FTC Final Rule Banning Worker Noncompete Provisions: Employer Impact, Legal Challenges, Preparing for Compliance
Covered Entities and Workers; Effect on Other Restrictive Covenants; Protecting Trade Secrets and Confidential Information
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE webinar will provide an in-depth look at the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) long-anticipated final rule banning worker noncompete provisions with few exceptions. The panel will examine the impact on businesses, address interaction with state law, and, given the expansive scope of the rule, address what counsel and clients should be doing now to prepare for compliance despite legal challenges.
Outline
- Introduction
- FTC Act Sections 5 and 6(g)
- History of the FTC final rule
- FTC final rule
- Purpose
- Covered entities and workers
- Noncompete clauses defined
- Existing noncompete provisions currently in place
- Limited exceptions
- Employer notice requirement
- State law interaction
- Legal challenges
- Preparing for compliance
- Contract review and revision
- Protecting trade secrets and other confidential information
- Giving notice
- Other considerations
- Practitioner takeaways
Benefits
The panel will review these and other important considerations:
- What businesses and workers are covered by the final rule?
- How does the rule define noncompete clauses?
- How will the rule affect other restrictive covenants?
- What action does the rule require of employers?
- What actions can businesses take to protect trade secrets and confidential information in light of the final rule?
- What interaction will the final rule have with state laws related to noncompete provisions?
- How should counsel and their clients begin preparing for compliance?
Faculty
Russell Beck
Partner
Beck Reed Riden
Mr. Beck is a business, trade secrets, and employee mobility litigator, nationally recognized for his trade secrets and... | Read More
Mr. Beck is a business, trade secrets, and employee mobility litigator, nationally recognized for his trade secrets and noncompete experience. A leading authority on the law of trade secrets, noncompetes, and employee mobility, he literally wrote the law, wrote the book, and teaches the course on noncompete law in Massachusetts. Similarly, Mr. Beck revised the Massachusetts Uniform Trade Secrets Act, wrote the books Trade Secrets Law for the Massachusetts Practitioner (1st ed. MCLE 2019) and Negotiating, Drafting, and Enforcing Noncompetition Agreements and Related Restrictive Covenants (6th ed., MCLE, Inc. 2021), teaches the course Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants at Boston University School of Law, and co-hosts a podcast on trade secrets and restrictive covenants called Fairly Competing.
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Benjamin I. Fink
Shareholder
Berman Fink Van Horn
Mr. Fink is known for his work in noncompete, trade secret and competition-related disputes. He has represented... | Read More
Mr. Fink is known for his work in noncompete, trade secret and competition-related disputes. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in disputes involving noncompete, non-solicitation of customers, non-recruitment of employees and non-disclosure/confidential information agreements for more than 25 years. Mr. Fink also has deep experience representing parties in disputes involving trade secrets, tortious interference with business and contractual relations, breach of fiduciary duty and/or duty of loyalty, unfair and deceptive trade practices, business defamation, trade name and trade dress infringement, Computer Systems Protection Act violations, Economic Espionage Act/Defend Trade Secrets Act claims, Electronic Communications Privacy Act claims, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claims, Stored Communications Act claims and Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims. In this practice, he has successfully handled countless temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction hearings.
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Paul J. Kennedy
Shareholder
Littler Mendelson
With more than 30 years of experience, Mr. Kennedy is a trial lawyer first, who has experience with a wide range of... | Read More
With more than 30 years of experience, Mr. Kennedy is a trial lawyer first, who has experience with a wide range of employment issues, including terminations, reductions in force, leave issues, wage disputes, investigations, employee theft, union issues, and IP protection, among others. A practiced and engaging public speaker, he is a frequent and able communicator at industry conferences and functions. Mr. Kennedy regularly litigates cases involving breach of restrictive covenants, employee raiding, and theft of trade secrets. He is counsel in numerous reported opinions that have defined unfair competition law in multiple jurisdictions, including Maryland and Virginia. Mr. Kennedy has also has drafted and negotiated various contracts, including employment, confidentiality and proprietary rights, and assignment of invention agreements. He has written and spoken extensively on issues relating to restrictive covenants, protection of trade secrets, and employee theft of proprietary information.
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