Noncompete and No-Poach Agreements in Health Care: Navigating the Biden Administration's Executive Order, Rapidly Changing State Laws, and Private Litigation

Carter DeLorme, Katherine Rigby, and Erik Weibust, Members of the Firm, co-present a webinar, "Noncompete and No-Poach Agreements in Health Care: Navigating the Biden Administration's Executive Order, Rapidly Changing State Laws, and Private Litigation," hosted by Strafford.

Many life sciences companies and other health care providers have encountered noncompete, no-poach, and other restrictive covenant agreements. These agreements are often a condition of employment or are used to prevent unfair competition and protect employers' trade secrets and customer relationships.

In 2021, President Biden signed a wide-ranging Executive Order entitled Promoting Competition in the American Economy (the EO). The EO addressed noncompete covenants, encouraging the FTC to ban or limit them. Health care is one of the industries spotlighted. However, the Supreme Court's recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA may have cast the FTC's authority to do so into serious doubt.

In addition to the EO, the health care industry must also consider state laws regulating the use of restrictive covenants. Just this year alone, a total of 98 noncompete bills have been introduced in 29 state legislatures, with some 30 of them focused on the health care industry in one way or another.

In this webinar, Carter, Kate, and Erik discuss the recent EO and its implications for the use of noncompete and no-poach agreements in the health care industry. They also examine agency guidance and state laws and actions, the potential for private litigation, and offer best practices for navigating noncompete and no-poach agreements in health care.

For more information and to register, please visit StraffordPub.com.