Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
If you need to ask whether or not you can do a certain thing, the answer is probably no. When Thomas Dotoli and his wife drafted a contract to sell their companies to their daughter-in-law, Cheryl, they included a clause that allowed a court to modify the non-compete agreement if the court deemed it to be too broad. But not all courts have the authority to rewrite contracts.
Non-compete agreements are pretty standard in most business contracts. They’re designed to protect the business interests of both parties, ideally without infringing too much on the other party’s legitimate business interests.
In the contract in question, Cheryl, as the owner and operator of Associated Beverage Systems of the Carolinas, was prevented from doing business in either North Carolina or South Carolina for a period of five years after purchasing the companies from the Dotolis for $10,000. The contract provided that a court could revise the terms of the agreement if it found them to be unreasonable.
When Associated Beverage began conducting business in both North and South Carolina, the Dotolis sued Cheryl, her company, and Loudine, their son and Cheryl’s husband, for tortious interference as well as deceptive and unfair practices. Loudine was charged with breach of contract. Continue reading ›