What To Do When Your Sales Manager Asks: "Can We Hire This Guy, He Has A Non-Compete With A Competitor?"

I frequently get forwarded emails by the in-house lawyers for my clients that they received, in turn, from a sales manager in their organization.  The emails often go something like this:

Dear [FILL IN THE BLANK],

We want to hire [SALES REP] who works for [CURRENT EMPLOYER]. He has a non-compete agreement with [CURRENT EMPLOYER].  We are going to hire him for a different position though.  OK to move forward?

Thanks,

[SALES MANAGER]

PS:  I need an answer by the end of the day today.

What to do?  You don't need to read a blog to know that the non-compete agreement the sales representative signed with his current employer must be reviewed and analyzed.  But what else should in-house counsel do to avoid the uncomfortable moment down the line, after the sales representative has been hired and both he and the company have been sued, when the General Counsel asks:  "What did we do on the front-end to try to prevent this situation from happening?"  Here are a