Webinar: Recent Trends in Post-employment Restrictive Covenants: Drafting Non-compete Clauses the Courts Will Accept

Turnover is a fact of corporate life. Employers regret losing valued employees, are happy to see some employees go, and are sometimes forced to dismiss others. Whether employees leave voluntarily or otherwise, employers have to be concerned about the possibility that they might use the expertise they have gained or the information they have acquired to compete against the company. Employers have a legitimate interest in protecting confidential information and valuable customer relationships, which are often developed at significant employer expense. To protect these interests, employers often require employees to agree, as a condition of their employment, to restrictions on their post-employment activities. These restrictions can take the form of covenants not to compete, not to solicit customers, or not to make use of trade secrets or proprietary information.

Employees, on the other hand, have a legitimate interest in ensuring that they will not be precluded from working in their chosen field if they are terminated or decide to pursue new employment opportunities. To balance these competing interests, courts have fashioned rules to determine when post-employment restrictive covenants will be enforced. This Webinar will explain how the courts are viewing restrictive covenants today, describe the standards they are applying, and explain how to draft agreements that are restrictive enough to protect an employer but not so restrictive that they will be rejected by a court. Please join John P. McEntee, attorney-at-law, as he takes you step by step through how to write post-employment restrictive covenants and non-compete agreements.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
This program will address key questions about restrictive covenants:
– What must employers establish to enforce them?
– Will a court modify an overbroad covenant, or simply reject it?
– What factors will a court consider in determining whether time and geographic restrictions are reasonable?
– Are “garden leave” agreements effective and advisable?
– How has the Second Circuit’s decision in Faiveley Transport affected the ability of employers to win a preliminary injunction against a departing employee?
– Does enforceability of a restrictive covenant depend on whether an employee resigns or is involuntarily terminated?
– Are restrictive covenants more enforceable in some fields than in others? Are they enforceable at all against physicians and other health care professionals?
– What factors should employers consider in deciding whether to sue employees who violate restrictive covenants?

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