Category Archives: Covenants Not to Compete

FTC Non-Compete Rule Change Could Boost Wages and Innovation

In April, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) closed comments on a proposed rule change that would drastically limit employers’ uses and abuses of non-compete agreements in employee contracts.    When the FTC announced the proposed rule change its press release … Continue reading

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Panel of Global Employment Lawyers Agrees on One Thing: U.S. Noncompete Laws Create Unique Challenges

The state-by-state patchwork of noncompete laws is difficult enough for U.S.-based businesses, let alone employers with a cross-border presence. I had the pleasure of exploring this topic with a panel of U.S. and UK-based employment lawyers as part to the … Continue reading

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Tracking the Impact of the Defend Trade Secrets Act After Five Years 

The now five-year-old Defend Trade Secrets Act has had a big impact, I reported in a Texas Lawyer commentary “Tracking the Impact of the Defend Trade Secrets Act After Five Years.”    “Trade secret filings were on the rise even before the DTSA and have only increased since. Texas is … Continue reading

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Texas Appellate Court Goes the Extra Mile (literally) in Non-Compete Dispute, Expands Geographic Scope of Injunction

An appellate ruling from the Dallas Fifth Court of Appeals in January is an important read for those who closely follow Texas non-compete litigation.    The opinion in Richard Gehrke and Pacific Companies Inc. v Merritt Hawkins and Associates is a rare example … Continue reading

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Backlash Builds for Noncompetes

For a generation of workers, noncompete agreements have steadily crept into more and more facets of the working world to the point that even low- and middle-wage earners are increasingly being asked to sign the agreements as a condition of … Continue reading

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Dating App Execs Make Failed Tinder-Bumble Merger Personal

A nasty court fight unfolding between Texas-based dating apps Tinder and Bumble has all of the elements of a soap opera drama – romance, unfaithfulness, intrigue and, of course, revenge. The mess began just four years ago with a bitter … Continue reading

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In Buc-ee’s Retention Pay Squabble, Former Manager Scores Big Payback from Appellate Court

A Texas appellate court recently stiff-armed the Buc-ee’s convenience store chain for a poorly considered retention pay provision that amounted to “unenforceable restraints of trade.” The court’s interpretation of the retention pay provision is a learning opportunity for employers who … Continue reading

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Regional Economies Find Hidden Price of Noncompete Agreements

A recent New York Times article by Conor Dougherty puts a human face on the damaging consequences that result when workers in broad swaths of the economy are required to sign noncompete agreements as a condition of employment. While the … Continue reading

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U-Turn Ahead: Uber hits brakes over new hire’s refusal to help in trade secret defense

In a move that surprised no one watching the drama between Uber and Google’s Waymo self-driving vehicle division, Uber fired engineering whiz Anthony Levandowski on Tuesday. The company thought it scored a real coup last year in hiring Levandowski to … Continue reading

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Your Employment Agreement is Nothing Like a Mortgage Document

Another report on employment contracts is discouraging but not surprising. A survey of 1,000 people in the U.K. showed that more than 90 percent didn’t read their employment contracts – despite the fact that the terms can haunt them for … Continue reading

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