As we have previously reported, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Final Rule which, on its anticipated effective date of September 4, 2024, will invalidate nearly all preexisting noncompetition agreements and bar employers from entering into such restrictions with workers in the future.
This rule has faced numerous legal challenges across the country. On July 3, 2024, a Texas federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the rule, suggesting that the plaintiffs would likely succeed in proving that the FTC exceeded its authority. However, this injunction was limited to the specific plaintiffs involved in that case and did not apply nationwide.
Following that decision, the odds seemed to favor that other challenges to the Final Rule would be decided similarly, with other federal judges either enjoining the Final Rule outright or on a limited basis as the Texas judge did. However, a Pennsylvania federal district court judge issued a surprising endorsement of the Final Rule by denying a request for a temporary injunction in a similar lawsuit filed against the FTC.
Contrary to the Texas ruling, on July 23, 2024, Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated they would suffer irreparable harm without an injunction. Additionally, she reasoned that the FTC acted within its authority under the FTC Act, which empowers the agency to prevent unfair methods of competition, including through...
The Trump administration’s fraud prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center is set for arraignment on Thursday afternoon. Ahead of the scheduled court appearance in Alabama, defense lawyers fo...