California Supreme Court Holds that Post-Employment Noncompetes are Unenforceable.

At long last! We've been waiting for the decision in Edwards v. Arthur Andersen for more than two years, and in August 2008 it finally came down the right way. Plus, the Court threw in some interesting thoughts on the unavailability of certain statutory waivers. Our firm spent a lot of time dealing with the cloud over noncompetes in the past, but now that the sun is shining, here's our report on the good weather ahead.

U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds San Francisco's Health Ordinance.

On September 30, 2008 the 9th Circuit held in Golden Gate Restaurant Association v. City and County of San Francisco (PDF, 81KB) that ERISA does not preempt San Francisco's controversial Municipal Health Care Ordinance. This important decision creates a powerful split in the circuits that will need to be resolved either by Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court. Read more about this case and its complicated history here.

We're proud to have sent an L&B partner to participate in the Voter Protection Program in Akron, Ohio during the election.

Alisa Baker joined other with other out-of-state legal volunteers on the Democratic Campaign for Change to provide voter protection at the polls. Enjoy Alisa's behind-the-scenes report about her election day experience.

Baker's Choice: September 2008

It's election season! In this edition of our e-letter, we link you to some "final" returns on the employment/executive compensation front: California Supreme Court rules that post-employment noncompetes are unenforceable in Edwards v. Arthur Andersen, some binding arbitration may no longer be binding under Cable Connections v. DirectTV, IRS Section 409A regs really go effective January 1 2009, and other odds and ends.