Non-Compete Blog

When a court determines that a non-compete agreement is overly broad and unenforceable as written, that may not be the end of the story. A distinct minority of states will refuse to enforce the entirety of a non-compete agreement that the court deems unreasonable, a practice sometimes referred to as “all or nothing enforcement.” However, the majority of courts will still try to enforce the agreement if they can correct its flaws. Certain courts will rewrite parts of the contract to make it reasonable, a policy referred to as “judicial reformation.”  In addition to, or instead of judicial reformation, some jurisdictions employ “blue penciling,” a practice where courts will strike the offending language from the agreement.