Answers Posted By David Goldman

You question deals with the non-solicitation portion of your non-compete agreement. Generally non-solicitation agreements are easier to uphold than non-compete agreements. You need to have your document reviewed by a Florida Non-compete lawyer to see how the terms are defined and what must be in the circumstances you describe.

It sounds like that if they were a "current patient of his clinic" then you would not be able to service them. At times these agreements are not valid because the other party may have breached their agreements to you.


David Goldman
Apple Law Firm PLLC
331 East Monroe Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202

Tel (904) 685-1200 Fax (904) 212-0678

http://www.JacksonvilleLawyer.pro/
http://www.GunTrustLawyer.com/
http://www.FloridaEstatePlanningLawyerBlog.com/

answer to Is this covenant not to compete considered unreasonable? posted Jan 31, 2010 09:49 AM [EST]

The first step is to have your non-compete agreement reviewed by an attorney to let you know what your options are. Once this is done you can determine what is the best course of action might be.

If you get involved in litigation, it will be expensive and not a quick case. It may be possible to negotiate a settlement with your current or previous employer to limit the scope or clarify the non-compete agreement.


David Goldman
Apple Law Firm PLLC
331 East Monroe Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202

Tel (904) 685-1200 Fax (904) 212-0678

http://www.JacksonvilleLawyer.pro/
http://www.GunTrustLawyer.com/
http://www.FloridaEstatePlanningLawyerBlog.com/

answer to I need to get out of my Non compete contract to change jobs before the bottom falls out where I'm at posted Nov 5, 2009 2:41 PM [EST]

The first step is to have your non-compete agreement reviewed by an attorney to let you know what your options are. Once this is done you can determine what is the best course of action might be.

If you get involved in litigation, it will be expensive and not a quick case. It may be possible to negotiate a settlement with your current or previous employer to limit the scope or clarify the non-compete agreement.


David Goldman
Apple Law Firm PLLC
331 East Monroe Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202

Tel (904) 685-1200 Fax (904) 212-0678

http://www.JacksonvilleLawyer.pro/
http://www.GunTrustLawyer.com/
http://www.FloridaEstatePlanningLawyerBlog.com/

answer to I need to get out of my Non compete contract to change jobs before the bottom falls out where I'm at posted Nov 5, 2009 2:09 PM [EST]

It depends. You have to look at the agreement and see how it treats being transferred. If it is not addressed, then you have to look at the transaction and see if it was a sale or name. Its not a trivial analysis and I would suggest that you discuss it with a Florida Non-Compete Lawyer.


David Goldman
Apple Law Firm PLLC, 331 East Monroe Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202
Tel (904) 685-1200 Fax (904) 212-0678


http://www.FloridaEstatePlanningLawyerBlog.com/
http://www.JacksonvilleLawyer.pro/

answer to Is a non-compete agreement transferable when a business is sold. posted Sep 23, 2009 5:18 PM [EST]

You will not get a guaranteed answer to this question. First the Florida bar does not enable lawyers to create certainties about cases. Second, a Florida Employment lawyer would need to review your agreement, activities, and previous issues to determine if your agreement poses a risk to your activities.

I would not depend on the representations of an HR professional in regards to Florida law. The problem is that in Florida, a judge can take your agreement and change it to fit valid conditions. For example, if your agreement stated that you could not do something within the entire state, the judge could limit it to your county, or the surrounding counties, or counties where the company does business.

There is no set rule on how these agreements will be rewritten. You need to contact a Florida Employment lawyer to review your specifics.

answer to Can a "copy-and-paste" haphazard non-compete be legal? posted Aug 13, 2009 2:03 PM [EST]

You should have a lawyer review your non-compete to see if the agreement applies to you and if so, what is a reasonable term. While a term of over 2 years is usually presumptively invalid, courts in Florida will generally not invalidate the contract because the term is to long - they will just lower the term.


David Goldman
Apple Law Firm PLLC
331 East Monroe Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202

Tel (904) 685-1200 Fax (904) 212-0678

http://www.JacksonvilleLawyer.pro/
http://www.GunTrustLawyer.com/
http://www.FloridaEstatePlanningLawyerBlog.com/

answer to I want to know if my non-compete is valid posted Aug 4, 2009 10:46 AM [EST]

The fact that the other party did not sign the agreement would not make the agreement invalid. Generally there needs to be a legitimate business interest for a Florida non-compete to be valid. You should sit down with a Florida Non-compete lawyer to review the agreement along with what you are doing at the new salon. Courts are generally more inclined to enforce an agreement signed in conjunction with the sale of a business.

answer to non complete valid?? posted Jul 25, 2009 03:09 AM [EST]

Assuming that you singed a valid enforceable agreement, it would be enforceable even if you were terminated. Of course, if the non-compete agreement has an exclusion for your class of termination, which is unlikely, then it might not be enforceable. You should have your agreement reviewed by a Florida non-compete lawyer

answer to Non-Compete Enforceability after termination in FL posted Jul 25, 2009 03:02 AM [EST]

Being that Florida is an at will employment state, you could be fired for refusing to sign the agreement and would not have any recourse. You should be able to qualify for unemployment benefits if terminated for the refusal to sign the agreement.

Its important to note that in Florida when you sign a valid enforceable non-compete agreement, it does not matter if you have are just starting the job or have been working there for 10 years.

answer to Compete Agreement after 3 years posted Jul 25, 2009 02:59 AM [EST]

Florida is an at will employment state which means that you can be fired at anytime for any non-protected reason which would include refusing to sign. I have had many clients who ask for time to review the agreement to understand what they are signing. Most employers are willing to provide a reasonable time to review the contract. Once you understand what you are signing, it may be possible to narrow the scope of the agreement or clarify ambiguous language through document modification, external emails, or other means which might be able to be used in the future to explain the language in the contract.

answer to Forced/ Rushed Non-compete under threat of termination. posted Jul 25, 2009 02:55 AM [EST]