The Laconic Law Blog

On April 15, 2008, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted a motion to dismiss breach of contract claims relating to an employee noncompete and nonsolicitation agreement in Nortel Communications, Inc. v. Carl Lee-Llacer, No. 1:08cv127 (opinion here: nortec-comm-inc-v-lee-llacer).  The court granted the motion because the provisions of the agreement at issue were not limited to the performance of the same work the employee had done for the company and because key terms were undefined.  This opinion highlights the changing law regarding noncompete agreements in Virginia during recent years.  Employers using such agreements in Virginia would be well advised to have them reviewed and updated for continued viability.

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The Virginia General Assembly has attempted to clean up what appeared to be a loophole to allow medical professionals to escape noncompete agreements based on a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia.  The bill was signed by the Governor on March 5, 2008.

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Inc.com has an article on non-compete agreements in its February 2008 issue entitled “Protecting Company Secrets:  More Business Owners Are Forcing Their New Hires To Sign Noncompetes.  Should You?“  The article prompts me to ask the question:  is it time to think about protecting your company’s assets?

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