Non-compete clauses

• Florida law provides that non-compete provisions would be upheld so long as the contract or clause is deemed to be reasonable with respect to the restrictions on time, geographic area and the line of business. The business must have a legitimate business interest to justify the clause, and the clause must be narrowly tailored to fit the situation.
  
  

Reasonable Presumption

• Despite the fact that determining the reasonableness of the legitimate business interest is mostly a facts and circumstances test, Florida law provides that certain restrictions are presumed not to be reasonable. For example, a non-compete clause is presumed reasonable provided it is for less than three years; it's presumed unreasonable if it is longer than seven years. With respect to trade secrets, a period of five years or less is presumed reasonable, and a restraint of more than 10 years is considered unreasonable.
  
  

Prima Facie Case for Business

• In order to have a court enforce a challenged non-compete clause, the business must prove that there is a legitimate business interest for it. If a company cannot prove a legitimate business interest as a reason for the non-compete clause, it is considered unlawful and will not be enforced by the court. Florida law enumerates possible legitimate business interests, but notes that this list is not exclusive. Interests include trade secrets of the business; protecting confidential and valuable business information that would not be considered trade secrets under Florida law; substantial relationships with customers, clients or patients; goodwill with those customers clients or patients; specific geographic, marketing or trade areas; and finally, extraordinary or specialized training.
  
  

Challenges to Non-Competes

• If you are restrained by a non-compete provision in Florida, you may challenge that provision by arguing it does not serve a legitimate business interest. If the court finds that the provision does serve a legitimate business interest, you must prove that the non-compete is overly broad, the duration is too long or the provision is not reasonably necessary to protect the company's legitimate business interests. Florida takes a particularly tough stance against economic hardship as a reason to invalidate a non-compete clause, as considering an individual's financial situation is barred by statute.