Tag Archives: blue-pencil

Massachusetts Governor Signs Non-Compete Bill Into Law

By Erik J. Winton and Colin A. Thakkar on Posted in: Blue Penciling, Garden Leave, Legislation, Non-Compete
Just before midnight on July 31, 2018, the last day of its legislative session, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a significant bill regulating the use of non-compete agreements in the Commonwealth.  Today, August 10, 2018, Governor Charlie Baker signed that bill into law. In an article dated August 1, 2018, we examined the key aspects of … Continue Reading

Massachusetts Non-Compete Law Reaches Governor’s Desk

By Erik J. Winton and Colin A. Thakkar on Posted in: Blue Penciling, Consideration, Garden Leave, Legislation, Non-Compete
Just before midnight on July 31, 2018, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a bill regulating the use of non-compete agreements in the Commonwealth. This development is a long time coming, as the Legislature had been attempting for nearly a decade to create a non-compete law. In an article posted on our website on August 1, 2018, Erik … Continue Reading

Massachusetts Legislature Pushes Forward With Amended Non-Compete Bill

By Erik J. Winton and Colin A. Thakkar on Posted in: Blue Penciling, Consideration, Garden Leave, Legislation, Non-Compete
This Blog has previously covered the six non-compete bills that were introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature in 2017 (See articles dated December 27, 2017, and March 2, 2018). On April 17, 2018, the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development submitted a revised bill, House Bill 4419 (“H 4419”), in place of the prior bills.  … Continue Reading

Kansas Decision Highlights The Perils Of Overreach In Restrictive Covenant Agreements

By Colin A. Thakkar on Posted in: Blue Penciling, Injunctions, Non-Compete, Non-Solicitation, Unfair Competition
In a recent decision examining Kansas non-compete law, the United States District Court for the District of Kansas partially granted a company’s motion to enjoin its former employee’s violations of the non-compete and customer non-solicitation provisions of his employment agreement. The decision, in the matter of Servi Tech, Inc. v. Olson, highlights a number of key … Continue Reading

What Does it Mean to “Modify” an Unenforceable Non-Competition Covenant Under Georgia’s Restrictive Covenants Act?

By Lauren F. Gordon on Posted in: Blue Penciling, Non-Compete
               Although Georgia’s Restrictive Covenants Act has been on the books since the spring of 2011, no judge has decided the exact scope of Georgia courts’ blue-penciling abilities – until now.  In a case of first impression, Judge Thrash of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in LifeBrite Laboratories, LLC … Continue Reading

Illinois Appellate Court Finds Non-Compete Restrictions Over-Reaching and Affirms Court Decision Not to Blue Pencil

By Gregory H. Andrews on Posted in: Non-Compete, Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality Agreements, Non-Solicitation
A recent decision from an Illinois Appellate Court suggests that employers with non-compete agreements “built to scare” may end up with an unenforceable contact and even the loss of confidential information under Illinois law. AssuredPartners, Inc. v. Schmitt (October 27, 2015 1st Dist.) Illinois Courts continue to carefully scrutinize contracts containing post-employment restrictions over concerns … Continue Reading

New Arkansas Law Permits Blue-Penciling of Employment Non-Compete Agreements

By on Posted in: Non-Compete
Arkansas has a new non-compete law.  James H. Stock, a shareholder in our Memphis office, has written an article on the Jackson Lewis website about these developments.  As he notes, the legislation signed by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson will allow “a court to enforce the reasonable parts of a non-competition agreement, while deleting the overbroad, unenforceable … Continue Reading

North Carolina Court of Appeals Directs Trial Court to Rewrite Non-Compete Agreement

By M. Robin Davis on Posted in: Non-Compete
Take everything you thought you knew about North Carolina’s “blue pencil” doctrine and scribble it out – well, at least as it pertains to non-compete agreements between parties to the sale of a business. Historically, North Carolina’s limited “blue pencil” doctrine prohibited a court from “drafting a new contract for the parties” by restricting the … Continue Reading

Will Tolling Provisions Gain Popularity?

By on Posted in: Injunctions, Non-Compete, Uncategorized
Tolling clauses in non-compete agreements extend the period of noncompetition by a period of time usually equal to the time an employee is in violation.  Appellate courts in some states, including Illinois and Massachusetts, have affirmed injunctions based on contractual extension clauses. For example, in Prairie Eye Center v. Butler, No. 4-01-0005 (Ill. Ct. App. … Continue Reading
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