A Texas non-compete must satisfy two main components to be enforceable. The non-compete has to be ancillary to an otherwise enforceable agreement and be reasonable in time and scope. Before the Texas Supreme Court this week was a case where the court was asked to consider a non-compete without a geographical restriction and consider whether
Some time you are right, and some time you are wrong. A few months ago I offered the opinion that it was unlikely the Texas Supreme Court would exclude a client representative from the courtroom during a trade secrets case when trade secrets were discussed. I was wrong. The Texas Supreme Court has said
Imagine you are int he courtroom with your lawyer in a trade secret lawsuit. Your company is accused of stealing trade secrets from a competitor. Then imagine the Judge tells you you have to leave the courtroom because the other side does not want yout to hear what its trade secrets are. This issue (though
I have been off in the world of expedited discovery and temporary injunctions for the last two months. Below is my take on the state of Texas non-competes that appeared in the Langely Weinstein LLP Employment Law Update for July.
We’ve talked about the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion in Marsh USA v. Cook and its legal niceties, but what does it mean for employers and what should they be doing in light of the ruling? The fact of the matter is we won’t know until lower courts address the opinions, but here are a couple of
Analysis from last Friday’s Texas Supreme Court opinion in Marsh USA v. Cook will continue this week as lawyers, employers, and employees struggle with what the non-compete playing field is today. Quite simply put, Marsh USA is a game changer.
The ramifications of the case are best set forth Justice Green’s dissent, which was joined
#2: Non-Compete Agreements Are Unenforceable in Texas.
Texas courts have been enforcing non-compete agreements for many years and they are specifically authorized by Texas law – Texas Business and Commerce Code Section 15.50. The highlights from that statute:
a covenant not to compete is enforceable if it is ancillary to or part of
Texas Tech won its appeal against Mike Leach and his claims for millions of dollars in compensation are gone. The Seventh Court of Appeals, based in Amarillo, recently took up Texas Tech’s claim of sovereign immunity and reversed the trial court, finding in Tech’s favor.
The Court ruled in its opinion that Leach cannot maintain a breach of contract
As has been widely commented on, the Texas Supreme Court will determine whether stock
options can serve as the basis for an employee’s non-compete agreement. The Dallas Court of Appeals, in Marsh USA v. Cook, ruled that options could not.
A ruling that reverses the Dallas court could have much wider ramifications: What would the employment landscape look
Over the last few weeks I’ve been involved in defending and applying for temporary restraining orders in non-compete/trade secret cases in Houston and Dallas County District Courts. A few observations on those proceedings: