Contractor Teaming Agreements and Prime/Sub deals typically have a “no poaching” clause discouraging one company from hiring away talented employees from the other.  The Department of Justice, however, recently issued guidance that effectively makes many of these provisions unenforceable.  DOJ’s reasoning is that such clauses may violate anti-trust rules.  One exception could be if the agreement were part of a larger project, like a joint venture.  Now would be a good time to have competent counsel review any such agreements your company may use as possible criminal penalties can accrue from the use of agreements deemed illegal.  At the same time the guidance was issued, however, a story was published elsewhere about a government agency poaching contractor employees.  It seems that this could be allowable as the federal agency is not a competitor of the contractor.  For a quick overview of the new ruling, including helpful hints for your HR team, see the article here from Steptoe and