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...
It turns out that global climate change is caused by a decrease in the number of pirates. Don’t believe it? See the chart to the right. This is an example of mistaking correlation for causati...
On June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court issued its much-awaited decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, addressing the intersection of trade secrets law and the Freedom...
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 ...
Updated April 28, 2019 Occasionally, I mention blogs and other resources (and include links) when they are relevant to a topic that I'm discussing and they have reliable information. More ge...
It's been awhile 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 a...
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...
Back in July, I posted a story about how courts and lawyers frequently assess whether a noncompete is overly broad by asking whether the restriction would prevent the employee from working as a janit...
The BRR 50 State Noncompete Chart has been updated today to reflect a new laws in Idaho, Massachusetts, and Utah (and a few additional tweaks in other states). (See "Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompe...
Governor Baker just signed the noncompete and trade secrets bills. They are now law. Here is what you need to know: Massachusetts noncompete and trade secret reform has arrived: What you need to k...
Last week, I posted an article explaining the new noncompete and trade secrets law reform legislation passed by the Massachusetts Legislature. See Massachusetts noncompete and trade secret reform ha...
Last week, I posted an article explaining the new noncompete and trade secrets law reform legislation passed by the Massachusetts Legislature. See Massachusetts noncompete and trade secret reform ha...
Almost a decade in the making, the Massachusetts legislature has today (July 31 - at 11:57 PM) finally passed noncompete reform. Unheralded, however, is the companion updating of Massachusetts trade s...
Despite the lack of headlines, the Massachusetts Legislature has continued to move closer and closer toward noncompete and trade secret reform. It now looks potentially imminent. On January 23, 201...
Yesterday, I posted about the bills to ban noncompetes at the federal level: Federal Legislators Propose Noncompete Ban. Only the House bill was available on line; the Senate bill was not. Whil...
On April 26, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Workforce Mobility Act to impose a federal ban on the use of employee noncompetes. A compan...
On Tuesday, April 17, the Massachusetts legislature's Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development favorably reported H.4419 to the House Steering, Policy and Scheduling. The new bill - w...
This was a busy week for noncompete laws. Two of the states that have actually made changes to their noncompete laws in the past two years - Idaho and Utah (see Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete Law...
Proposed legislation banning noncompetes has become de rigueur. Two more states - Vermont and New Hampshire - have introduced noncompete bills in just the past two weeks. Vermont's bill would ban a...
The New Jersey legislature is considering noncompete reform. The current bill, Senate Bill 3518, largely tracks the concepts - and, in some instances, the language - of the Massachusetts bills that...