Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

There almost as many "non-compete" agreements as there are hairs on a dog's back. The courts have imposed restrictions on some types of non-compete provisions. The only way to begin to answer your question is to analyze the non-compete agreement, compare it to your plans and aspirations with your new business plan and then look to see if the remaining problems, if any, have been held to be not enforcible by decisions of the Washington courts.

It's much better to get started this analysis before you take ill-advised steps with your new business that might create problems.

Call if you wish to schedule a one hour no-charge evaluation.

I wholeheartedly concur with Mr. Cruikshank.

Someone will need to review the noncompete agreement and compare that to the specifics of what you want to do. Noncompete clauses are often times unenforceable depending on the limits as to the place, time, and geographic restrictions imposed.

For example, if you were in the movie making business a global restriction on your ability to make movies might be reasonable since movies are something that are intended to be distributed worldwide, so long as the length of time was also reasonable. On the other hand, if you were in the haircutting business, a restriction on your ability to cut hair anywhere outside of the county in which your employer is located, would likely not be enforceable given that reducing your ability to cut hair in another state for another county where no customers of your boss likely exist does not serve society well.