We often write on Currents about developments in the area of noncompete law, primarily case law and statutory developments across the country in this highly state-specific area. This year will likely be no different – among other things, the seemingly annual ritual of Massachusetts noncompete legislation has begun anew. While the rules shift and evolve, when employers and employees find themselves in disputes over noncompetes, there are recurring themes or factors that might have been avoided. This article I wrote reviews these factors, broken down by the three actors present in virtually every noncompete dispute:
- The employee who signed the agreement
- The employee’s former employer who holds the noncompete and seeks to enforce restrictions
- The new employer who seeks to employ the employee in some capacity