The federal noncompete fight did not end the issue for veterinary practices. It moved the action back to the states.

That matters for independent owners because associate contracts are no longer just a legal formality filed away after hiring. In a tight DVM labor market, restrictive covenants are becoming part of your recruiting reputation — and in some states, they are being narrowed or banned outright.

A recent VIN News Service report tracked the same shift: while the FTC’s national rule is no longer the governing answer, state legislatures are still moving. For veterinary employers, the practical question is not “Can we still use a noncompete?” It is “Should this be the tool we rely on to protect the practice?”

The newest signal: Utah singled out veterinarians

Utah’s 2026 Veterinary Post-employment Amendments are unusually direct. As of May 6, 2026, a person and a veterinarian may not enter into a veterinarian noncompete agreement, unless the veterinarian has at least a 5% ownership interest in the business. The enrolled bill also voids out-of-state forum provisions tied to veterinarian noncompete disputes and reaches related post-employment restrictions.

That is not a broad health-care statute where veterinarians happen to be swept in. It is a veterinary-specific law. For independent practices, that is the headline: lawmakers are now treating veterinary mobility as its own access-to-care and labor-market issue.

The Utah model also gives owners a clue about where future policy may land. It preserves room for restrictions connected to ownership, while drawing a harder line around employed associates. In plain English: if someone is sharing in the value of the business, the law may view the bargain differently than it views a rank-and-file associate contract.

Washington is taking a broader path

Washington’s 2026 legislation goes further, but on a different timeline. The state’s new law takes effect June 30, 2027, and makes noncompetition covenants void and unenforceable regardless of when the parties entered into them or how much the worker earns. Employers also must make reasonable efforts by October 1, 2027, to notify current and former workers whose noncompetes are still within their effective period that those covenants are void and unenforceable.

That gives Washington practices time to prepare, but not time to ignore it. If you operate there — or if you recruit from there — contract cleanup is now an operations project. Old templates, offer letters, handbooks, acquisition documents, and separation forms all need review.

The federal rule is gone, but the pressure is not

The FTC’s 2024 national Non-Compete Rule was removed from the Code of Federal Regulations effective February 12, 2026, after the Commission conformed its rules to federal court decisions. That means there is no simple federal ban to point to today.

But the FTC episode changed the conversation. It pushed noncompetes into the open, including in veterinary medicine, where associates have long complained that a radius clause can force them to move, commute unreasonable distances, or leave a community where clients already need more access to care.

The AVMA’s 2026 economic overview adds important context: the labor market continues to show demand for veterinarians, while new-graduate debt pressures remain real and practice leaders are being asked to improve productivity and workplace culture. In that environment, a contract that feels like a trap can undercut the very recruiting message independent practices want to send.

What independents can do instead

Independent practices still have legitimate interests to protect: client relationships, confidential business information, training investments, goodwill, and succession value. The answer is not to throw contracts out. The answer is to make them cleaner, narrower, and more defensible.

Start with a state-by-state legal review. Do not assume a template from 2021 still works in 2026. Veterinary-specific rules now exist in some states, and health-care noncompete laws do not always include veterinarians.

Next, separate true confidentiality from employee mobility. Protect trade secrets, pricing strategy, passwords, vendor terms, and medical-record access appropriately. But be cautious about language that prevents an associate from practicing ordinary veterinary medicine in the same community.

Third, look at nonsolicitation language with the same care. Some states are distinguishing between actively raiding clients and simply telling clients where a doctor now works. That difference matters, especially in relationship-based medicine.

Finally, compete for associates the independent way: mentorship, sane scheduling, transparent compensation, real input into medicine, and a path to ownership when appropriate. Those are not soft benefits. They are retention infrastructure.

The takeaway

Noncompetes used to be treated as a back-office legal shield. In 2026, they are a front-door recruiting signal. For independent veterinary practices, the opportunity is to get ahead of the shift: protect the business with precise agreements, but build loyalty through the workplace itself.

That is not just safer legally. It is a better independent-practice story to tell the next doctor you hope to hire.