Texas Non-Compete Lawyer

Beware of Hidden Restrictions

We’ve all been there. Your first day at a new job is usually spent signing your way through a mountain of paperwork. A lot of this is routine stuff, but employers often will slip a non-compete agreement into the stack. Or sometimes the non-compete language is buried documents that serve another purpose, such as stock option agreements. In the flurry of getting started in the new job, these documents typically get signed without being read or questioned. But questions are exactly what you should be asking before signing.

Another typical scenario is when employers try to force a non-compete after an employee is well into the job and is earning a nice salary and benefits. Often they demand a signature as a condition to keep the job, and most of the time they get it. Employers usually don’t explain the non-compete, but they are more than ready to enforce it when an employee wants to work for another company in the same industry. Companies fight high-dollar court battles over non-competes. You can avoid all this strife by first calling Gardner Employment Law before signing a non-compete.

And if you find yourself served with court papers that stop you from working, you need your own non-compete contracts lawyer in your corner.  You don’t know what you don’t know, as the old saying goes.  Without an expert to fight for your rights, you could be at risk for losing your career.    

The Purpose of Non-competes

Non-compete laws are designed to protect an employer’s confidential information. A great example is the formula for Coca Cola, which was created in 1891. Coca Cola is careful to keep that formula a secret to this very day. Others have tried to replicate it, but none have cracked the code on this beloved fizzy beverage. Even the company’s most famous competitor, Pepsi, is a distant second in market share.

It’s clear that confidential information gives companies a competitive edge, and they are right in wanting to protect this advantage. They’ve put the time and money into developing their trade secrets, so it makes sense that they would restrict employees from sharing those secrets if they were to leave for a competitor. This is where non-compete agreements have a valid, reasonable purpose.

Physicians Can Buy Out the Non-Compete

The Texas non-compete statute applies to physicians just as it does to commercial employees.  The statute contains additional requirements to enforce a physician’s non-compete agreement.  One important requirement is the physician’s buy-out.  The non-compete agreement must contain a provision giving the physician a right to buy out the non-compete restrictions.  

Courts have held that the amount of the buy-out provision must be the value of what the physician would have had but for the non-compete restrictions.  In other words, courts look at the value of the medical practice that the departing physician can anticipate without being limited by a non-compete. 

The law protects Texas physicians in a number of other ways, such as:

• notice to patients of the physician’s relocation,
• access to medical records, and
• continuity of care to any patient with an acute medical condition.

The non-compete statute’s requirement of reasonableness explained in the next section also applies to physicians’ non-competes.

What’s a Non-Compete Agreement In Texas and How Is it Enforced?

Texas law requires non-competes to include specific elements which must be reasonable in how they restrict the employee’s future employment after leaving.  The three elements are (1) the time period for the restrictions, (2)  geographical limits, and (3) the scope of activities which the employee cannot perform. All of these elements must be reasonable. In short, the provisions cannot prevent the employee from earning a livelihood.

Another required element is a balancing test.  The non-compete restrictions cannot impose a greater restraint upon the employee than is necessary to protect the goodwill or other business interest of the employer. 

Also, to be enforceable the competing activities must be related to confidential information that the employee learned during employment or to the company’s “goodwill” with customers that helped perform the job duties.  An employer cannot pay you in exchange for a non-compete promise, such as severance when you’re terminated.

Usually the first time anyone hears about a non-compete problem is when a constable serves a court order, a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order), halting all work with the new employer. From there, a judge alone determines if the agreement is enforceable and decides the employee’s fate. If at all possible, don’t allow yourself to get to this point. But if you are in that predicament and you’re searching for a non-compete lawyer near you, we have won many non-compete victories in the courtroom and can rescue your career.

Get Ahead of the Problem

Texas law presumes that you understand any document you signed. So read the document carefully, but even then you probably won’t have complete clarity. That’s why you should meet with an expert contracts lawyer before signing. Your career may be at stake, so make sure you’re working with a legal firm that knows non-competes backward and forward, inside and out.

At Gardner Employment Law, we know non-compete agreements. We have helped our clients protect themselves and their futures. We’re ready to do the same for you. Contact us today.