Restrictive Covenants

Employers will often turn to confidentiality agreements, non-compete clauses and other forms of restrictive covenants in order to protect trade secrets. Clients from numerous industries have counted on Baker Donelson to write and enforce their covenants, including manufacturing and distribution businesses, financial institutions, technology companies, health care companies, physician placement services, hospitals and medical service providers, educational institutions and non-profit and government employers, as well as a number of public companies in various industries.

We represent employers in litigation involving restrictive covenants. We also handle arms-length business to business and lessor-lessee covenants, and write and enforce covenants given in the sale of businesses. Drawing on years of experience and a broad base of knowledge, Baker Donelson attorneys learn the rules of every state in which a client does business and write covenants so that they favor the employer. Whether it's defending or enforcing a covenant, we utilize every resource available, reaching across offices and practice areas to obtain successful results for our clients. Many of our cases in this area of the law have been reported and are often cited.

Several of our lawyers have focused a considerable amount of their practice on restrictive covenants. They are significantly involved in the writing, enforcement and challenge of these covenants for many clients, handling between 10 and 30 cases in front of state and federal trial courts and Courts of Appeals per year.

Representative Matters

• Represented a technology company without confidentiality agreement or restrictive covenant, and obtained injunction against employee who departed company and took customer and vendor lists to competing business. Successfully utilized Trade Secret Act to enforce.
• Reversed unenforceable non-compete Motion to Dismiss in trial court at the Court of Appeals, in a case to enforce a non-compete against the former owner of a business who sold it and then returned to work as an employee.
• Represented Cardiology Associates of North Mississippi to successfully obtain an injunction against a physician who left the health care group and attempted to establish a competing practice in a geographic area restricted by the non-compete agreement.
• Represented nationally known pest control company to successfully enforce a non-compete agreement against a former employee who began contacting our client's customers and encouraging them to move their business to the new employer. Employee conceded to claims at hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction.