With the continuing unfolding of the COVID19 pandemic, I remain particularly focused on identifying resources that I hope will be helpful to people while they try to cope with the new reality (hence t...
You can often can tell where a decision is headed just by its opening line. In Peggy Lawton Kitchens, Inc. v. Hogan (a seminal trade secret case in Massachusetts about the theft of a beloved se...
Ask two lawyers for their opinion, and you’ll get three opinions. But I asked 21 lawyers and a paralegal and got only one opinion. That opinion that is set out in a letter we collectively submitte...
I have updated my 50 State Noncompete Chart to add statutory references for the recent developments. Click here to get the latest version of the 50 State Noncompete Chart. (The chart is current...
The FTC conducted its first workshop on noncompetes on January 9, 2020. An opportunity for the public to submit comments remains open until March 11, which is only two weeks away. I attended the wo...
New year, new laws, new issues: First, at the state level... A number of states have modified their noncompete laws last year: Florida: banned noncompetes for specialist physicians in certain...
Thursday is approaching! As mentioned in our last post on the subject, the FTC will be holding a hearing on January 9, 2020 (at 8:30 a.m. at its Headquarters Building, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,...
Happy New Year! On January 9, 2020, the FTC will be holding a hearing (at 8:30 a.m. at the FTC’s Headquarters Building, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC) “to examine whether there is...
*This post was originally published by Erika Hahn and me on Law360 under the title, “Noncompete Misconceptions May Be Inhibiting Reform.” Federalism is alive and well. For about 200 ye...
Earlier this year, Senator Bruce Tarr introduced a bill to address one of the open issues under the new noncompete law. Specifically, the new noncompete law prohibits the enforcement of noncompetes...
Since the beginning of this year (2019), the Massachusetts legislature has been quietly considering adding another exemption to its noncompete laws. This one would be for physician assistants (PAs)....
It’s Thursday, so it must be time for another bill to ban noncompetes. This one comes from Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN), and is a federal bill. (As many of you...
It’s hard these days to keep up with the the changing noncompete laws around the country. My most recent post covering recent updates, from not even quite six months ago, is already outdated. Jus...
With three-plus years of Defend Trade Secrets Act (the "DTSA") law under our belts and almost a year of the "new" Massachusetts new trade secrets law, my new book, Trade Secrets Law for the Massachus...
The other day, I was listening to 1970’s and 80’s music (which I am wont to do, much to my wife’s chagrin). The music, as music often does, evoked memories of the past. Think what you...
Who controls what's in your brain? When a former employee knows his or her former employer’s trade secrets, the former employer may be able to obtain injunctive relief preventing the employee, not...
Oregon's noncompete law has been a work-in-progress for more than a decade, and the legislature is at it again: A new change to Oregon's already progressive noncompete law. What it says... On May...
In the continuing stream of states reviewing and modifying their noncompete and trade secrets laws, another state - Maryland - has taken the approach of banning noncompetes for low-wage workers - as s...
On May 8, 2019, HB 1450 (“An Act Relating to restraints, including noncompetition covenants, on persons engaging in lawful professions, trades, or businesses; adding a new chapter to Title 49 RCW; a...
Having just completed my most-recent review of every state's pending and recently enacted noncompete legislation, I have updated the BRR 50 State Noncompete Chart today (April 27, 2019) to reflect ...
It's been a while since I've had the time to update the Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete Laws page. Lots has happened in the interim - see below for all of the updates so far this year. I will...
Over the past few years, there have been a few bills at the federal level that would ban or limit the use of noncompetes. (I will be updating the Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete page soon to refle...
In preparation for the start of my class (I teach Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants at my old law school, Boston University School of Law), I re-ran my chart of reported noncomepte and trade sec...
It was only a matter of time... we now have a decision. For years, we’ve wrestled with how to handle enforcement or defense of a noncompete agreement between a California employee and an out-of-s...