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The RDM Team
Staff, Rasmussen Dickey Moore

RDM—Rasmussen Dickey Moore—We are Trial Counsel.

The members and associate attorneys at Rasmussen Dickey Moore are supported by a fantastic team of paralegals, clerks, secretaries and administrative assistants, human resource specialists, accountants and billing specialists, and marketing specialists. Our team works with over two dozen attorneys across three offices to make possible the unparalleled work that our firm does.

RDM's Knowledge Blog Posts by The RDM Team

By The RDM Team

During the summer of 2023, Rasmussen Dickey Moore was delighted to welcome Megan Smith to our Kansas City office as a summer associate. Megan finished her 1L year at Vermont Law and Graduate School, returned to her Metro Kansas City home for the summer, and will resume her law studies as a 2L at the University of Cincinnati School of Law. 

Megan is a lifelong Kansan, growing up in Leawood, just across State Line Road from RDM’s Kansas City, Missouri, headquarters. 

Majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Political Science at the University of Kansas, Megan was an active member of Kappa Delta Sorority, serving on the chapter’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as the liaison to the sorority’s Vice President of Public Relations. 

Megan plans to continue her environmental education by pursuing a career in environmental law. At Vermont Law and Graduate School, Megan served as a 1L Senator with the Environmental Law Society. 

This summer, Megan researched law in many fields, including contract law, tort law, and environmental law. “One of the many things ingrained in my memory during the first year of law school was the importance of legal research and writing,” says Megan. Her summer associate position provided extensive opportunities to draft motions, memos, and reports for the attorneys at RDM.  

“The opportunity to apply the knowledge I gained from my 1L year has been amazing, and I have been able to do it in so many different ways. So far this summer, I have worked with documents such as depositions, trial testimony transcripts, studies, cases, and pleadings. Being in meetings with attorneys and paralegals to learn more about what truly goes into crafting a defense or substantiating a claim has been really interesting to see.” 

Megan’s biggest project during her summer at RDM is to research and prepare a report about an environmental dispute that lasted from the late 1960s and into the 1970s regarding water pollution. This dispute put the federal government, state governments and agencies, and environmental groups at odds. “This project has been so interesting,” says Megan, “and it has shown me how important it is to truly understand the history and science behind statutes, cases, and regulations.” 

In addition to helping the attorneys with their work, Megan also prepared two presentations about the confidentiality requirements regarding court filings becoming publicly available on Case.net. The opportunity helped her to get out of her comfort zone and learn more about the responsibilities and requirements of being a lawyer. 

“I have really enjoyed my summer here at RDM, and can’t wait to see where the rest of my time here takes me!” Thank you, Megan, for a job well done this summer, and best wishes in your 2L classes! 

Dr. Maya Angelou and Dr. Yusef Salaam, heroes of Black history and present. In the background is a photo of the March on Washington for civil rights in 1963.

By The RDM Team

February will always be that sacred time of year when we reflect on and celebrate Black History. Thanks to the contributions and sacrifices of those that came before me, I got to enjoy a childhood that was, for the most part, insulated (no pun intended) from the ghosts of this country’s racist past. I was born in the 90s—over 30 years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s iconic March on Washington. I grew up in a military family, no less, so there was no shortage of diversity in the communities we lived in. I certainly wasn’t oblivious to the Civil Rights Movement—and my parents made darn sure I knew about it—but to say that I’d lived it, or even witnessed it with my own eyes, simply wouldn’t be true. Looking back on it, though, I realize that my childhood was a living testament to the dream Dr. King spoke of on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial all those years ago. It’s not something I take for granted, but as I grew into adolescence and adulthood, I had to come to terms with the inevitable conclusion that there is still much to do.

It’s the collective experience and sacrifices of those great individuals that came before us, including Dr. King, Thurgood Marshall, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, and so many others, that help us make sense of the world we live in today. We all are immeasurably blessed that their legacies are something we have the chance to reflect on with the benefit of hindsight. Even in today’s climate of social unrest, there is much we can learn from the way these Black heroes lived their lives that will enrich and empower us, as we carry on through our own.

I know I am far from the only person who has struggled with frustrations when they see the systems in this country were set up in a way that benefits some to the detriment of others. And I don’t mean “see” like you read it in a book or online. I mean taking a drive down Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2023 and seeing, with your own eyes, the ever-present effects of redlining practices that took place decades ago. I mean learning about (and visiting) Tulsa, Oklahoma. I know that I (and many others) have spent nights agonizing over America’s insatiable appetite for unrestrained cruelty, particularly where Black lives and blue lives are concerned. The likes of Keenan Anderson, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Stephon Clark, Alton Sterling, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and many others each serve as painful reminders that as far as we’ve come, there is still some way to go.

For many, accepting this reality means you’ve inevitably dealt with those same feelings of frustration, and at its worst, resentment. But what do you do with those negative emotions? I encourage anyone that has felt (or is feeling) this way to take this month to reflect on the lessons we can learn in Black history. To put this in perspective, I will share a discussion I was lucky to have with Dr. Yusef Salaam—one of the “Exonerated (Central Park) Five” during a visit he took to KU in February 2020, during my last year of law school. There, I asked him how on Earth he emerged on the other side of a wrongful conviction, losing years of his life in prison, and being vilified in a page one newspaper article by (at the time) the sitting President of the United States—who to this day has never issued any kind of apology. How did he suffer through all of that without being vengeful towards the inequitable systems in this county that allowed that to happen? His response to me was a quote he learned from Dr. Maya Angelou:

“You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like a cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn’t do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote for it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.” 

And that’s exactly what Dr. Salaam did. He read, and he wrote, and he never stopped talking about it.  That is how he overcame his struggle and went on to inspire a generation—myself included. And therein lies the beauty of Black history. Behind every great man or woman in history was someone that inspired them to act in kind. In this sense, Black history is not something distant or perpetually suspended within the ambit of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s always being made. From Dr. Angelou to Dr. Salaam, and from Dr. Salaam to myself—it’s Black people inspiring those that follow after that constitutes Black history. It’s something that should always be celebrated, shared, and in times of strife, should be looked to for wisdom and clarity. I thank Dr. Angelou because her words gave grace and clarity to frustrations I’d carried in my heart for years. I also thank Dr. Salaam for being the vessel through which her words could flow in ways that not only inspired and changed the course of his life but also touched on mine.

I am certain there is something for all of us to learn this month that will revitalize our collective spirit and inspire us as we carry on through this year. We only have so much time on this earth, and the clock is ticking inexorably toward our journey’s end. To that end, I would encourage anyone to be proactive and seek out ways we can learn from and emulate our predecessors. It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that their legacy lives on. Whether that be reading about these Black revolutionaries online, conversing with a colleague, or simply watching a Netflix documentary—what can you learn from those that came before, and how can you ensure those lessons are passed on to those that follow after? 

This article was originally published in the February 2023 issue of DRI’s The Voice. Dillon is a member of DRI’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

The Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington DC. The FTC has proposed a new rule barring many non-compete agreements.

By The RDM Team

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.

The Proposed Rule 

The new rule will not only bar employers from entering into non-compete agreements with their workers. It will additionally require employers to rescind pre-existing non-compete clauses no later than 180 days after the final rule is published. Additionally, employers will be required to provide notice to their employees that, as of the compliance date, any non-compete clauses are no longer in effect and may not be enforced against the worker.

To properly comply with the rule, an employer’s communication to its workers would need to be “individualized” and “on paper or in a digital format such as, for example, an email or text message.” Notice would need to be delivered within 45 days of rescinding the non-compete clause. The notice requirement would apply to current and former workers, to the extent that “the worker’s contact information [is] readily available.” The proposed rule includes a very limited exception which is applicable only to “a person who is selling a business entity or otherwise disposing of all of the person’s ownership interest in the business entity, or by a person who is selling all or substantially all of a business entity’s operating assets, when the person restricted by the non-compete clause is a substantial owner of, or substantial member or substantial partner in, the business entity at the time the person enters into the non-compete clause.” 

Preemptive Effect on States’ Non-Compete Laws

Until now, the enforceability of non-competition clauses was a matter of state law, and states’ positions regarding the proper scope of noncompetition restrictions have varied. If implemented, however, this new rule will supersede all state laws, regulations, orders, or interpretations to the extent that they are inconsistent with the FTC’s rule. It’s worth noting that only California, North Dakota, and Oklahoma outright ban the enforcement of non-compete agreements—so the FTC’s rule would effectively create a nationwide policy that goes further than state law in the remaining 47 states.

The tremendous significance of this new rule cannot be overlooked. Most U.S. companies will be forced to completely change how they operate in retaining talent and safeguarding company secrets. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the rule, if adopted in its current form, will face prompt legal challenges.

In publishing the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking—which is the first step in the FTC’s rulemaking process—FTC Commissioners voted 3-1, along partisan lines, with Commissioner Christine Wilson being the lone dissenter. In her dissenting statement, Commissioner Wilson notes that the proposed rule “…represents a radical departure from hundreds of years of legal precedent that employs a fact-specific inquiry into whether a non-compete clause is unreasonable in duration and scope, given the business justification for the restriction.” She further expects that the “…Commission’s competition rulemaking authority itself certainly will be challenged,” including under the “major questions doctrine” addressed in West Virginia v. EPA, as the “Commission lacks clear Congressional authorization to undertake this initiative.”

The public will have 60 days to submit comments on the proposed rule, which was based on a preliminary finding that non-compete clauses constitute an unfair method of competition and, therefore, a violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC noted that it is specifically seeking comments on: 

  1. Whether franchisees should be covered by the rule; 
  2. Whether senior executives should be exempted from the rule or subject to a rebuttable presumption rather than a ban; and 
  3. Whether low- and high-wage workers should be treated differently under the rule.

The comment period closes after March 10, 2023. The rule would subsequently take effect 180 days after the final version is published, but its imposition could be delayed as it is almost certain to face a significant wave of litigation challenging the constitutionality of the rule.

Although the rulemaking process is still in the early stages, this is the strongest indication of legislative and executive intent to void existing non-compete agreements and ban the use of such agreements going forward. As the tides drastically change for American businesses, employers should be proactive before this comment period is over and speak to an attorney regarding how their policies on non-compete agreements will be affected going forward. RDM’s Employment and Labor Law Team is ready to help you understand your options and ensure compliance with potential new regulations. Contact RDM today.

Further Reading on the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule

Dillion Williams previously provided an overview of restrictive covenants, including non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, in “The Shifting Landscape of Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation Agreements.” The article appeared in the January 2023 issue of DRI’s The Brief Case and was co-authored by Kennard Davis, associate attorney at Baker Donelson’s New Orleans office. Dillon and Kennard serve together on DRI’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

The Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City. The state legislature passed statutes reforming punitive damage awards in 2020.

By The RDM Team

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.”

The statute has now been in effect for a little over two years and has faced multiple challenges alleging the statute violates the Missouri State Constitution. Despite strong challenges from plaintiffs, the statute has been enforced in state courts throughout Missouri.

Defense counsel across the state have moved to strike punitive damage claims from initial pleadings filed after the statute’s activation date. Plaintiffs’ counsel have responded by asserting that the statute violates Article V of the Missouri Constitution, which states that “[t]he supreme court may establish rules relating to practice, procedure and pleading for all courts,” because the new statute conflicts with a procedural rule rightfully promulgated by the Missouri Supreme Court. This argument relies on the Missouri Court of Appeals ruling in State v. Emerson, which held that “if there is a conflict between [the Supreme] Court’s rules and a statute, the rule always prevails if it addresses practice, procedure or pleadings.” 573 S.W.3d 93, 102 (Mo. App. W.D. 2019). Plaintiffs have also claimed that the statute conflicts with the Missouri Rules of Civil Procedure and that the evidentiary standard and leave of court requirements violate the right to a jury trial found in Mo. Const. Art. 1 § 22(a).

Successes for Defendants…

Defendants have, to this point, been successful in enforcing the statute. At least three separate circuit courts have rejected plaintiffs’ arguments claiming the statute violates the Missouri Constitution and granted motions to strike punitive damage claims. There is not yet a written opinion explaining any court’s precise reasoning for upholding the statute, but defendants have advanced multiple persuasive arguments to rebut challenges.

First, defendants argue that the statute does not conflict with the Missouri Rules of Civil Procedure because the rules do not require punitive damages to be included in the initial pleading and the statute still allows punitive damages to be pleaded later. Defendants have also argued that the statute does not violate Mo. Const. Art. 5 because the statute only defines the right to punitive damages and therefore is substantive rather than procedural. Other defendants have argued that plaintiffs do not have a vested constitutional right in punitive damages, and the statute is merely procedural when guarding against claims that the statute interferes with Mo. Const. Art. 1 § 22(a)’s right to a jury.

…and Successes for Plaintiffs

While the statute continues to enjoy veiled but consistent enforcement in state court, plaintiffs have been successful in defeating defendants’ motions to strike in federal diversity actions. District Courts in both of Missouri’s federal districts have held that the statute is inapplicable in federal diversity cases because the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “answer the same question.” See generally Davis v. ALS Express Trucking, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140486. Plaintiffs’ counsel looking to avoid the new pleading requirements may start looking toward federal courts so long as parties are diverse. Plaintiffs have also been successful in limiting the statute’s application to only those cases filed after the statute’s trigger date of August 20, 2020. See generally Largent v. Pelikan, 628 S.W.3d 162 (Mo. App. E.D. 2021).

Looking Forward at Punitive Damages in Missouri

For the time being, it appears that Mo. Rev. Stat. 510.261.5 has survived initial constitutional tests. But plaintiffs’ counsel will certainly continue to bring forth challenges. The defense attorneys at Rasmussen Dickey Moore are prepared to employ all tools available to protect your business from punitive damages claims. Contact RDM today to discuss your case.

Greene County Courthouse in Springfield, MO, location of the 2022 Missouri Bar Annual Conference. Photo by Kbh3rd.

By The RDM Team

Last month, RDM associate attorney Jay Gillen attended the 2022 Missouri Bar Annual Meeting in Springfield, Missouri. The event was the first in-person Annual Meeting since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also Jay’s first opportunity to attend the meeting as an attorney since passing the bar exam in 2021.

Below, Jay provides his takes on the Annual Meeting from the perspective of a young attorney entering the legal field and stepping into the realm of post-pandemic, in-person networking.

Continue reading A Young Attorney’s Report from the Missouri Bar Annual Meeting