As jurisdictions around the country continue to impose limitations—or outright bans—on restrictive covenants, Florida is taking a decidedly different approach. The Florida Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act (“the Act”) effective as of July 1, 2025 permits employers to use non-compete and garden leave restrictions up to 4 years in length with qualifying “covered employees,” along

Continue Reading Florida Becomes Most Employer-Friendly State for Non-Competes

In the wake of the Federal Trade Commission’s recently failed attempt to ban non-compete agreements between employers and workers,[1] individual states have once again taken up the mantle of further regulating and limiting their use. These states’ new efforts have appeared with greatest frequency in the health care sector. 

In states where noncompete laws have recently changed, legislatures appear

Continue Reading Non-Compete Agreements in Health Care: A Rapidly Evolving Legal Landscape

We are pleased to share that Seyfarth partner Dawn Mertineit authored the “USA Trends and Developments” section in the recently released Chambers Trade Secrets Global Practice Guide. This highly regarded publication provides timely insights and analysis on the evolving legal landscape of trade secrets law across the globe.

Dawn addresses the growing challenges businesses face in protecting their trade

Continue Reading Seyfarth’s Dawn Mertineit Authors “USA Trends and Developments” in Chambers Trade Secrets Global Practice Guide

With the FTC Ban on non-competes essentially dead in the Courts of Appeal, various states and agencies have taken up the mantle to further limit or expand the use of restrictive covenants for certain populations in 2025. 

Below is a list of major legislative changes, judicial decisions, and agency actions at the state and federal level affecting non-compete agreements in

Continue Reading Restrictive Covenant Law For The First Four Months of 2025

Tuesday, May 6, 2025
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12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Central
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About the Program

Join us for the third and final session of our Commercial Litigation Outlook webinar series, where we’ll examine key legal trends shaping the future of trade secrets

Continue Reading Commercial Litigation Outlook Webinar Series – Part 3: Trade Secrets, Privacy & eDiscovery: Safeguarding Data in an Uncertain Legal Landscape

In our recent webinar, “Drafting Restrictive Covenants That Work – Insights from Recent Legal Battles,” Seyfarth’s Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Compete partners Dawn Mertineit and Dallin Wilson explored the evolving legal landscape surrounding restrictive covenants. As courts and lawmakers continue to scrutinize non-competes, non-solicits, and NDAs, employers must adapt their agreements to remain enforceable while protecting critical business interests.

Continue Reading Webinar Recap! Drafting Restrictive Covenants That Work – Insights from Recent Legal Battles

On March 7, 2025, lawyers for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed motions requesting a 120-day stay of the agency’s appeal of district court decisions in the Fifth Circuit and Eleventh Circuit, which had blocked the FTC’s proposed ban on non-competes (the “Rule”) in the Ryan v. FTC and Properties of the Villages (“POV”) v. FTC cases, respectively. The nearly-identical

Continue Reading FTC Requests Stay of Appeals to Challenges to FTC Non-Compete Rule Citing New Administration

As Republicans regain control of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) under the Trump-Vance Administration, employers that looked to maintain and enforce their non-compete agreements with employees may have found solace in the statements of certain FTC Commissioners who vocally opposed the FTC’s nationwide ban on non-compete agreements. However, recent statements by the FTC’s newly-appointed Chair, Andrew Ferguson, along with the

Continue Reading FTC Launches Joint Task Force to Investigate and Prosecute Non-Compete Agreements, as FTC Chairman declares the GOP a “Workers’ Party”

On February 14, 2025, NLRB Acting General Counsel William B. Cowan rescinded a number of active General Counsel Memoranda citing an increasing “backlog of cases [grown] to the point where it is no longer sustainable.” Among those rescinded were a pair of memos issued by recently ousted NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo that declare non-compete agreements between employers and workers

Continue Reading Acting NLRB General Counsel Rescinds Biden-Era Policy Guidance on Non-Compete Agreements