Peter Steinmeyer, a Member of the Firm in the Labor and Employment practice and the Managing Shareholder of the firm's Chicago office, was quoted in an article titled "5 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Competitor's Employee." (Read the full version — subscription required.)

Following is an excerpt:

With noncompete litigation on the rise, businesses looking to lure experienced staff away from a competitor must take steps to insulate themselves from exposure to costly lawsuits. ...

Because noncompete litigation is highly fact specific, attorneys say there are many different ways to deal with any contractual or common law obligations that an employee might have to his or her former employer, and it is up to the employer to select the best one.

"Every situation truly is different. The law in every jurisdiction is different, and the facts of each case are different," said Peter Steinmeyer, co-chair of Epstein Becker Green's noncompete, unfair competition and trade secrets practice group. "The risks and rewards are different, so every situation truly requires an individualized assessment." ...

It is also a good idea to have a handbook provision that prohibits the use or distribution of confidential information or trade secrets of third parties, according to Steinmeyer. ...

"It is important to instruct a recruit to be a 'good leaver,' meaning they should bring nothing with them either in paper or electronic form from their prior employer and should not solicit co-workers or customers until after the effective date of their resignation," Steinmeyer said.

Jump to Page

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.