Inside: An Overview Of Non-Compete Agreements

Post-employment restrictive covenants appear frequently in employment agreements across many industries. Despite their popularity with employers, few contractual provisions create more vexing issues of suitability and predictability of enforcement. The phenomenon flows from the inherent tension between an employer's interest in protecting its business and an employee's interest in pursuing his livelihood. In a series of six articles concerning restrictive covenants, of which this is the first, we seek to debunk the myths and disinformation that plague this area of the law, provide some tools and guidance to help navigate it, and shape reasonable expectations for the deployment and enforcement of these provisions.