You are incorrect: a self-employed contract can solicit his/her own clientele *if* he/she is not subject to a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement; if he or she signed such an agreement, he or she is bound to its terms. The change in how you were paid, on a W-2 basis to a 1099 basis, did not absolve you of our obligations under the non-compete, since according to what you write, you were still being paid and employed by the same employer, just under a different structure. The courts, in enforcing agreements, look past technicalities to the reality of the situation, and the realty evidently is that you were still employed by--still doing work for and being paid by--this employer. d on what you write, you were still subject to the agreement, which will be in effect for a year after you voluntarily cease working for this employer.