Non-compete agreements (A.K.A. non competes, noncompete clauses, noncompete contracts, covenants not to compete) are usually contracts or clauses within a contract that restrict the ability of one or more parties to the contract to compete within a specified industry or business, time period, geography, territory or market. Noncompete agreements appear most frequently in employment contracts, but are also used in contracts for the sale of a business, the sale of patents, the sale of trade secrets or the sale of other business assets.
Noncompete agreements, often accompanied by non-solicit and non-disclosure agreements, can be used legitimately in the employment context to protect a company's valuable trade secrets, goodwill and confidential information when employees depart. Many employers use noncompete agreements to prevent former key employees from having an unfair competitive advantage by using the company's trade secrets, goodwill, and confidential information to start a competing business or to join a competing business. However, more and more companies are incorporating noncompete agreements into their standard "boilerplate" employment contracts, instead of using them only for key employees. The result is that more employees, without customer goodwill or access to trade secrets or confidential information, are unfairly being restricted from seeking employment with the company's competitors.
Davis & Davis, P.C. routinely makes and breaks non-compete, non-solicit and non-disclosure agreements. There are many ways to render non-competes and related contracts unenforceable. Often, these documents are drafted inappropriately or over-broadly by inexperienced counsel or business owners and the result is a flimsy, questionable or outright unenforceable legal document. On the employee side, Davis & Davis, P.C. keeps pace with the latest developments in non-compete case law to ensure that we exploit every possible weakness to defeat the offending contract. On the employer side, we are constantly evolving our drafting techniques to ensure compliance with changing legal standards and to provide our clients with the legitimate protection they deserve.
Answers to specific questions will be provided during a consultation. This information is not legal advice.
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