noncompete agreement – the in-house advisor

Careful Drafting of Non-Competes and Other Restrictive Covenants Can Save the Day

January 4, 2017
By: Shep Davidson

It generally is a defense to a breach of contract claim if the defendant proves that the plaintiff was the first one to materially breach the parties’ agreement. As a recent case from the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court confirms, however, a plaintiff seeking to enforce a post-employment restrictive covenant can avoid falling victim to such a defense – if, that is, the company has a carefully crafted agreement is in place.… Keep reading

Track More Than Case Law When Drafting a Noncompete Covenant

March 18, 2015
By: Shep Davidson

No doubt, ensuring that any agreement is consistent with judicial precedent is critical if you want to enforce that agreement at some point in the future. Nevertheless, merely incorporating precedential concepts or language into an agreement may not be enough to get your client to where it wants to be, and may even result in your client being put in a more difficult position than if the precedent had been ignored. Nowhere is this more apparent than when a company seeks to draft and implement a standard and seemingly straightforward noncompete covenant.… Keep reading