Employers considering implementing noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements for their California workforce must understand the differences in these agreements, and California’s public policy against restraints against an employee’s ability to work in their profession or trade. This Friday’s Five covers the top five issues employers must know about noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements in California.
1. Noncompetition
Were Silicon Valley companies artificially keeping wages lower by having an agreement not to 
poach employees from competitors? This issue came to a head in 2010 when the Department of Justice settled an antitrust case with Adobe, Pixar, Google, Apple, Inuit, and Intel. The DOJ alleged that the companies had agreement not to poach each
The case of David Donatelli is a good reminder to employers how important choice of law provisions can be in noncompetition agreements. The Trade Secrets and Noncompete Blog recently chronicled a fight between EMC Corp (based in Massachusetts) and Hewlett Packard Co. (based in California) over the enforceability of a noncompetition agreement with a former