Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: NDA and Non-Compete Agreement

A piece of paper is not the actual contract but is instead very strong evidence of what the terms of the contact say. The contract itself is the agreement two or more parties reach (assuming that it contains all of the elements of a contract).

It isn't clear from your question whether the two of you actually agreed that you would respect his confidentiality, but if he shared his secrets with you after agreed not to disclose them (or after you did something which reasonable people would understand as such an agreement) then he can hold you to that agreement regardless of whether you signed a document. He will have a harder time proving his case than if he had your signature and he might even lose, but this does not give you the right to exploit his ideas if he only shared them with you after you promised him confidentiality.

Re: NDA and Non-Compete Agreement

Based on CA law and the facts as described, (please note that a complete review would be necessary for a more certain answer).

From what I can surmise from your question, it sounds as though everything was presented to you prior to your signing the agreement, you can not be held to it.

However, there may exist an implied agreement as you were aware of the other parties request for a Non-Compete. This would probably not hold up in a court of law very well.

Is there a specific reason that you do not want to sign one now? Sometimes it is better to pick the right battles rather than fight them all.

If you feel you require additional assistance, I can be reached at 626-578-0708. You can also review some additional material about Non-Compete Agreements on our firm's website www.RulesofEmployment.com

Re: NDA and Non-Compete Agreement

I wrote an article on non-compete agreements. It can be found at this link: http://www.legalwarriors.com/new_page_5.htm

I would be very reluctant to sign any agreement once the relationship has essentially dissolved and you are moving on to a new situation.

I would be happy to discuss this with you. You can set up an appointment to chat online by going to my website or the link above.

J. Caleb Donner

DONNER & DONNER

LEGAL WARRRIORS�

325 E. Hillcrest Drive, Suite 242

Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

Tel: 805-494-6557

Fax: 805-494-0990

email: [email protected]

website: www.legalwarriors.com

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