Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Re: New Business/Past Employer

Can they sue you? Sure; anyone can sue anyone over anything. That's fairly flip, but it's quite true. The $64,000 question is, can they win?

Your answer lies in the employment contract you signed with your former employer back when you started working with them. Very often, these employment agreements have in them something called a "noncompetition agreement," which can indeed make your life miserable if you start up a business that competes in any way with theirs and solicit their customers through a list you got from them.

When did you leave your former job? Length of time between leaving and starting a competing enterprise can figure into these questions.

How did you get your potential customer list? If you can show that you got it by means other than taking their customer list, yes, they can sue you but you stand a better chance of winning.

Purchasing a list from a mailing-list company is a fine way to get an initial list; you then have a record of the money spent, the list you received, the fact that a customer mailing list obtained in this manner is NOT a trade secret to your employer, and the fact that the customer has every right to shop where s/he chooses to shop.

You need to hire an attorney to help you deal with this, since this is a question involving fairly high-end contract law. Find someone who practices business law who is local to you who has experience with noncompetition agreements (if I'm local to you, I'd be happy to handle this for you). You can get a referral to a business attorney through the NYS Bar Association (www.nysba.org) or perhaps through your local county bar association.

Good luck.

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