Part 3: I got a snarky letter threatening a big hairy lawsuit…

It happened: you left your old job for a great new job, everything feels great and you’re crushing it with your new team. Then one day your boss calls you in and sets you down at a conference room table with a lawyer in a grey suit. They show you the snarky letter threatening a big hairy lawsuit because of your non-compete from your old employer. 

Don’t lose your cool! You’re in a tough situation, and it’s time to call a lawyer. 

Hopefully you’ve consulted a lawyer when you entered into the non-compete. If you didn’t, then hopefully you at least consulted a lawyer when you took the new and potentially competitive job. If you did – GREAT! You’ve got someone on your team who is mostly up to speed on your issues. 

If you didn’t, it’s time to get someone and get her or him up to speed. 

Lawsuits about non-competition agreements are different than a lot of other lawsuits for one main reason – they often involve something called a “preliminary injunction.” This is where your former employer is asking the judge to make you stop what you’re doing now, instead of waiting until the lawsuit has gone to trial. This puts things on a fast track.

Because of the fast pace of a preliminary injunction, you need to get a lawyer quickly and you need to get one who has experience with both non-competes and preliminary injunctions. There’s probably not enough time for a lawyer to get up to speed if she or he doesn’t have experience in lawsuits about non-competes and a preliminary injunction. 

This is a high stakes hearing, so you need to get a lawyer fast. Having a preliminary injunction entered against you on a non-compete probably means you lose your job.  Not always – sometimes your employer can modify your duties or move you outside the territory. But the last thing you want to be is a problem child at your new job. 

Once that letter comes in – or worse, the summons for the lawsuit – get in touch with a lawyer quickly. You’re fighting for your career, and the fight usually comes to a head quickly.