On May 7, 2024, in Ryan, LLC v. FTC et al., Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas set a briefing schedule on Ryan’s Motion for Stay of Effective Date and Preliminary Injunction (the “Motion”) attacking the FTC Final Rule banning employer-employee non‑compete restrictions, and ordered that she would rule on the merits of the Motion on or before July 3, 2024—two months before the FTC Final Rule is scheduled to become effective on September 4, 2024. Continue Reading Motion Seeking to Stay or Enjoin FTC Final Rule Banning Employer-Employee Non‑Competes Set for Ruling by July 3, 2024

Although non-competition agreements are under ongoing attack at the federal and state levels (including being banned in California, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, among others), New York State is not yet ready to join that movement.  Late last month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed Senate Bill S3100A, which was passed in June 2023 by the NYS Assembly and the Senate and would have prohibited all non-compete agreements.  In vetoing the bill, Governor Hochul expressed concern about the impact that the legislation would have on the interest of the many businesses operating in the state to protect the competitive advantage that key employees bring.Continue Reading New York Governor Vetoes Bill Banning Non-Compete Agreements

On July 27, 2022, the District of Columbia substantially limited employers’ use of non-compete agreements in D.C. (the “Non-Compete Clarification Amendment Act of 2022”).  The original bill (the “Ban on Non-Competes Amendment Act of 2020”) would have resulted in a near total ban on non-compete agreements, but in response to complaints from the business community, the City Council instead limited non-competes to those employees deemed “highly compensated.” Continue Reading District of Columbia to Implement Broad Restrictions on Non-Compete Agreements