FIVE YEAR NONCOMPETE RULED TOO LONG

We recently represented a young professional forester who, upon graduation from Virginia Tech with a degree in forestry, was employed by a nearby forestry consulting company. As a part of his employment, our client was required to sign a noncompete agreement. Unbelievably, the noncompete stated that if our client left his job he was prevented from providing professional forestry services in an area of 90 air miles (over 25,000 square miles) for a period of 5 years.

We are happy to report, after much work and a day long trial, the Judge in the case held that 5 years was an excessively long period of time and was not necessary to protect the reasonable business interests of the employer. As such, the Judge ruled the noncompete agreement was unenforceable....thereby allowing our client to earn a living in his chosen profession.

It was a great day for our client...and we felt pretty darn good about the result as well!

Check out our client's web site: Greenwoods, Inc.