Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey

Re: No Compete/Client list

If you have a written non-compete agreement, its terms would govern. Some terms in such agreements are unenforceable and, if you are seriously limited by a written agreement, you should have a lawyer review it.

Lacking a non-compete agreement, you are mainly limited only in that (1) you cannot take and use your previous employer's property; and (2) you cannot improperly interfere with contractual relations between your employer and others. By "property" I mean such things as client lists, proprietary procedures, etc. You can, however, take what is in your head. So, you can't take and use a client list, but the law doesn't require you to forget what you know. As to the contracts, the largest limitation is that you can't contact existing customers of your employer and induce them to breach contracts that are in effect. Other than that, you may solicit their business now to begin after the term of their contract. In other words, you may compete fairly for their business and the business of anyone else.

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See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm