Russell Beck To Speak at Strafford Seminar on Trade Secrets and Noncompete Regulation
Event Details
June 25, 2024
1 – 2:30 p.m. ET
Registration and additional information is available from Strafford.
On June 25, 2024, Russell Beck will be speaking at a Strafford seminar titled “FTC Final Rule Banning Worker Noncompete Provisions: Employer Impact, Legal Challenges, Preparing for Compliance.”
The presentation is described as follows:
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.
On Apr. 23, 2024, the FTC published its long-anticipated final rule banning the use of noncompete clauses in the workplace for most workers with limited exceptions. Despite immediate legal challenges, given the scope and impact of the final rule, counsel and their clients should understand the rule’s requirements and begin preparing for compliance in the event that the rule fully survives judicial scrutiny. Timing will be important.
The final rule effectively covers any person or business operating for profit within the FTC’s jurisdiction and imposes a prospective ban on new noncompete agreements with any worker, broadly defined to include employees, independent contractors, externs, interns, volunteers, apprentices, and sole proprietors. The rule also invalidates all existing noncompete provisions except for those with “senior executives” who are narrowly defined in the rule.
The rule defines “noncompete clause” as a term or condition that prohibits, penalizes, or prevents workers from seeking or accepting work after the end of their employment. The FTC states that whether a given contractual provision constitutes a “noncompete” clause is a fact-specific inquiry. Therefore, whether other restrictive covenants such as non-solicitation clauses can fall within the rule’s purviewalthough these are not specifically addressed.
Before the rule’s effective date, employers will be required to provide written notice to current or former workers that their noncompete clause cannot be legally enforced and will not be enforced against the worker. There are limited exceptions to the ban.
Listen as our expert panel provides an in-depth look at the FTC’s final rule banning the use of worker noncompete provisions. The panel will discuss the impact on businesses, address the current state of the rule’s implementation including any legal challenges, and describe the rule’s interaction with state laws. The panel will also offer best practices for preparing for compliance.
A full program for the presentation is available here.
Russell frequently writes about current efforts to regulate noncompete agreements. He was featured on NPR and quoted in the New York Times discussing federal regulatory efforts targeting noncompete agreements. In January 2023, Russell wrote an article for Law360 called “Companies Must Brace For FTC’s Overbroad Noncompete Rule.” Russell recently published a helpful guide for employers seeking to protect confidential information following implementation of a nationwide noncompete ban.
For up-to-the-minute analysis of legal issues concerning noncompete agreements in Massachusetts and across the United States, read Russell Beck’s blog, Fair Competition Law.
Beck Reed Riden LLP is among the leading authorities in trade secret, noncompete, and unfair competition law, and our experience handling these matters is backed by our extensive employment law and business litigation experience. Our hand-picked team combines attorneys with complementary expertise and practical experience.
The Wall Street Journal featured Beck Reed Riden LLP’s noncompete agreement experience. In 2016, the White House issued a report entitled, “Non-Compete Agreements: Analysis of the Usage, Potential Issues, and State Responses,” relying in part on Beck Reed Riden LLP’s research and analysis, including its 50 State Noncompete Survey.
Russell Beck’s work in this area is well recognized, and includes:
- Over thirty years of experience working on trade secret, noncompete, and unfair competition matters
- Assisting the Obama White House as part of a small working group to develop President Obama’s Noncompete Call to Action
- Authoring the book Negotiating, Drafting, and Enforcing Noncompetition Agreements and Related Restrictive Covenants (6th ed., MCLE, Inc. 2021), used by other lawyers to help them with their noncompete matters
- Authoring the book Trade Secrets Law for the Massachusetts Practitioner (1st ed. MCLE 2019), covering trade secrets nationally, with a focus on Massachusetts law
- Drafting and advising on legislation for the Massachusetts Legislature to define, codify, and improve noncompetition law
- Teaching Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants at Boston University School of Law
- Founding and administering the award-winning blog, Fair Competition Law
- Establishing and administering the Noncompete Lawyers and Trade Secret Protection groups on LinkedIn, with over 1,660 and 870 members, respectively, around the world
- Founded and chaired the Trade Secret / Noncompete Practice for an AmLaw 100 firm
In addition, Russell was honored for his work in this area of law in the 2020 Chambers USA Guide, which stated that Russell Beck is “an expert in the field of trade secret and restrictive covenant law,” and is also noted for his “ability to adjust and come up with successful solutions.” Chambers noted that Russell “basically wrote the new Massachusetts statute on noncompetes” and that “he’s an expert in employee mobility and nonrestrictive covenants.”
Beck Reed Riden LLP is Boston’s innovative litigation boutique. Our lawyers have years of experience working with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups and individuals. We focus on business litigation and employment.
We are experienced litigators and counselors, helping our clients as business partners to resolve issues and develop strategies that best meet our clients’ legal and business needs – before, during, and after litigation. We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and help you. Read more about us, the types of matters we handle, and what we can do for you here.
he White House’s explanatory fact sheet clarifies that “the President encourages the FTC to ban or limit non-compete agreements.” A nationwide rule regarding noncompetes would be an unprecedented move by the federal government.
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