Welcome to the third annual installment of Seyfarth Shaw’s Commercial Litigation Outlook, in which our nationally-recognized team provides insights about litigation issues and trends to expect in 2023.

The likely continuing global tumult and increasing chances for a recession will weigh heavily on the litigation outlook for 2023. In short, we expect an uneven year where some litigation booms and some busts. As was true last year, the trick to navigating the upcoming challenges will require clients and their counsel to be adaptive, creative and proactive.

Join us for a three-part webinar serieswhere members of our Commercial Litigation practice

100 business organizations submitted a letter today requesting a 60 day extension on the March 20, 2023, comment period deadline on the FTC’s proposed rule banning non-competites with employees and workers. The business organizations include organizations in manufacturing, commerce, retail, insurance, franchise, health care, technology, financial services, construction, and staffing.

In support of their request, the organizations stated the “regulated community should be given sufficient time to assess the potential consequences of the rulemaking and develop insightful comments for the Commission to consider.”

“This rulemaking, as the FTC itself acknowledges, will impact a significant portion of the economy” and “[g]given

As our colleagues have previously reported in this blog, on January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) concerning its unprecedented effort to ban all non-compete clauses with workers and to preempt state law on the issue . The NPRM followed just one day after the FTC announced that it had reached a consent settlement with three companies for alleged unfair trade practices by imposing overly burdensome non-compete agreements.

Not surprisingly, the NPRM has sparked a surge of commentary in the legal and business communities and immediately courted controversy. The sole Republican member of

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ —

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of NeoGenomics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NEO) between February 27, 2020 and April 26, 2022both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), of the important February 6, 2023 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased NeoGenomics securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the NeoGenomics class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=4888 or call Philip Kim,

On January 4, 2023, the Dallas Court of Appeals in Texas affirmed a summary judgment in a trade secrets physician staffing case that stands as a warning to practitioners regarding (1) what constitutes sufficient damages evidence to survive summary judgment, and (2) whether something can be considered on appeal that has been sealed or subject to a confidentiality agreement.

backgrounds

In March 2017, hospital staffing company Emergency Staffing Solutions Inc. (“ESS”) sued its two former employees, Harvey and James, for breach of their non-competition agreements by virtue of their new employment with its competitor, Concord, and solicitation of ESS’s customers

Restrictive covenants not to compete, or non-compete agreements, are one of a variety of tools companies use to protect their trade secrets and competitive advantage. However, whether a court will enforce a restrictive covenant varies widely across jurisdictions, including across states within the Fifth Circuit. For example, the Louisiana statute governing restrictive covenants applies a two-year durational limit, while Mississippi common law applies a more general ‘reasonable and specific’ standard to the duration and geographic scope of a restrictive covenant. In addition, Mississippi courts must balance the rights of the employer, the employee, and the public when enforcing restrictive covenants.

NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ —

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of NewAge, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBEV) (OTC: NBEVQ) between January 18, 2018 and October 18, 2022both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), of the important February 6, 2023 lead plaintiff deadline in the securities class action commenced by the Firm.

SO WHAT: If you purchased NewAge securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join