Monday, May 08, 2006

Broad Non-Compete Agreements May Be Totally Unenforceable

I wrote about a Maryland Court's authority to strike language from an unenforceable non-competition agreement here. By striking the language, the Court can render enforceable an otherwise unenforceable agreement.

Some language, however, is too broad and cannot be saved. In an unreported decision, Deutsche Post Global Mail, Ltd. v. Conrad, 116 Fed.Appx. 435
(4th Cir. 2004), the Court refused to revise the following language and struck a non-competition agreement in its entirety.

[The employee may not . . . ]Engage in any activity which may affect adversely the interests of the Company or any Related Corporation and the businesses conducted by either of them, including, without limitation, directly or indirectly soliciting or diverting customers and/or employees of the Company or any related Corporation or attempting to so solicit or divert such customers and/or employees....

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