Ten Key Considerations When Taking a Job with a Competitor

Описание: Moving from one competitor to another can be fraught with danger for the unwary employee.Doing things the wrong way can lead to time-consuming, stressful and expensive litigation and
even loss of the new opportunity. Here are a few key considerations when making a move from one competitor to another:

Number 1: Before making the move, talk to a lawyer who has experience in this area of the law about the “do’s” and “don’ts” during and after the transition.

Next: Be sure to know what agreements you signed with your employer, including any restrictive covenant agreements containing non-compete, customer non-solicit, employee non-recruitment/
no-hire and non-disclosure/confidentiality covenants.

Number Three: Be sure you understand what rights and obligations you have under these agreements and the applicable law.

Also, downloading, printing, emailing or uploading information your employer considers to be confidential or proprietary can get you sued.

Number Five: If you have company confidential or proprietary information on any personal electronic devices (such as home computers, personal tablets or smart phones), you will need to
decide what to do with that information before you join a competitor to avoid any allegation of trade secret theft.

Next: It can be problematic to talk to clients or customers about your impending move or to request they move their business to your new employer while still employed by your current employee.

Likewise, recruiting or soliciting employees to join you at the competitor, while still employed by your current employer, could open you up to liability.

Number Eight: Be sure your new employer knows what restrictive covenants you have signed and what limitations those covenants place on you in your new position.

Next: Be sure your new employer will be supportive of you acting lawfully both before and after your transition. For example, if you are in sales, be sure to discuss with your new employer whether customers will be notified of your transition and, if so, whether such notification is consistent with your legal and contractual obligations to your former employer.

Lastly: Consider whether to ask your new employer to cover any legal expenses incurred in defending yourself if you are sued even after doing things the “right” way.

For more information, see my blog at bfvlaw.com.

And, as always, please let me know if I can help.