choice of Law Provision And Nationwide Non-Compete

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On August 31, 2023, the Delaware Court of Chancery held, with respect to a non-compete provision in an employment agreement, that: (1) the choice of law provision selecting Delaware was “not necessarily binding”; and (2) the...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Race to the … Increasingly Conservative Non-Competition Jurisdiction?

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Businesses frequently choose Delaware as the governing law and venue for enforcement when drafting many kinds of agreements, including non-competition covenants. Delaware is attractive for several reasons, including robust...more

Snell & Wilmer

Blue Pencils Down: The Recent Delaware Non-Compete Case Trifecta

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Over the past six months, the Delaware Court of Chancery has issued a series of decisions narrowing the scope of permissible non-compete agreements, while declining to “blue pencil” those provisions to render them...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

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

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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...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Buyer Beware: Delaware Declines to Enforce Sale of Business Non-Compete

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Courts and state legislatures continue to take aim at post-employment non-competes. In a companion blog, we recently detailed the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rule banning post-employment non-competes. However, for...more

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