Leave your company, take your ideas, and go to jail. Ok, maybe it’s not always that extreme, but we talk with Orly Lobel, author of Talent Wants to Be Free, about the laws that govern the minds and ideas of employees. From noncompete agreements, to trade secrets, to the illegal talent cartels of Silicon Valley, Orly helps us understand the field she calls “human capital law.” But we start, of course, with woodchippers, North Dakota, and seat recliners.

This show’s links:


Orly Lobel’s faculty profile and writing
The Woodchipper in Fargo Exhibit (and on Facebook)
The Smoking Gun’s collection of performers’ backstage riders
Orly Lobel, Talent Wants to Be Free, Orly’s new book on competition, secrecy, motivation, and creativity, examining companies lie Google, JetBlue, and Mattel (Amazon or IndieBound)
Orly Lobel, The New Cognitive Property
Mattel v. MGA Entertainment, the Barbie vs. Bratz case
PepsiCo v. Redmond
About the Uniform Trade Secrets Act
Ronald Gilson, The Legal Infrastructure of High Technology Industrial Districts: Silicon Valley, Route 128, and Covenants Not to Compete
AnnaLee Saxenian, The Origins and Dynamics of Production Networks in Silicon Valley
AnnaLee Saxenian, Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128
About the “espionage case” of Sergey Aleynikov and Goldman Sachs
Neil Irwin, When the Guy Making Your Sandwich Has a Noncompete Clause, about the Jimmy John’s noncompete clauses for its sandwich makers
Orly Lobel and On Amir, Driving Performance: A Growth Theory of Noncompete Law
David Streitfeld, Bigger Settlement Said to Be Reached in Silicon Valley Antitrust Case, in which Orly is quoted
Special Guest: Orly Lobel.