Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
When someone makes a promise, many people will ask them to “put it in writing” as a way to make sure they follow through. These written documents then form contracts that can be upheld in court if necessary, but the courts don’t always agree to uphold a contract. Just because it was signed and agreed upon by both parties at one point in time does not necessarily make a contract legally binding.
One promise that employers are having an increasingly difficult time enforcing is the noncompete agreement. It’s an agreement included in an employment contract in which both the employer and the worker agree that the employee will not work for a competitor. Noncompete agreements were originally designed to protect the vested interest employers have in their high-level executives – the ones who are most likely to have access to sensitive information, trade secrets, and important relationships with clients. For these kinds of employees to leave with all that business and work for a competitor across the street could be disastrous for a company.
But in their efforts to make iron-clad noncompete agreements, employers sometimes overstretch and include requirements that make it unreasonably difficult for the employee to find any work at all after their employment ends. Continue reading ›