Noncompetes and Restrictive Covenants

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Employers should provide (and pay for) the cell phones and other PDA’s used by their sales force.  Why?  So that the company is entitled to, and can insist on, the return of the telephone, the assigned telephone number and the contacts and other wealth of information contained on those devices when the employment relationship ends.  If…

In Part 1, I covered some thoughts on enforcing noncompetition agreements in Texas following the Texas Supreme Court’s new decision in Marsh USA.  Today I’m addressing some tips that employees (and their representatives) who are asked to sign or are attempting to bust a noncompetition agreement might consider.

Prior to signing the agreement, negotiate everything…

Yesterday, Ryan Miller and I were invited to speak at the Tarrant County Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section luncheon.  Our topic was the recent changes to Texas noncompete jurisprudence.  A copy of the Power Point presentation we jointly presented can be accessed here.

For my contribution, I presented some thoughts on the practical effect the Marsh USA…

Yesterday Rob Radcliff over at the Smooth Transitions Law Blog wrote a post about a lawsuit filed by an attorney against the recruiter that placed him at his new law firm.  In essence, the attorney alleged that the recruiter made representations that she was independent (and not tied to any particular law firm) and fraudulently convinced the…

In Part 1 of this two-part series, I examined the temporal, geographic and scope of activity restrictions for Texas physician noncompetition provisions.  Texas law provides another unique feature required only in agreements with doctors.  Noncompetes with physicians must include a provision that permits the doctor to buy-out of the noncompete for a reasonable amount. The buy-out can be determined at…

I’ve written before about the unique requirements that must be included in a noncompetition agreement with a Texas physician. The increasing likelihood that a Texas court will enforce a noncompetition agreement against any departing employee increases the importance that physicians and practice groups take great care in negotiating and drafting agreements with proper limitations as…

In Texas, at-will employees can prepare to compete against their current employers without violating the common law duty of loyalty.  Determining whether the line between lawful preparation to compete and unlawful competition begins is sometimes gray.  (See post).  A recent case from the Houston Court of Appeals provides a good summary of what an at-will…

The Texas Supreme Court has issued an opinion this morning holding that noncompetition agreements supported by stock options and good will are not unenforceable as a matter of law.  I previewed this case here.  As I have time to digest the majority, concurring and dissenting opinions, I’ll provide more thoughts on this case. You…

Last year the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against several technology sector companies over their mutual agreements not to recruit each other’s employees through the use of cold-calling. The DOJ contended that such agreements (sometimes called no-switching or no-poaching agreements) had the effect of reducing competition for high tech employees; limited employees’ opportunities to find…