Just found out my non-compete clause might not even hold up in court

Was reading through some state law blogs last night and stumbled on a stat that said nearly 70% of non-competes get tossed or reduced by judges in my state. Makes me wonder why my agency even bothered making me sign one if it's that weak. Has anyone else here actually challenged theirs and gotten out of it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_avery16d ago

Have you looked up your state's specific laws yet? That stat sounds about right honestly. I fought my old employer's non-compete a few years back and the judge basically laughed at it. The lawyer told me most companies just throw them in there to scare people, they know they probably won't hold up. Just make sure you document everything and don't sign anything new without showing it to a lawyer first.

hall.nina16d ago

... well hold on, I gotta push back a little because I've seen the other side of this too. My buddy signed one with a small marketing firm and tried to leave for a competitor, they actually took him to court and the judge upheld most of it because he had signed an addendum agreeing to a reduced geographic area. He ended up having to wait out the full 18 months before he could work in his field again. It's not always a slam dunk for the employee, some judges really do enforce them if the terms are narrow enough and you had a lawyer review it before signing. I'd be real careful about assuming it's automatically worthless just because the odds are in your favor.

ellis.mia16d ago

Gotta agree with hall.nina here. People act like non-competes are always dead letters but that's not true. I watched a buddy of mine lose six months of his life because a local court sided with his old company. The key was they tailored it real tight. Like three miles radius and only for his specific client list. He had a lawyer sign off on the original too. That made it way harder to fight. You really gotta know your local judge's track record before you just assume you can walk.