Scholarship of Law Professor Cited in FTC Noncompete Decision Two articles by Washington and Lee law professor Chris Seaman were cited in a ruling that bans nearly all noncompete agreements.

By Law Communications
May 1, 2024

Two articles by Washington and Lee law professor Chris Seaman were cited in the Federal Trade Commission’s recent ruling that bans nearly all noncompete agreements. According to Seaman, the FTC extensively considered empirical research on how non-competes adversely impact competition, innovation, and labor markets in adopting the rule.

The FTC cited Seaman’s most recent article, coauthored by Camilla Hrdy of the University of Akron School of Law, that was published in the Yale Law Journal. The article, titled “Beyond Trade Secrecy: Confidentiality Agreements That Act Like Noncompetes,” examines overly-broad confidentiality agreements (also called nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs) that act like a noncompete agreement – namely, they operate to prevent employees from accepting new positions under threat of breach of contract. The article is sited on page 215, footnote 622, of the FTC ruling.

In addition, the FTC cited Seaman’s empirical study of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the results of which were published in the Wake Forest Law Review. The article, titled “The DTSA at One: An Empirical Study of the First Year of Litigation Under the Defend Trade Secrets Act,” was coauthored with David Levine of Elon University School of Law. The article is cited on page 288, footnote 758, and page 292, footnote 772, of the ruling.

The FTC noncompete ruling is available online here. “Beyond Trade Secrecy” is available online at the Yale Law Journal website. “The DTSA at One” is available online at the Wake Forest Law Review website.

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