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Agency Must Discuss Evaluated Weaknesses

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 09.14.04

In defending its award decision before the GAO in Cygnus Corp., Inc. (Dec. 30, 2003), the National Institutes of Health ("NIH") cited a number of weaknesses in the protester's proposal, but had failed to raise those same weaknesses with the protester during discussions. NIH compounded this error by suggesting in discussions that the protester had adequately resolved a number of other problems also cited by the agency as a basis for the award decision, and the GAO recommended another round of discussions, offers, and a reevaluation.

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Client Alert | 8 min read | 09.09.25

FTC Stops Defending Rule Banning Noncompete Agreements, Opting Instead for “Aggressive” Case-by-Case Enforcement

On September 5, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) withdrew its appeals of decisions issued by Texas and Florida federal district courts, which enjoined the FTC from enforcing a nationwide rule banning almost all noncompete employment agreements. Companies, however, should not read this decision to mean that their noncompete agreements will no longer be subjected to antitrust scrutiny by federal enforcers. In a statement joined by Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, Chairman Andrew Ferguson stressed that the FTC “will continue to enforce the antitrust laws aggressively against noncompete agreements” and warned that “firms in industries plagued by thickets of noncompete agreements will receive [in the coming days] warning letters from me, urging them to consider abandoning those agreements as the Commission prepares investigations and enforcement actions.”...