NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – Law360, a top legal news website in the country, will stop using non-compete agreements in its employee contracts, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced.
The company allegedly required most of its employees, including all editorial employees, to sign an employment contract with a non-compete agreement. This agreement forbade them from working for any media outlet that provides legal news for one year after leaving the company. New York law does not permit the use of such agreements except in special circumstances.
“Unless an individual has highly unique skills or access to trade secrets, non-compete clauses have no place in a worker’s employment contract,” Schneiderman said. “Unscrupulous non-compete agreements not only threaten workers seeking to change jobs, they also serve as a veiled threat to employers who may be reluctant to hire candidates due to the mere existence of a non-compete agreement. Workers like the reporters at Law360 should be able to change jobs and advance their careers without fear of being sued by their prior employer.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Law360 will no longer require employees to sign a non-compete agreement and will notify former employees who left in the last year that their non-compete is no longer in effect.