What to Do When a Partner Leaves? Non-competition for Departing Owners – 2019 – The Missouribar

Originally presented on: October 22, 2019

In closely held companies, its partners are the keys to its success. They build, maintain and have access to key customer or client relationships, understand how services are delivered or products made, and have privileged access to the “know how” that makes the company a success.  They are at once both the keys to success and the greatest threats to the company should one or several of the partners leave the company and decide to compete with their former partners. The challenge is devising a series of enforceable protections to guard against this risk. This program will provide you with a guide to designing and drafting business and employment agreements and policies to protect closely held companies from unfair competition from departing partners.  

• Business law and employment law techniques to protect closely held companies from unfair competition from departed partners 
• Incorporating protections in stockholders’, LLC members’ and operating agreements
• Use of the organizational opportunity doctrine and implied common law duties to protect a company
• Agreements to protect a company’s buyer from competition from the company’s sellers
• Differences among non-competition, non-solicitation and non-disparagement agreements 
• Tailoring non-competition agreements with individuals to enhance enforceability 

Speaker: Shannon M. Bell, Kelly & Walker, LLC

NOTE: This program was originally produced as a telephone seminar and is available on demand in streaming audio. This material qualifies for self-study credit only. Pursuant to Regulation 15.04.5, a lawyer may receive up to six hours of self-study credit in a reporting year. Self-study programs do not qualify for ethics or elimination of bias credit.