Protecting Knowledge And Opportunities
Noncompete clauses are a fact of everyday life in business today. An employer has a legitimate interest in ensuring that the special skills, abilities and knowledge gained as a benefit of working for the employer are not used against the employer. An employee has a legitimate interest in knowing that his or her personal efforts at professional development are portable throughout his or her career stops.
Employers And Employees Can Benefit From A Well-Crafted Agreement
And both have a legitimate interest in gaining the most up-to-date and aggressive legal opinions with respect to the drafting, review and litigating of any noncompete agreement. At The Litigation Boutique LLC, we provide all of our firm’s clients with exactly these services. Whether you are an employee or an employer, we can provide you with a legal opinion regarding the terms of your noncompete agreement or legal representation in seeking or defending against preliminary or permanent injunctions.
Adhering To Colorado Law
Colorado law with respect to noncompete agreements is extremely stringent and very particular. To meet these strict standards, we provide our clients with only highly qualified attorneys who are dedicated to providing rigorous legal services to our firm’s clients.
With experience from representing noncompete clients across the spectrum, we can provide legal opinions that are responsive to the nuances of both employer and employee issues. As a result, we possess a command of the legal theories available in both defending and in challenging noncompete agreements.
Noncompete agreements receive more and more attention in the courts these days. Neither an employer nor an employee can afford to leave his or her noncompete agreements to chance. Until you have your noncompete agreement reviewed by an attorney from The Litigation Boutique LLC, you should not sign the agreement or offer such an agreement to be signed by an employee.
Noncompete Agreement FAQ
Depending on your profession and your position within an organization, you might be asked to sign a noncompete agreement as a condition of your employment. Seeking to revise this document or challenging it in court might require the help of a legal professional. There are, however, some common questions that we might be able to answer on this website even before you schedule a consultation at our Denver office.
What is a noncompete agreement?
Sometimes referred to as a noncompete clause or simply a noncompete, this is an agreement between the employee and employer where the employee promises to refrain from accepting a position with a company that directly competes with his or her former organization. These contracts are typically in place to prevent the poaching of employees from one organization to another in an effort to steal proprietary knowledge or to gain a competitive edge.
Are noncompete agreements enforceable?
Employees might believe that a certain clause in the agreement is outrageous, thus invalidating the entire contract. This isn’t always the case. Each document must be thoroughly examined in total. Our advice to you is this — if you’ve signed, or you’re being forced to sign, a noncompete agreement, it is wise to have the document examined by a lawyer before it becomes a factor. In other words, don’t wait until you are planning on leaving to find out if your employment contract prevents you from seeking a job opportunity in a segment of the workforce.
Do noncompete agreements expire?
Typically, this will be written into the language of the contract itself. Most noncompetes will remain in effect for a year or less. A noncompete that attempts to limit your employment opportunities for longer than a year will likely be found to be invalid.
Are noncompetes federally enforced?
No. Every state is different. Discuss the laws in your state with an experienced employment law attorney.
In Colorado, most noncompetes are presumed enforceable if they fall within the four statutory exemptions (CRS § 8-2-113):
- The purchase or sale of a business or business assets
- The protection of trade secrets
- A provision providing for the recovery of the expense of training or educating an employee
- Executive and management personnel and officers
Contact A Denver Noncompete Law Attorney
For a completely discreet and entirely confidential discussion with one of our Colorado firm’s lawyers, please call us at 303-578-2833. You can also schedule your initial appointment by contacting our firm online.