Opinion ID: 2189174
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sale to chambers-dobson

Text: Squier-McCashland Agency, a general partnership composed of Squier and Richard H. McCashland, was located in Lincoln, Nebraska, and operated as a general insurance agency and insurance brokerage business. On January 14, 1983, Squier, McCashland, and Chambers-Dobson signed an Agreement to Purchase Assets for sale of partnership assets to Chambers-Dobson for $189,825, which was allocated as follows: $5,825 for tangible property, $10,000 for goodwill, and $174,000 for an expiration list of the partnership's customers. In reference to the customer list of the Squier-McCashland Agency as an item of property, Chambers-Dobson, Squier, and McCashland considered an estimate submitted by an independent source and accepted 7 years as the useful life of the customer accounts reflected on the expiration list of customers. In addition to entitling Chambers-Dobson to use the name Squier-McCashland Agency, the agreement also obligated Chambers-Dobson to pay Squier and McCashland $20,000, for which both Squier and McCashland promised that for the period through 1990, or for so long as Buyer, its transferees or assigns are engaged in the operation of a general insurance agency and insurance brokerage business using the customer lists and other expirations which are purchased by the Buyer herein, whichever period is less, the Seller, Charles D. Squier and Richard H. McCashland, jointly and severally agree that neither the Seller nor any of the named individuals personally will in any manner, directly or indirectly, whether through agents, employees, corporations or through any means whatsoever, at any location solicit or receive applications for or write policies of insurance to or on account of any person, firm or entity with whom Seller has policies of insurance in force as of the date of closing.... Contemporaneous with the Agreement to Purchase Assets, Squier, on January 14, 1983, signed an Employment Agreement with Chambers-Dobson, an agreement which, in relevant part, provided: In recognition of the facts that the Employer is engaged in a personal service business involving confidential information and personal relationships with insureds, the success of which business is in large part due to the exclusive retention of such confidential information and undisturbed continuation of such personal relationships with insureds, the Employee does hereby covenant and agree as follows and acknowledges that the following covenants are reasonably necessary for the protection of the Employer and may be enforced to the extent set forth herein or to such extent as any court of competent jurisdiction may deem reasonable and proper: (a) The Employee agrees that all information concerning the insurance of the Employer's clients, including expiration data in connection therewith, is confidential information constituting trade secrets and will be treated by him as such, and that both during and after the term of his employment, however, it may be terminated, he will not, directly or indirectly, on his own behalf or on behalf of anyone else, make use of such information concerning the Employer's business nor divulge such information to anyong [sic] nor retain or create any lists of the Employer's customers for his own personal use nor reveal the same to anyone. (b) The Employee covenants and agrees that during the period of his employment hereunder he will not, directly or indirectly, on his own behalf or on behalf of anyone else, compete with the Corporation in any manner, and that for a period of forty-eight (48) months after the termination of his employment hereunder, however caused, he will not, directly or indirectly, solicit, attempt to obtain or accept insurance business from any of the Employer's customers nor act in the capacity of an adviser, consultant or risk manager to said customers, nor directly or indirectly, aid or assist anyone else in the solicitation of insurance business from such customers. Squier and Chambers-Dobson later modified the term of the restrictive covenant to 24 months.