Does Florida’s non compete law pass the truly obnoxious test?
In refusing to enforce a Florida non compete agreement, a New York Court of Appeals called Florida’s non compete statute contrary to public policy indicating that it fails the “truly obnoxious test”
The Florida Statute provides generally that an agreement not to compete that is reasonable in time, area and line of business will be enforceable if it serves a legitimate purpose. They have been narrowly construed in the past but the Florida Supreme Court has more and more encouraged the active involvement of trial courts in defining reasonableness standards. All of this is just an indication that these types of agreements as well as non disclosure agreements are significantly complex documents.
It not uncommon in mergers and acquisitions and in hiring situations for the terms of these types of agreements to be relegated to a secondary level of importance but if the terms of a non compete and or non disclosure agreement are central to your transaction, they deserve significantly more of your attention to try and assure that they will be enforceable if called on.
Perry Douglas West, Esq.
