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IR&D Reporting Requirements Reinstated

Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.30.12

In a final rule published today, the DFARS were amended to reinstate a requirement that was eliminated from the regulations in the early 1990s, providing that as a condition of allowability for Independent Research and Development (IR&D) costs, major contractors must submit to DoD at least annually technical descriptions of the IR&D projects that the contractor claims as allowable. In response to criticism of a draft regulation proposing a $50,000 coverage threshold, the final rule limits mandatory reporting to “major contractors” that allocate more than $11 million annually to “covered contracts” (a term that excludes fixed-price contracts without cost incentives), leaves largely to the contractor’s discretion how much detail needs to be reported in the on-line template through which the reports must be submitted, encourages voluntary reporting by contractors not subject to the mandatory requirement, and promises that the reports will be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

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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.”...