Lerner & Weiss: Guiding California Businesses Through Employment Law Changes
With the FTC’s recent ban on noncompete agreements, employment law in California faces a pivotal transformation. This landmark decision, which took effect in April 2024, prohibits most noncompete clauses, forcing businesses to rethink how they protect their proprietary information and competitive advantages. Los Angeles-based law firm Lerner & Weiss is at the forefront of this shift, providing essential legal counsel to businesses navigating the new regulatory landscape.
The team at Lerner & Weiss offers a range of alternative solutions tailored to meet each client’s unique needs. Among these, trade secret protections have emerged as a powerful tool. By safeguarding intellectual property through trade secret law, Lerner & Weiss helps businesses secure vital assets without relying on noncompete agreements. Additionally, the firm promotes the strategic use of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), which enable companies to prevent the unauthorized sharing of confidential information while staying compliant with the FTC’s ruling.
Michael Weiss, co-founder of the firm, highlights the importance of carefully structured employment contracts. Fixed-term agreements, he suggests, allow companies to recoup investments in training and knowledge transfer without imposing undue restrictions on employees’ future opportunities. Lerner & Weiss’s strategic use of invention assignment agreements further supports businesses, especially those dealing with patentable technology, by securing ownership of valuable innovations.
Through offices in Woodland Hills and Los Angeles, Lerner & Weiss serves clients across Southern California, delivering customized legal strategies that address both immediate and long-term concerns. The firm’s attention to detail and commitment to proactive measures, such as comprehensive contract reviews, underscore their role as a valuable partner for California businesses in the post-noncompete era. Their in-depth understanding of the FTC’s ruling also allows them to assist clients in identifying potential exceptions, such as those related to business sales or senior executive positions, where traditional noncompetes may still apply.
As California companies adapt to this significant change in employment law, Lerner & Weiss stands as a trusted ally, helping clients implement protective measures that align with compliance requirements and safeguard their business interests in this evolving legal environment.