While the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously deemed a broad no-poach agreement between two companies void as a matter of public policy Thursday, attorneys say the justices left the door open for employers to respond with more narrowly tailored provisions designed to pass legal muster.

The justices axed a no-poach agreement between Pittsburgh Logistics Systems Inc. and Beemac Trucking LLC after finding that the provision was stronger than was needed to protect PLS' business interests and that it needlessly imperiled the job mobility of employees without their consent or knowledge.

In opting to not declare business-to-business no-poach agreements void in their entirety, however, the court's decision helped create a potential roadmap for employers to draft provisions that are capable of surviving legal challenges, Duane Morris LLP attorney Lawrence Pockers said.

"The upshot is it provides some much-needed clarity," Pockers told Law360 on Friday.

"This is on balance good news for employers in the sense that, where there are defined rules, it makes it easier to abide by those rules." […]

To read the full article, please visit the Law360 website (subscription required).

For further analysis, read the Duane Morris Alert, "Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Finds No-Hire Provision Between Two Businesses 'Unreasonably in Restraint of Trade and Therefore Unenforceable.'"