by David C. Hagaman, Ford & Harrison LLP
Republicans won every Georgia statewide office and picked up one congressional seat from the Democrats.
The most significant vote was the passage of a constitutional measure that gives Georgia courts the right to rewrite restrictive covenants in employment agreements without striking down the entire pact. The new law should allow employers to enforce noncompetes in Georgia more easily (i.e., the enforceability issue will become more fact-based rather than looking at whether the agreement lives or dies on its face by how it was drafted).
In all likelihood, it also will increase the amount of litigation addressing the area of law as practitioners begin to grapple with the noncompete statute’s detailed language. The statute applies only to agreements signed after November 2, 2010.
David C. Hagaman is an editor of Georgia Employment Law Letter and a partner with Ford & Harrison LLP in the firm’s Atlanta office. He can be reached at (404) 888-3838.