For workers in any industry, non-compete agreements are bad news. If you’re a medical professional, these contracts can prevent you from seeking more competitive pay or pursuing your professional goals by starting your own practice. According to the New York Times, 45% of primary care physicians in a survey of five states were bound by covenants not to compete. ...
Continue ReadingA non-compete agreement might seem like a trivial work request when you sign it, but the terms of that agreement can severely limit your ability to make a living after you separate from your employment. So what happens if you signed a non-compete agreement that has eliminated your job prospects? There are ways around a non-compete agreement, but you...
Continue ReadingA non-compete agreement is a written contract that prohibits an employee from operating a competing business or working for a competitor in a specified geographic area for a specified period of time. A non-compete agreement may be a separate agreement, or clause in an overarching employment contract. What Does a Physician Non-Compete Agreement Do? Most physicians are familiar with...
Continue ReadingOttinger Employment Lawyers Can Help with Non-Compete Agreements New York non-compete agreements are widely abused and overused. Most of them are not enforceable because New York disfavors them. New York courts will only enforce them in only very rare limited situations. As explained more below, we are able to defeat most non-compete agreements by using the Legitimate...
Continue ReadingIn this post, the New York employment lawyers are going to show you exactly how to get out of a New York non-compete agreement. In fact, this is the exact process we use to help all of our clients get out of non-compete agreements. If you want to get out of a New York non-compete agreement, please contact us today....
Continue ReadingThe “choice of law” in a non-compete dispute can impact the outcome of the case. New York, Massachusetts, and California, for example, have highly developed laws that favor employee mobility. Other states might be more inclined to enforce a non-compete agreement according to its terms. Therefore the question of which law applies can be determinative. Employers often try to avoid the...
Continue ReadingDecided almost a half century ago, Reed, Roberts Assoc. v Strauman, 40 N.Y.2d 303 (N.Y. 1976), remains a pillar of New York case law when determining if a non-compete is enforceable. With this decision, New York State’s highest court established a framework for determining whether a non-compete (or any other restrictive covenant) is “reasonable” and, therefore, enforceable. Background In this case,...
Continue ReadingNon-compete agreements have the attention of congress. A bipartisan effort to regulate non-compete agreements on a federal level was introduced in the U.S. Senate in October 2019 by Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.). Senate Bill 2614, the Workforce Mobility Act of 2019, proposes a near federal ban of all employee non-compete agreements, with limited exceptions for certain business transactions. The bill would have sweeping implications, but does...
Continue ReadingA recent report released by the Economic Policy Institute (“EPI”) is arguing in favor of prohibiting noncompete agreements after concluding that the increasing use of noncompete agreements may be contributing to rising wage inequality, stagnant wages, and decreasing job mobility. Relying on data from a national survey of private-sector businesses, EPI found that almost half of responding establishments required at least some...
Continue ReadingHistorically, New York non compete agreements have been used to protect narrow and legitimate interests. For instance, a non-compete clause might limit the ability of high-level executives with access to trade secrets to use that information to a company’s disadvantage. Or a non-compete agreement might allow a company to sideline a former employee with deep customer relationships for a period of...
Continue Reading