Authors

Anya Y. Karaman, William & Mary Law School

This Is an Intervention: The Role of Federal Courts in Suppressing Non-Compete Agreements

Abstract

Part I of this Note will provide background information on noncompete agreements, focusing primarily on those executed in conjunction with employment. Part I will also provide background on the FTC’s rule and the preliminary injunction analysis. Part II will explore how different jurisdictions treat the public interest factor when analyzing whether to enforce a non-compete. Part III will examine how the FTC’s rule has already impacted the public interest analysis in court. Finally, Part IV will address potential challenges to this proposal and argue why federal courts—as opposed to state legislatures, for example—are in the best position to protect workers from the harms of non-competes. This Note ultimately proposes that, when examining the public interest factor in light of the FTC’s rule and shifting state policies, there is hardly a public interest in using an extraordinary remedy like the preliminary injunction to uphold an agreement as restrictive as the noncompete.

This abstract has been taken from the author's introduction.

Repository Citation

Anya Y. Karaman, This Is an Intervention: The Role of Federal Courts in Suppressing Non-Compete Agreements, 66 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 853 (2025), https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol66/iss3/7