In the judicial scheme of things, the courts awarded relatively few injunctions. Thus it is vital to create at the outset a covenant that will be enforceable. The 1996 law requires that a covenant be in writing. An agreement not to compete can be a stand-alone agreement, or can be part of a more comprehensive employment agreement. Either way, it must be drafted in language that satisfies contract law, and legal advice is important.
Consideration can be many things, and commonly is a condition of obtaining a job or keeping it.
Additionally, the agreement must comply with the many provisions written in the statute, a task that a nonlawyer is not likely to perform well. See , e.g ., Sanz v. A court is empowered to change the duration and geographical area as it sees fit. It makes sense to draft from the start an agreement that is reasonable on its face. An agreement protecting trade secrets is presumptively reasonable up to 5 years, and is presumptively unreasonable beyond 10 years.