From RDM’s Knowledge Blog
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Non-Compete Agreements: The FTC’s New Rules
The current landscape regarding the enforcement of non-compete agreements is about to get flipped on its head in the United States. Following President Biden’s July 2021 executive order encouraging the Federal Trade Commission to employ its statutory rulemaking authority “to curtail the unfair use of non-compete clauses and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit worker mobility,” on January 5, 2023, the FTC—in a profound exercise of its regulatory power—issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would have a sweeping effect on the enforcement of non-compete agreements.
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Checking In on Punitive Damage Reform in Missouri
The Missouri legislature passed Mo. Rev. Stat. § 510.261 in 2020. The statute aimed to limit the frequency and sum of punitive awards. In advance of this aim, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 510.261.5 states that “[n]o initial pleading in a civil action shall contain a punitive damage award.” The section goes on to establish that the trial court must serve as a gatekeeper, granting plaintiffs leave of court to plead punitive damages only after a plaintiff shows “a reasonable basis for recovery of punitive damages” through “affidavits, exhibits, or discovery materials.”
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More BIPA Litigation Likely in Illinois
Earlier this year, RDM member Nate Lindsey wrote about the ins and outs of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Enacted in 2008, BIPA allows individuals to make a claim against private entities that collect biometric data without first creating a publicly available policy on the data’s retention and destruction, obtaining the individual’s consent, and using reasonable care to protect the information gathered.