Bethesda Employment Law Blog

They might say that breaking up is hard to do, but with some persistence, common sense and compromise you can succeed many times in breaking a non-compete you signed with your current and former employer. Do MD, DC and VA allow for non-competes? Absolutely. The only state that is doggedly aganst them is California. So once signed, how do you try to get out of it? Here are steps to follow: 1) check to see if there is a reasonable geographical and time limitation-- courts disfavor non-competes with no geographical boundaries and ones that are over three or so years;2)see if your employer complied with al the terms of the agreement the non-compete is found in-- if the employer has breached something, argue that the agreement with the non-compete is void or voidable; 3) have the employer list the clients he or she is really afraid you will pirate- and just agree in writing not to take those and void out the rest of the non-compete agreement; and 4) say you are going to get a court to give you an opinion as to whether the non-compete is legal or not-- most employers do not want to incur the cost of court, and if you say you are going to court, many employers will relent and compromise with you. And when in doubt, see an attorney. The cost of a consultation is well worth the agony that could come from a non-compete just when you want to break away and go into a different and perhaps more promising venture.

In this depressed economy, with job creation almost stagnant and company growth sluggish or sputtering, someone in your family or someone you know well is going to be fired. Since 2008, with the collapse of Lehmann Brothers, firing employees has become culturally acceptable. We are all jaded by it, as much as we resist the cruelty of what happens to people who lose their jobs. Employees can take some self-help, however. Most companies are receptive to converting terminations to resignations, for purposes of enhancing a dismissed employee's chances of getting another job. On the other hand, the employee wants to be sure that for purposes of applying for unemployment, the company understands that the employee is still going to say he or she was terminated. Employees who actually resign do not get unemployment. A dismissed employee can also ask that the personnel records be expunged of anything negative and seek a good reference. Most employers will agree to that, too- or, at the least, a neutral reference that does not contradict what the dismissed employee tells a prospective employer why he or she left the former job. Of course, getting severance and subsidized health insurance- what we call the traditional severance package-is harder to negotiate and often requires the intervention of counsel. But if you start with the non-monetary requests, you will be in a lot better position to get the next (and better, we hope) job.

I debut with an explanation of my employment law practice. After thirty years of managing bigger and smaller firms, I decided that I could help myself and other people- as well as my family's needs- in a better way. With intensive training in the use of technology (that I was afraid to warm up to years ago) and taking advantage of my lifetime of being able to speed read and write very effectively, I realized that I could practice just as well and profitably with fewer ( and often clumsy and expensive) staff and overhead. I am thus able to hand-pick what cases I take, with the luxury of having myriads of judges, magistrates, opposing counsel, senior government officials, and my former clients- my champions over thirty years- always referring cases to me. I can really focus on what I want to work on, and who I want to help. My success rate at settling cases has been overwhelming lately. I attribute it to this careful screening, one-on-one attention, and the blessing of having so many attorneys on the other side respecting me and working closely with me. I can honestly say I truly care for the people I now work for- and the respect and support they show me in turn is humbling.  If you would like to meet me, call me at 240 395 1377. Once you become a client, I provide access to my Blackberry number, so that we can be sure we can talk within 24 hours.