Category Archives: Non-Competes

Non-compete breach in business contract nets client $25.6M 

My colleagues at AZA and I won a $25.6 million breach of contract jury verdict in Houston court this week in a non-compete case pitting AZA client doctors’ group Fondren Orthopedic Ltd. against healthcare giant HCA Healthcare.   While the Federal … Continue reading

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Northern District of Texas temporarily enjoins FTC from enforcing its non-compete ban

It’s not surprising that a federal court enjoined the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) non-compete ban. Many non-compete lawyers, including me, predicted that the FTC ban on worker non-compete agreements would be struck down.  And the first court to rule on … Continue reading

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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 suggested … Continue reading

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Can CEO’s learn something from Dolphins owner Stephen Ross’s problems with the NFL?

Earlier this week, multibillionaire and longtime Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was found to have violated the league’s tampering rules in a scheme described as “unprecedented in scope and severity” by commissioner Roger Goodell. It’s hard for someone like me … Continue reading

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Despite Two Closely Watched Trial Losses, DOJ Pressing on with Controversial Criminal No-Poaching, Price-Fixing Antitrust Enforcement

Is the DOJ going too far by aggressively pursuing criminal no-poach and price-fixing charges as per se violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act? In two recent trials testing these enforcement theories for the first time, jurors thought the government’s cases … 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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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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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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5 Lessons About Protecting Digital Assets From ZeniMax v. Oculus VR

The November edition of DCEO magazine dives into the recent $500 million jury verdict against Facebook’s Oculus virtual reality subsidiary, describing the whopper verdict as a transcendent moment for businesses that have not yet taken steps to identify and protect … 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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