I recently had an unexpected turn of events that made me take another look at the contract that I have when I take on new associates to my team.
There was a short blip in there that covered the whole non-compete for perpetuity stuff, but turns out that wasn’t enough. There were a couple of points that needed to be addressed:
- I can’t legally say that someone can’t compete with me for perpetuity – there has to be an end somewhere.
- What are the consequences if someone ignores the non-compete and swipes a client?
- What happens if everyone agrees that client X will officially move over to the Associate after it’s been specifically requested by client x to do so?
Have you reviewed your contracts lately? Now would be a great time to do so – have a good look and make sure that you’re not only covering all your bases but that you’re not making unreasonable demands either.