Casey L.M.Carlson

On Monday, March 3, Linda McMahon was confirmed by the Senate to serve as President Trump’s Secretary of the Department of Education by a vote of 51 to 45. Since President Trump’s inauguration, even without a confirmed Secretary of Education, the administration has taken a number of significant steps to implement its policy priorities for higher education. These have included executive orders targeting DEI programs and gender-inclusive policies,[1]a Dear Colleague Letter interpreting the Supreme

On August 20, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, in Ryan LLC et al. v. Federal Trade Commission, granted Ryan LLC and the US Chamber of Commerce’s motion for summary judgment and barred the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from enforcing its broad non-compete ban with nationwide effect. The FTC’s rule, which would have banned non-compete agreements in most employment contexts, was set to go into effect in two weeks, on September 4, 2024.[1]

Contrary to what has been reported in the popular press, the rule broadly banning noncompetes that was issued by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) this past April[1]is not yet dead and may stay alive long enough for it to take effect. Accordingly, employers should consider what steps they may need to take to comply with the rule’s requirement that they notify, with very limited exception, all current and former employees with active noncompetes that their noncompete is no longer in effect by

On April 19, 2024, the US Department of Education issued the final version of its new and long-awaited Title IX regulations. The Final Rule’s release follows a notice-and-comment period that drew over 240,000 comments from interested parties after the initial Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in June 2022. The new regulations modify the regulatory regime introduced in 2020 by the Trump Administration, especially with respect to investigative and disciplinary proceedings for cases of sexua

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted in favor of issuing its final rule which essentially bans all noncompetes going forward and invalidates most pre-existing noncompetes. The final version of the FTC’s non-compete ban largely tracks its initial proposed rule despite receiving over 26,000 comments, many of which demonstrated that damage to businesses and innovation will result from forbidding noncompetes. The final rule will be effective on August 31, 2024, so businesses

United States District Court Acquits all Defendants in US v. Patel

The last few years have been eventful and, at times, difficult ones for institutions of higher education. Institutions have been deeply impacted by issues ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic, to debates over free speech, to changes in immigration law, and to the ever-increasing pace of technological change, to name but a few. These impacts have been felt by institutions in numerous ways, including through increased legal risk and litigation. But notwithstanding all that has happened, 2023 may be

Yesterday, January 11, 2023, Elizabeth Wilkins, the Federal Trade Commission’s Director of the Office of Planning and lead staffer for the FTC’s newly proposed ban on non-competes, provided comments and answered questions about the Commission’s proposed rule during a public call.

Bottom  Line: On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a sweeping new rule which, if enacted in its draft form, would ban virtually all non-competition agreements (non-competes), including those already in effect. The FTC’s action comes in response to President Biden’s July 2021 Executive Order, which directed the Commission to issue rules limiting non-competes “and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit worker mobility.”[1] While the DOJ and FTC have recently

Parties in Criminal No-Poach Case Reach Pre-Trial Resolution

Working in partnership with abortion service providers and civil liberties groups, a Jenner & Block team filed a lawsuit in Florida to block the implementation of a new state law that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and could put doctors in jail for providing essential care beyond that point.

Aggressive Attacks on Employers’ Post-Employment Restrictions Continue