With the increasing use of non-competes across the business spectrum, a debate is starting to rage in state legislatures and in business forums about whether the prevalence of such agreements helps or hinders economic growth. The proponents say that the agreements are necessary to protect successful businesses from being harmed by unscrupulous employees and these agreements actually encourage employers to involve more employees in the inner workings and strategic decisions of a company (since, the argument goes, employers are more comfortable that key information won’t be used to compete against them). Detractors, on the other hand, say that non-competes chill entrepreneurship. An interesting four-minute version of the debate was recently aired on Fox Business. Even the entrepreneurs concede, however, that trade secrets and confidential business information should always be protectable.
If you would like additional information on non-compete agreements and trade secrets law, please contact one of the Burr & Forman Non-Compete & Trade Secrets team members.
