Presumably, the company's direct competitor will now reap the benefit of the many hours and significant financial commitment the business expended. According to Peter C. Vilmos, a partner at Burr & Forman LLP, the company might ask: "What can I do?" In many circumstances, the company best business move is to protect the core businesses' interests with a carefully crafted non-competition agreement. In the real world, employees leave for new positions every day. They pursue opportunities at other companies. They perceive opportunities to start companies of their own. They move on.

Some states also require that the courts interpret non- competition agreements in favor of the employee in circumstances when the agreement is vague or missing terms. Even when parties are careful to define terms in a non-competition agreement, contracts in many states cannot confine future employment beyond the statutory guidelines, nor are non-competition agreements immune from legal challenges regarding their breadth, their validity or their applicability to particular circumstances.

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