Yearly Archives: 2021

We Have Another Piece of the Consideration Puzzle under the Mass Noncompete Act

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On Thursday, July 15, 2021, United States District Court Judge Hillman issued what I believe is the first (readily available, anyway) non-dicta, substantive decision on the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (the MNAA). Read more about Judge Hillman dismissal of a claim based on a nonconforming noncompete in KPM Analytics North America Corporation v. Blue Sun Scientific, LLC (C.A. No. 4:21-cv-10572-TSH).

D.C.’s Proposed Noncompete Ban Not To Take Effect Until Next Year — And May Be Amended

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The D.C. Council held two proceedings related to its recent noncompete ban last week. During both, at-Large Councilmember Elisa Silverman recommended pushing back the implementation date of the new law to April 1, 2022. During the hearing, the Council received wide-ranging testimony about a potential amendment: some objective, verifiable input and some partisan rhetoric; some spot on and some inaccurate. Now we wait.

Déjà vu all over again (again): The Freedom to Compete Act Redux

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As of Friday (July 16, 2021), we again have competing approaches to federal legislation proposing limits on noncompetes. In addition to the previously reintroduced Workforce Mobility Act, proposing an outright ban, Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) have now reintroduced the Freedom to Compete Act to ban noncompetes for most workers who are not exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Quick Update: President Biden Issued an Executive Order on Noncompetes (and other things)

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This afternoon, President Biden signed an “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” which included pushing for the regulation of noncompetes by the FTC. Based on his comments during today’s press conference (discussed in the post), we expect that any regulation will be balanced, focusing on regulating the abuses, rather than a throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater wholesale ban.

New Map of Recent Changes to State Noncompete Laws

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Over the past several years, there have been changes to the noncompete laws in 24 states — plus D.C. In some states (such as Illinois, Oregon, and Nevada), there were even multiple changes to the law over the last few years.

To keep track of it all, we’ve prepared a map as a visual supplement to our Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete Laws page.

Nevada Noncompete Bill Becomes Law

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Nevada too has modified its noncompete law. Effective October 1, 2021, among other things, noncompetes cannot be used for hourly workers and employers will be at risk of paying attorney’s fees for violating certain aspects of the law.

Supreme Court Resolved CFAA Circuit Split!

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The Supreme Court’s decision in Van Buren is out. The Court took a narrow view on the scope of the CFAA, resolving key aspects of the circuit split, and eliminating the concern that every breach of fiduciary duties by an employee or violation by an employee of the terms of their employer’s computer use policy can be a criminal act.
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