When I sit with a prospective client and give them a legal opinion, I have to admit the sad truth of the practice of law: No matter what the law says, some judges cannot be trusted to follow it. For all we hear about activist judges, my experience that “inactivist judges” are just as much a problem.
South Carolina courts have upheld covenants not to solicit employees by a former employee but only to the extent that such solicitations interfere with contractual relations. This rule makes much more sense than those applied to solicitation of customers.
So, what happens when the state identified in a non-compete’s choice of law is different than the state in which…
There is a new Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case, in which the Court held a non-compete was unenforceable: Lapman…
E-discovery is the new trend in litigation; it is here to stay. Every lawsuit involves discovery, now, because many documents exist in electronic form on computer hard drives, electronic files are also subjects for discovery.
I recently wrote a letter on behalf of a nice lady who had a noncompete, which was on the verge…
Many non-competes will prohibit a former employee from competing with in a certain defined radius. Drawing a circle and declaring…
In Carolina Chemical Equipment Company v. Muckenfuss, 322 S.C. 289, 471 S.E.2d 721 (S.C. Ct. App. 1996), the South Carolina Court of Appeals held that when a broad trade secret provision “basically has the effect of a covenant to to compete, [the Court] must subject it to the same scrutiny as a covenant not to compete.” Although the South Carolina legislature attempted to limit the holding of Muckenfuss the following year, the case remains important for several reasons: It began the difficult task of culling “trade secrets” from general business information as well as because it did so in the defense of an employee’s right to work.
You got to love the name Muckenfuss, as in the South Carolina Court of Appeals’ opinion in Carolina Chemical Equipment…
Beat Your Non-Compete Bottom Line: If you signed a non-compete after you started your job but all you got in return was to keep your current job, then it is not enforceable. However, if you get a raise or a promotion, then it is a different ball game; most likely, these will suffice to bind you to your non-compete.