Reality Bites - Part I

Lawyers routinely write about the legalities of noncompetes. Thus, everyone is well aware that, legally, a Texas employer can preclude a former employee from soliciting customers or working in the industry for years after termination so long as the employee was privy to confidential information and the noncompete's scope isn't too over the top.   Employers spend lots of time and money focused on these legalities which, while necessary, are actually pretty simple.

 Not so much is written about the realities of noncompetes, meaning the day-to-day actions of the parties that can support or negate actual enforcement of the noncompete's restrictions. This is unfortunate because locally-elected district court judges decide the fate of noncompetes and – here's reality check #1 - these judges usually spend about 5.2 seconds glancing at the noncompete document and the rest of the time focused on, well, the realities of the situation.