Articles Posted in Non-Compete Agreements

The implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing requires that there is an implied duty in contract to act in a manner that’s honest under the contractual relationship and it’s implied in all contractual relationships.

A covenant not to compete is a promise not to compete. Any time the word covenant is used, covenant is simply a promise. A covenant not to compete is a contractual obligation or a promise not to compete against someone or a company. Typically, non-compete covenants occur in employment contexts where an employer wants to…

Interference with contractual relations is a business tort, and it basically involves this, that there is a contractual relationship and somebody knows the contractual relationship exists, but they go ahead and try to get the person to break the contract for their own personal advantage.

Florida statutes on non-competition covenants allow courts to modify overbroad non-competition covenants. For example, a non-competition covenant restricting an employee from competing against the employer in every county in Florida is likely overbroad if the employer conducts business only in Broward County. Florida statutes, however, allow the court to modify such overbroad non-competition covenants and…

Florida law requires that courts read non-competition covenants in favor of providing reasonable protection to a company’s legitimate business interest and prohibits courts from reading the non-competition covenant narrowly against the restraint. Anarkali Boutique, Inc. v. Ortiz, 104 So. 3d 1202 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) provides an example of just how broadly Florida courts could…

Generally, under Florida statutory law, restrictive covenants, e.g., non-competition covenants, must be signed by the person against whom the covenant will be enforced. A restrictive covenant cannot be enforced against an individual who did not sign the restrictive covenant. In Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Dolgencorp, Inc., 964 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007), Winn-Dixie…

Florida law tends to favor enforcement of non-competition covenants. Under Florida law, non-competition covenants are enforceable if they protect one or more legitimate business interests and if they are reasonable in time, area, and line of business. In fact, Florida law explicitly forbids courts from considering “any individualized economic or other hardship that might be…

Under Florida law, non-competition covenants are generally enforceable if they protect one or more legitimate business interest. However, certain acts by the employer could defeat the enforceability of the non-competition covenant. Under contract law, a party’s material breach of a contract will render the entire contract unenforceable against the other party. In other words, if…

Parties to contracts with non-competition covenants should take note of the effects that a stock purchase, merger, or asset purchase has on the enforceability of those non-competition covenants. A company’s ability to enforce a non-competition covenant can be determined by several factors including how the non-competition covenant was acquired by the company seeking to enforce…

To protect trade secrets and other business interests, businesses often enter into non-competition contracts with employees. In Florida, the duration of non-competition covenants is subject to different “reasonableness” presumptions set forth by statute. Florida law distinguishes non-competition covenants that, on the one hand, are meant to protect trade secrets from those that, on the other…