On November 30, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul answered the long-awaited question of whether New York would join California, North Dakota, Oklahoma and, most recently Minnesota, as a state banning the use of non-compete agreements between employers and employees. While New York legislators passed a bill to do just that in June, yesterday, Governor Hochul announced that she would not be

Continue Reading New York Governor Hochul Rejects Wholesale Ban on Non-Compete Agreements

In Seyfarth’s seventh installment of the 2022 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth partners Jeremy Cohen and Kevin Mahoney focused on trade secret and client relationship considerations in the banking and financial services industry.

As a conclusion to this webinar, we compiled a summary of takeaways:

  • When it comes to protecting your secrets, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound
Continue Reading Webinar Recap! Protecting Confidential Information and Client Relationships in the Financial Services Industry
webinar - financial services industry trade secrets

Wednesday, November 16, 2022
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Central
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In the seventh installment of the 2022 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth attorneys will focus on trade secret and client relationship considerations in the banking and financial services industry.

Seyfarth

Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar! Protecting Confidential Information and Client Relationships in the Financial Services Industry

federal non-compete ban legislationOn September 1, 2022, Representative Mike Garcia (CA-25) introduced H.R. 8755, titled The Restoring Workers’ Rights Act (the “RWRA”), which would effectively ban non-compete agreements for non-exempt (low-to-mid wage) employees nationwide. If enacted, the RWRA would follow similar legislation in states such as Illinois, Colorado, Washington, and others that have imposed statutory income minimums that must be met in order for employers to bind employees to post-employment restrictive covenants.
Continue Reading California Representative Mike Garcia Introduces Federal Bill Barring Non-Compete Agreements

Seyfarth Trade Secrets partners Erik Weibust, Jeremy Cohen, and Scott Humphrey authored “The Broker Protocol Celebrates Its Sweet Sixteen,” an article in Wealth Management. The article focuses on factors and questions that should be considered by business and legal decision-makers when thinking of joining or leaving the Broker Protocol, including:

  • What are the short term and long term business goals


Continue Reading Seyfarth Trade Secrets Partners Author Broker Protocol Article in Wealth Management

2020 brought with it a bevy of new challenges for companies of all sizes in every industry, not the least of which was protecting trade secrets and confidential information in the face of newly remote workforces. 2021 brings with it new hope and the promise of a return to “normalcy”—whatever that may mean in this changed world. But companies must remain vigilant about protecting their trade secrets and confidential information. As we enter the new year, here are ten resolutions that companies should make—and keep—to accomplish that important goal in 2021 and beyond.
Continue Reading Ten Trade Secret Resolutions to Keep for 2021 and Beyond

President-elect Joe Biden has issued a “Plan for Strengthening Worker Organizing, Collective Bargaining, and Unions” on his website, and it includes an interesting statement about what his incoming administration purportedly intends to do about non-compete and no-poach agreements:
Continue Reading Will Biden Ban Non-Competes?

In a decision of first impression issued last week, the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee held, in Gus’s Franchisor, LLC v. Terrapin Restaurant Partners, LLC, that the COVID-19 pandemic did not excuse a terminated franchisee of Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken (“Gus’s”) from complying with a temporary restraining order (TRO) and permanent injunction prohibiting it from using Gus’s trademarks, trade secrets and proprietary business information.
Continue Reading Don’t Play Chicken With Court Orders: COVID-19 Is No Excuse for a Terminated Franchisee to Continue Using the Franchisor’s Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets

As many of our blog readers will know, the enforceability of restrictive covenants often depends on which state’s law applies to the dispute. For example, California is well known for refusing to enforce employee non-competition agreements and, recently, refusing to honor forum selection clauses in agreements with California employees without the employee first receiving legal advice. In contrast, with limited exceptions, most other states will generally enforce restrictive covenants. Consequently, for employers, controlling and choosing the correct law to  apply to its restrictive covenant agreements can be critical to protection of its business interests.
Continue Reading 6th Circuit Bolsters Employer’s Right to Contract for Chosen Law

Tens of millions of employees have been laid off or furloughed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the reopening process has begun in most states, many of those employees are being rehired and reactivated. For the month of May 2020, the unemployment rate actually started to decline after the massive increase over the prior few months, as businesses began the return to normal and employers who obtained relief from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) restored their workforces to pre-pandemic levels in order to secure loan forgiveness.

One thing that employers may not be considering when they rehire laid off or furloughed employees is what impact this has on prior restrictive covenant agreements with those employees. We previously discussed whether non-competes are enforceable against employees who are laid off. But what about employees who are laid off and then rehired, or furloughed and then reactivated? Are restrictive covenant agreements signed by employees prior to the layoffs or furloughs still enforceable if they ultimately leave and join a competitor down the road? The answer depends on whether the employee was technically, even if temporarily, laid off rather than furloughed, and what state’s law applies.
Continue Reading No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Return to Work May Mean Reduced Protections for Trade Secrets and Customer Goodwill