Brattle Consultants Coauthor Article on the Relationship Between Noncompete Bans and Trade Secret Cases
Published in the American Bar Association's Landslide magazine
In April 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted in favor of a nationwide ban on the use of noncompete agreements, which impose contractual conditions prohibiting employees from engaging in activities – such as accepting a job with a competitor – that increase competition for their employers. An estimated one in five working Americans are subject to noncompetes.
In a new article recently published in the American Bar Association’s Landslide magazine, Brattle coauthors Senior Associate Dr. Animesh Giri and Research Associate April Dang examine the potential impact such a ban could have on the volume of trade secrets disputes. Some speculate that the ban could result in an uptick in such cases as companies look to protect their confidential information through trade secrets lawsuits. The authors conduct a state-level analysis of noncompete regulations – comparing states that have already fully or partially banned noncompetes with those that have not – and trade secrets caseloads. They find that any observed variations are primarily due to population sizes and that the nationwide ban on noncompetes is thus unlikely to lead to an immediate surge in trade secrets cases, but opine that further research is needed to understand the implications of noncompete policies fully.
The full article, “Noncompetes and Their Potential Impact on Trade Secret Cases,” is available below.
