noncompete

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

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

Earlier this month Gov. Deval Patrick called for the elimination of noncompete agreements and formally proposed this as part of a bill called An Act to Promote Growth and Opportunity.  The Governor’s proposal, and the rallying cry of its various supporters, are firmly based on the premise that noncompete agreements have a negative impact on Massachusetts workers and the Commonwealth’s economy.  However, the notion that outlawing noncompete agreements is likely to have any appreciable, positive impact on the Massachusetts economy, as a whole, simply is not justified.  In fact, changing the law could well have a negative effect on the Commonwealth.… Keep reading