Document:

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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.4

                            NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENT

        This Agreement is entered into effective January 1, 1999, by and among
The Corporate Executive Board Company, a Delaware corporation, including its
subsidiaries, successors and assigns (collectively, "CEB"), The Advisory Board
Company, a Maryland corporation, including its subsidiaries, successors and
assigns (collectively, "ABC") and David G. Bradley, including his successors,
assigns and any entity controlled by him (collectively, "Bradley").

        WHEREAS, CEB, ABC and Bradley desire to enter into an agreement to place
certain limitations on competition between CEB, on the one hand, and, on the
other hand, ABC and Bradley (ABC and Bradley together are referred to herein as
the "Bradley Parties").

        NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and covenants contained
herein and intending to be legally bound hereby, CEB, ABC and Bradley agree as
follows:

1.      DEFINITIONS.

        (a)    "Covered Services" shall mean membership based subscription
               services substantially similar to the services provided by ABC
               and CEB as of the date of this agreement, in which members
               receive a bundle of services incorporating a meaningful
               combination of the following: multi-client syndicated studies,
               meetings focused on discussions of syndicated studies, short
               answer custom research, and on site seminars.

        (b)    "Health Care Provider Company" shall mean any company or
               institution, or any division or subsidiary of any company or
               institution, that is principally engaged in the health care
               provider business, which shall include providers of patient care
               (such as hospitals, outpatient facilities, home health agencies
               and relevant government agencies) and providers of medical
               professional services (such as physician and nursing services and
               physician practice management companies).

        (c)    "Other Health Care Company" shall mean any company or
               institution, or any division or subsidiary of any company or
               institution, that is not a Health Care Provider Company and which
               is principally engaged in other types of health care business,
               including: pharmaceuticals companies; medical supply companies;
               medical equipment companies; technology, software,
               communications, financing and services vendors selling
               predominantly to Health Care Provider Companies; companies
               providing health insurance; and managed care companies.

        (d)    "Non-Health Care Company" shall mean any company or institution,
               or any division or subsidiary of any company or institution, that
               is not a Health Care Provider Company or an Other Health Care
               Company.

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2.      NON-COMPETITION.

        (a)    THE BRADLEY PARTIES. The Bradley Parties shall not offer or sell
               Covered Services to any Non-Health Care Companies.
               Notwithstanding the forgoing, the Bradley Parties may:

               (i)    sell products and services to any company or institution,
                      or any division or subsidiary of any company or
                      institution, that is a Health Care Provider Company;

               (ii)   sell products and services to divisions and subsidiaries
                      of companies other than Health Care Provider Companies, if
                      such divisions or subsidiaries themselves are Health Care
                      Provider Companies; and

               (iii)  continue to renew pre-existing subscriptions with respect
                      to those products and services that it has sold as of the
                      closing date of the initial public offering of shares of
                      Common Stock of CEB (the "Offering Date") to any then
                      existing client, if such client was a subscriber to such
                      products or services immediately prior to such
                      subscription renewal and such products and services
                      specifically address health care provider industry issues;
                      and

               (iv)   offer and sell to any entity:

                      (A)    magazines, newspapers and news services;

                      (B)    advertising for its publications, news or
                             on-line services; and

                      (C)    products and services that are specifically
                             addressed to and deal with advertising and
                             promotion activities by companies and institutions
                             and advertising agencies, provided that such
                             products and services are offered only to the
                             offices and divisions of companies, institutions or
                             advertising agencies that are responsible for the
                             placement or designing of advertisements;

                      (D)    products and services that are specifically
                             addressed to and deal with government relations and
                             lobbying activities by companies and institutions,
                             provided that such products and services are
                             offered only to the offices and divisions of
                             companies or institutions that are responsible for
                             government relations and lobbying.

        (b)    CEB. CEB shall not offer or sell Covered Services to Health Care
               Provider Companies. Notwithstanding the forgoing, CEB may:

               (i)    sell its products and services to Non-Health Care
                      Companies;

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               (ii)   sell its products and services to divisions and
                      subsidiaries of companies other than Non-Health Care
                      Companies, if such divisions or subsidiaries are
                      themselves Non-Health Care Companies; and

               (iii)  continue to renew pre-existing subscriptions with respect
                      to those products and services that it has sold as of the
                      Offering Date to any then existing client, if such client
                      was a subscriber to such products or services immediately
                      prior to such subscription renewal and such products and
                      services do not specifically address health care provider
                      industry issues.

        (c)    PROVISION OF SERVICES TO OTHER HEALTH CARE COMPANIES.
               Notwithstanding the forgoing:

               (i)    the Bradley Parties may sell Covered Services to Other
                      Health Care Companies provided that Bradley Parties do not
                      offer programs targeted to the same executives and
                      covering the same subjects as that of CEB's Human
                      Resources, Chief Financial Officer or General Counsel
                      programs; and also provided that all research agendas,
                      brochures and any other sales and marketing materials
                      associated with such services make explicit the health
                      care industry focus of such services.

               (ii)   CEB may sell Covered Services to Other Health Care
                      Companies, only if such services are of a general business
                      nature and are also sold by CEB principally to Non-Health
                      Care Companies.

3.      EMPLOYEES.

        (a)    Except as provided in Section 3(c) of this Agreement, the Bradley
               Parties shall not recruit or employ any person who is at the time
               of such recruitment an employee of CEB, or who was employed by
               CEB at any time during the 24-month period preceding the date of
               such recruitment or employment, unless CEB's chief executive
               officer consents to such recruitment and employment.

        (b)    CEB shall not recruit or employ any person who is at the time of
               such recruitment an employee of ABC or Bradley, or who was
               employed by ABC or Bradley at any time during the 24-month period
               preceding the date of such recruitment or employment, unless
               ABC's chief executive officer or Bradley, as the case may be,
               consents to such recruitment and employment.

        (c)    Bradley or ABC may hire Derek C. van Bever, the Chief Research
               Officer of CEB, at any time after January 1, 2002.

        (d)    Each of CEB and ABC shall incorporate in each of the
               noncompetition agreements that it has entered into, or will
               enter into, with its current or future employees provisions (the
               "Noncompetition Provision") that would prohibit such employee
               from competing with CEB or ABC, as the case may be, to the same
               extent and under the same terms and conditions that similar
               level employees

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               generally are prohibited from competing with the company
               employing such employee, and that would impose similar
               restrictions on the use of confidential information. Neither CEB
               nor ABC shall waive any rights under, or agree to any
               settlements in connection with the enforcement of, the
               Noncompetition Provision contained in any noncompetition
               agreement without the prior written consent of the other
               company, but only to the extent that such waiver or such
               settlement relates to the rights of such other company. Each of
               CEB and ABC shall use its best efforts to enforce the
               Noncompetition Provision promptly upon being notified or
               becoming aware of a breach of such provision by any of its
               current or previous employees who are subject to the
               Noncompetition Provision; provided, however, that the company
               for whose benefit the Noncompetition Provision is being enforced
               shall pay all reasonable costs and expenses incurred in
               connection with such enforcement. In addition, each company may
               assert directly its own rights under the Noncompetition
               Provision with respect to current or previous employees of the
               other company to the maximum extent permitted by law.

4.      NAME LICENSE.

        (a)    ABC continues to own all rights, title, interest and any other
               intellectual property or proprietary right in the name "The
               Advisory Board Company" and all derivations thereof, including
               but not limited to, "The Corporate Advisory Board Company" and
               CEB has no right or interest therein, except for the license
               granted in Section 4(b) below.

        (b)    ABC hereby grants an exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free,
               paid-up license to CEB to use the derivative name "The Corporate
               Advisory Board Company" for a period of two years from the date
               of this Agreement only for Transitional Purposes, provided that,
               the name "The Corporate Advisory Board Company" may be used for
               recruiting of prospective employees only if CEB receives prior
               written approval from ABC. "Transitional Purposes" shall mean
               for purposes of this Section, use of the name to inform the
               general public that The Corporate Advisory Board Company has
               changed its name to The Corporate Executive Board Company. Upon
               the expiration of the two-year period, all rights, title and
               interest in the name "The Corporate Advisory Board Company" will
               revert back to ABC.

        (c)    ABC shall not use the name "The Corporate Advisory Board Company"
               or any other derivation of its name with the word "Corporate"
               during the term of this agreement.

5.      TERM.

        The term of this Agreement will commence on the date first written in
the preamble above and will end on the date that is five years from such date.

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6.      FURTHER ASSURANCES.

        CEB, ABC and Bradley agree that at any time and from time to time, upon
written request, they will execute and deliver such further documents and do
such further acts and things as may be reasonably requested in order to
effectuate the purposes of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated
hereby.

7.      GOVERNING LAW.

        This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the
internal laws of the State of Delaware (excluding its choice of law rules).

8.      ARBITRATION.

        The parties shall endeavor to settle all disputes by amicable
negotiations. Any claim, dispute, disagreement or controversy that arises among
the parties ("Disputed Matter") relating to this Agreement that is not amicably
settled shall be referred to and settled by arbitration administered by the
American Arbitration Association in accordance with the Expedited Procedures of
the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (the
"AAA Rules") by a single arbitrator who is mutually agreeable to the parties. If
the parties are unable to agree upon an arbitrator, one arbitrator shall be
selected in accordance with the AAA Rules. All proceedings in any such
arbitration shall be conducted in Washington, D.C. Each party to such
arbitration proceeding shall bear its respective costs, fees and expenses in
connection with such arbitration. Upon a final determination by the arbitrator
with respect to the Disputed Matter, the arbitrator shall notify the parties
(such notice being the "Arbitration Order"). Any judgment on the award rendered
by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
Jurisdiction of such arbitrator shall be exclusive as to disputes among the
parties relating to this Agreement and each of the parties agrees that this
Agreement to arbitrate shall be specifically enforceable under the laws of the
respective domiciliary jurisdictions of the parties. None of the parties shall
have the right to appeal the Arbitration Order or otherwise to submit a dispute
relating to this Agreement to a court of law.

9.      COUNTERPARTS.

        This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which will
constitute an original and all of which will be one and the same document.

            [THE REMAINDER OF THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.]

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        IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement effective
as of the date first written above.

                                  THE CORPORATE EXECUTIVE BOARD COMPANY

                                   /s/ JAMES J. MCGONIGLE
                                  -----------------------------------
                                  By:    James J. McGonigle
                                  Its:   Chief Executive Officer

                                  THE ADVISORY BOARD COMPANY

                                  /s/ JEFFREY D. ZIENTS
                                  -----------------------------------
                                  By:    Jeffrey D. Zients
                                  Its:   Chief Executive Officer

                                        /s/ DAVID G. BRADLEY
                                  ------------------------------------
                                         David G. Bradley

                                       6<PAGE>   1
                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.5

                    AGREEMENT CONCERNING EXCLUSIVE SERVICES.
                CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.
               NON-COMPETITION, NON-SOLICITATION AND WORK PRODUCT

        This Agreement is made this _____ day of ________, ______, by and
between The Advisory Board Company, including its affiliates, successors and
assigns (the "Company") and _________________ (the "Employee").

                                    RECITALS

        R1. The Company is engaged in the business of providing research and
advisory services to individual members in various industries, including without
limitation such services as short-answer or custom research on demand, multiple
client or syndicated studies, benchmarking data and databases and conferences,
seminars, training and education. In order to remain competitive in this
business, the Company must protect its good will, its base of members and
prospective members, its employees, its confidential and proprietary
information, and the work product of its employees.

        R2. The Company has offered employment or continued employment to the
Employee. During the course of employment, the Employee will develop important
contacts with the members and prospective members of the Company, and will also
become aware of certain methods, practices, information and procedures with
which the Company conducts its business, all of which are considered
confidential and proprietary by the Company. The Employee may also prepare
studies and other written materials using the Company's resources.

        R3. The Company and the Employee agree that it is reasonable and
necessary to enter into an Agreement to protect the Company's good will, its
base of members and prospective members, its employees, its confidential and
proprietary information, and its work product.

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        NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the recitals above, initial and/or
continued employment, participation in the Company's employee benefit programs
as reflected in the Liquid Markets Agreement and Continuing Stock Options
Agreement between the Employee and the Company (the "Employee Benefit Programs")
and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which
is acknowledged, the parties agree as follows:

        1.     EXCLUSIVE SERVICES

               During the term of employment, the Employee shall at all times
devote his/her entire working time, attention, energies, efforts and skills to
the business of the Company, and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in
any other business activity, whether or not for profit, gain or other pecuniary
advantages, without the express written permission of the Company. The Employee
shall not, without prior written permission of the Company, directly or
indirectly, either as an officer, director, employee, agent, adviser,
consultant, principal, stockholder, partner, owner or in any other capacity, on
his/her own behalf or otherwise, in any way engage in, represent, be connected
with or have a financial interest in, any business which is, or to the best of
his/her knowledge, is about to become, engaged in the same or substantially
similar business lines as the Company or any of its affiliates or which
otherwise competes with or is about to compete with the Company or any of its
affiliates.

        2.     CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

               The Employee shall not at any time during his/her employment with
the Company or after the termination thereof for any reason disclose or use,
directly or indirectly, any confidential or proprietary information of the
Company or its affiliates. For the purposes of this Agreement, "confidential or
proprietary information" shall mean all information disclosed to the Employee,
or known by him/her as a consequence of or through his/her employment with the
Company, where such information is not generally known in the trade or industry
or which is considered confidential

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<PAGE>   3

by the Company or was the subject of efforts by the Company to maintain its
confidentiality, and where such information refers or relates in any manner
whatsoever to the business activities, processes, services or products of the
Company or its affiliates. Such information includes, but is not limited to,
trade secrets as defined by the District of Columbia Trade Secrets Act, D.C.
Code Section 48-501 et seq., business and development plans (whether
contemplated, initiated or completed), business contacts, methods of operation,
policies, results of analysis, member and prospective member lists, employee
lists, business forecasts, financial data, advertising and marketing methods,
manuals, training materials, management, performance review, project assessment
and all other forms and documents used in management of the Company's employees
and in performing work for the Company, reports, correspondence, data collection
forms and other documents provided to members, syndicated, multi-client studies,
custom research reports, statements, reports, strategic information and other
information distributed to policy or management committee members, information
relating to costs and revenues, and similar information.

        3.     RETURN OF COMPANY PROPERTY

               Upon termination of employment for any reason, the Employee shall
immediately return to the Company all of its property and confidential or
proprietary information which is in tangible form and all copies thereof in the
Employee's possession, custody or control, provided that the Employee may retain
one copy of each published study to which he/she contributed personally.

        4.     BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

               During the term of his/her employment, the Employee shall
promptly disclose to the Company each business opportunity of a type which,
based upon its prospects and relationship to the business of the Company or its
affiliates, the Company might reasonably consider pursuing. In the event that
the Employee's employment is terminated for any reason, the Company or its

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affiliates shall have the exclusive right to participate in or undertake any
such opportunity on their own behalf without any involvement by or compensation
to the Employee.

        5.     COVENANT NOT TO COMPETE

               (a) If the Employee's employment is terminated by the Company for
Cause, or if the Employee voluntarily resigns for any reason, the Employee shall
not, directly or indirectly, either individually or as a stockholder, director,
officer, partner, consultant, owner, employee, agent, or in any other capacity,
for a period of two (2) years following such termination, (i) provide "Company
Services" or work for or provide services to any person or entity that provides
"Company Services," within a one hundred (100) mile radius of any city in the
United States or in any foreign country in which the Company has an office or a
member or in which the Company had a member or directly or indirectly solicited
a prospective member at any time during the two year period prior to the
termination of the Employee's employment; or (ii) solicit or offer to provide or
provide "Company Services," or work for a person or entity that solicits or
offers to provide or provides "Company Services," to any person or entity who
was a member of the Company or was directly or indirectly solicited to be a
member of the Company at any time during the two-year period prior to the
termination of the Employee's employment with the Company. For the purposes of
this Section 5(a), the term "Company Services" shall mean: (aa) providing
short-answer or custom research on demand, including without limitation
literature or database searches, telephone interviews, or other research of the
same or substantially similar type as that provided by the Company; or (bb)
preparing published multiple client or syndicated studies, including without
limitation studies of the same or substantially similar type provided by the
Company; or (cc) selling benchmarking data and databases of the same or
substantially similar type provided by the Company; or (dd) providing
conferences, seminars, training or education of the same or substantially
similar type provided by the Company; where any of the foregoing services
described

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in (aa) through (dd) above are provided to any of the following: physicians,
hospitals, health plans, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, managed
care companies, commercial banks, brokerage houses, mutual fund companies or
Fortune 1000 companies. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Employee may upon
termination in the situations described above work as a consultant or for a
consulting firm, provided he/she complies with all of the provisions of this
Section 5(a). The Company may release the Employee from some or all of the
restrictions in this section only in a written instrument signed by the Employee
and the Chairman of the Company.

        For the purposes of this Section 5(a), "Cause" for termination shall
mean the commission of an act of fraud, theft or dishonesty against the Company;
arrest or conviction for any felony; arrest or conviction for any misdemeanor
involving moral turpitude which might, in the Company's reasonable opinion,
cause embarrassment to the Company; misconduct; substance abuse;
insubordination; violation of Company policy; willful or repeated
non-performance or substandard performance of duties; violation of any District
of Columbia, state or federal laws, rules or regulations in connection with or
during performance of work; or Performance Inconsistent with Past Levels of
Contribution. For the purposes of this Section 5(a), "Performance Inconsistent
with Past Levels of Contribution" means any neglect of, or refusal or inability
to perform, the Employee's duties or responsibilities with respect to the
Company with the same level of contribution as in past periods of employment; or
any insubordination, dishonesty, negligence or malfeasance in the performance of
such duties and responsibilities; or the taking of actions which impair the
Employee's ability to perform such duties and responsibilities; or any material
violation of Company rules or regulations.

               (b) The Employee agrees that the restrictions imposed upon
him/her by the provisions of this section are fair and reasonable considering
the nature of the Company's business, and are reasonably required for the
protection of the Company. The Employee further agrees that

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the provisions of Section 5(a) relating to areas of restriction, member
limitations, or time periods of restriction were specifically discussed in good
faith and are acceptable to the Employee. Nevertheless, to the extent that these
restrictions exceed the maximum areas of restriction, member limitations or
periods of time which a court of competent jurisdiction would enforce, the areas
of restriction, member limitations or time periods shall be modified by such
court to be the maximum areas of restriction, member limitations or time periods
which such court would enforce in any state in which such court shall be
convened. If any other part of Section 5(a) is held to be invalid or
unenforceable, the remaining parts shall nevertheless continue to be valid and
enforceable as though the unenforceable portions were absent.

        6.     SOLICITATION OF EMPLOYEES

               The Employee agrees that during the term of his/her employment,
and for a period of two (2) years after termination of such employment for any
reason, he/she shall not, except in the course of his/her duties for the
Company, directly or indirectly, induce or attempt to induce or otherwise
counsel, advise, ask or encourage any person who at the time is a current
employee of the Company or its affiliates, or who left such employ within the
preceding six months, to leave the employ of the Company or to accept employment
with another employer besides the Company or as an independent contractor, or
offer employment to or hire such person, or work for any person or entity that
offers employment to or hires such person.

        7.     INVENTIONS, IMPROVEMENTS AND COPYRIGHTABLE MATERIALS

               The Employee shall disclose promptly in writing and assign
immediately, and hereby assigns to the Company, all of the Employee's right,
title and interest in and to, any inventions, improvements, original works of
authorship, formulas, processes, programs, benchmarking or other databases,
techniques, know-how, data, developments or discoveries, whether or not
patentable or copyrightable (hereinafter referred to collectively as "Work
Product"), which the Employee may

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<PAGE>   7
 make or conceive, or first reduce to practice or learn either solely or jointly
with others, during the employment period with the Company through the
Employee's work with the Company or with any other person or entity pursuant to
an assignment by the Company. The Employee acknowledges the special interest the
Company holds in its processes, techniques and technologies in producing its
editorial works and agrees that such processes, techniques and technologies
shall not be directly or indirectly used or distributed by the Employee for the
interests of any person or entity besides the Company.

               (a) All disclosures and assignments made pursuant to this
Agreement are made without royalty or any additional consideration to the
Employee other than the regular compensation paid to the Employee by the
Company.

               (b) The Employee shall execute, acknowledge and deliver to the
Company all necessary documents, and shall take such other action as may be
necessary to assist the Company in obtaining by statute, letters patent,
copyrights, trademarks or other statutory or common law protections for the Work
Product covered by this Agreement, vesting title and right in such patents,
copyrights, trademarks and other protections in the Company and its designees.
The Employee hereby agrees that the Work Product constitutes a "work made for
hire" in accordance with the definition of that term under the U.S. copyright
laws. The Employee shall further assist the Company in every proper and
reasonable way to enforce such patents, copyrights, trademarks and other
protections as the Company may desire. The Employee's obligation to deliver
documents and assist the Company under this Agreement applies both during and
subsequent to the term of his/her employment.

               (c) Any Work Product which the Employee may disclose to anyone
within six (6) months after the termination of his/her employment, or for which
the Company may file application for letters patent, copyright, trademark or
other statutory or common law protection

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<PAGE>   8

within eighteen (18) months after the termination of said employment, shall be
presumed to have been made, conceived, first reduced to practice or learned
during the term of Employee's employment and fully subject to the terms and
conditions set forth herein; provided that if the Employee, in fact, conceived
any such Work Product subsequent to the termination of the employment and such
Work Product is not based upon or derived from confidential or proprietary
information of the Company or does not relate to the scope of work performed by
the Employee pursuant to his/her employment duties, then such Work Product shall
belong to the Employee and shall be the Employee's sole property. Employee
assumes the responsibility of establishing by competent legal evidence that such
Work Product is not based on such confidential or proprietary information and
that the Employee conceived any such Work Product after the termination of
his/her employment.

               (d) The Employee represents that the Work Product does not
infringe any copyright or other proprietary right of any person or entity.

               (e) Attached to and made as part of this Agreement as Exhibit A
is a complete list of all Work Product, patented or copyrighted, which has been
made or conceived or first reduced to practice by the Employee alone or jointly
prior to the date of his/her employment. Such Work Product shall be excluded
from the operation of this Agreement. If there is no such list on Exhibit A, the
Employee represents that no such Work Product exists at the time of signing this
Agreement.

        8.     SEVERABILITY

               If any provision of this Agreement shall be determined, by a
court having jurisdiction, to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the
remainder of this Agreement shall not be affected but shall continue in full
force and effect as though such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision were
not originally a part of this Agreement.

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<PAGE>   9

        9.     SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE, LIQUIDATED DAMAGES AND ATTORNEYS' FEES

               The Employee acknowledges that a breach of any of the provisions
of this Agreement may result in continuing and irreparable damages to the
Company for which there may be no adequate remedy at law and that the Company in
addition to all other relief available to it shall be entitled to the issuance
of a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and permanent
injunction restraining the Employee from committing or continuing to commit any
breach of this Agreement both pending further legal proceedings and for
appropriate periods in the future. Furthermore, the Employee understands that
his/her breach of this Agreement may cause monetary damages to the Company that
are difficult to calculate. Thus, should the Employee breach any term of this
Agreement, he/she shall be required to pay the Company as liquidated damages
100% of the value of all cash income (including gain from the sale of stock
obtained on exercise of any continuing options) he/she has received with respect
to the Employee Benefit Programs during the five-year period preceding said
breach and he/she shall forfeit 100% of the value of all such cash income to
which he/she may be entitled in the future. The Employee agrees that the
foregoing amount of liquidated damages is reasonable and does not constitute a
penalty. If the Company is the prevailing party in any action for breach of this
Agreement, the Employee shall reimburse the Company for its reasonable
attorneys' fees and costs incurred in such action.

        10.    CHOICE OF LAW

               This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with and governed
by the laws of the District of Columbia, irrespective of the principles of
conflicts of law therein.

        11.    LIMITATIONS OF AGREEMENT

               This Agreement does not constitute a contract of employment for a
definite period of time. Either party may terminate the employment relationship
with or without cause at any time for

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any lawful reason. The provisions of this Agreement shall survive the
termination of the employment relationship between the Company and the Employee.

        12.    SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

               This Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the
benefit of the parties and their respective successors and assigns.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Employee shall not assign his/her obligations
under this Agreement without the express written consent of the Company and its
successors and assigns.

        IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the
date first above written.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
<S>                                             <C>
EMPLOYEE                                          THE ADVISORY BOARD COMPANY

                                                  By:
----------------------------------------------       -------------------------------------------
Print Name
                                                  Title:
----------------------------------------------          ----------------------------------------
Signature

Date:                                             Date:
     -----------------------------------------         -----------------------------------------
</TABLE>

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