I have this friend. His father passed away many years ago. There was going to be a lawsuit because he felt that he was going to be cut out from the Will. So he goes to his trusts and estates lawyer and says okay, when are we going to hear the reading of the Will?
Of course, this is when the lawyer breaks out laughing and nearly falls on the floor. His client, wondering why he is being laughed at waits until the lawyer regains his composure and says there is no such thing as a reading of a will. That’s only done in the movies and on TV.
I guess if we all looked back in our memories, we could think of a movie where there was a reading of a will. I can think of a great one. Brewster’s Millions. Yes, there was the reading of the will by Richard Pryor’s father. He had to spend all his money until he was sick of it and go broke, then he would make more money.
So with all that said, I had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing the actors and actresses of Fairly Legal make fools of themselves in an episode last season because of the person who wrote the script. If there was ever a time to say that a screenwriter did no research when he created this episode, then this would be the one.
Here is what happened. There was a client who owned a fashion company and he wanted to sue one of his workers because she decided to go off on her own and open her own shop. The reason that her boss was angry was because she was in violation of her one year non-compete.
If you were a lawyer who specialized in non-compete agreements or an employment lawyer, you would be shaking your head and laughing next at the next part just like the trusts and estates lawyer. The lawyer said yes, I’ll take care of this by writing a stern letter to the person who opened her own shop. Yes, a stern letter. You could hear the lawyers laughing it up and falling on the ground after that.
The nonsense continued. The woman who was going to be sued showed up at the same law firm and wanted help because her employer didn’t have a case. Why? Well, we really never know other than the impression that the judge would never enforce the non-compete agreement.
The woman felt that her employer was a good mentor but it was time for her to move on. So in the end, the law firm chose to work with the employee.
Just to bring a reality check to this comedy which is all it is, let’s have a quick wrap up of what actually happens in a non-compete case. It’s not really hard since you can surf the internet for this and I’ll even refer to a case in the end.
First, if you’re in breach of a non-compete agreement, you hire an employment lawyer. That would go for anyone who hires an attorney for any case. You hire one that specializes in the right area.
As far as the employer is concerned, they will hire a lawyer that specializes in non-compete agreements. Once this lawyer hears that an employee or partner is in breach of their non-compete agreement, they will send out an injunction stopping the the employee from working. That’s more powerful than a stern letter. It’s pretty standard in non-compete agreements.
It will cost the employee over $10,000 to defend himself or herself in court. They will be advised by their employment attorney that it’s more than likely that they will lose because he or she signed the agreement. It’s like a form letter and the wording is always the same which makes it iron clad.
If we want to refer to a case, it wouldn’t be very hard. Last year, in Chicago, Ill, Rene Garcia and Arnold Arredondo lost their bid to open an office in their hometown because the judge ruled that since they signed their non-compete in 1997 with Reliable Fire. That was nearly 14 years ago. This is what will happen in your typical non-compete case.
All I can do is shake my head and think of all the people I know in my industry and know that they lost their jobs and they’re being deprived of a living due to their non-compete agreement. That’s why I wrote my book 96 Rocks and A Hell of Woman. I’m trying to take this issue seriously and make people aware of the real issues of what a non-compete agreement is and how people are sacrificing their education, their finances, and their future all in an effort to keep non-competes working.
The reality is when three employment lawyers tell me that non-competes like mine should be illegal but it isn’t. Companies act as though they’re doing you a favor by giving you a job because they can fire you at any time for any reason and keep you out of the industry for at least two years and deprive you of a living. The strategy is that the employer wants to make sure that you lose knowledge so you won’t get back into the industry. This way your career is destroyed.
In the end, as they said, it’s up to the state government to something to stop this like they’re doing in Massachusetts. As long is nothing is done, this will continue.
I can choose not to watch Fairly Legal again because I am offended by what they did. I can take it seriously. And I’m sure that a lot of employees who are on non-competes and are sitting at home wanting to work but can’t work because they are being deprived of a living are not laughing about this either, especially if they were dragged into court and forced to pay legal fees over $10,000.
You would think that the screenwriter for this show would have high standards but I guess that's the reason shows like Fairly Legal along with many others get cancelled just after two seasons. This is an unbelievable story to me because I know what it is to be on a non-compete agreement. What hurts the most that there was an opportunity to really show what happens when people are on a non-compete agreement and forced to apply for jobs that they aren’t qualified for. Show how discrimination is involved because everyone doesn't even sign this agreement due to favoritism. Instead Fairly Legal showed that it wasn’t a big deal to be on a non-compete agreement and that the court would never enforce it.
Rick Holman
Of course, this is when the lawyer breaks out laughing and nearly falls on the floor. His client, wondering why he is being laughed at waits until the lawyer regains his composure and says there is no such thing as a reading of a will. That’s only done in the movies and on TV.
I guess if we all looked back in our memories, we could think of a movie where there was a reading of a will. I can think of a great one. Brewster’s Millions. Yes, there was the reading of the will by Richard Pryor’s father. He had to spend all his money until he was sick of it and go broke, then he would make more money.
So with all that said, I had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing the actors and actresses of Fairly Legal make fools of themselves in an episode last season because of the person who wrote the script. If there was ever a time to say that a screenwriter did no research when he created this episode, then this would be the one.
Here is what happened. There was a client who owned a fashion company and he wanted to sue one of his workers because she decided to go off on her own and open her own shop. The reason that her boss was angry was because she was in violation of her one year non-compete.
If you were a lawyer who specialized in non-compete agreements or an employment lawyer, you would be shaking your head and laughing next at the next part just like the trusts and estates lawyer. The lawyer said yes, I’ll take care of this by writing a stern letter to the person who opened her own shop. Yes, a stern letter. You could hear the lawyers laughing it up and falling on the ground after that.
The nonsense continued. The woman who was going to be sued showed up at the same law firm and wanted help because her employer didn’t have a case. Why? Well, we really never know other than the impression that the judge would never enforce the non-compete agreement.
The woman felt that her employer was a good mentor but it was time for her to move on. So in the end, the law firm chose to work with the employee.
Just to bring a reality check to this comedy which is all it is, let’s have a quick wrap up of what actually happens in a non-compete case. It’s not really hard since you can surf the internet for this and I’ll even refer to a case in the end.
First, if you’re in breach of a non-compete agreement, you hire an employment lawyer. That would go for anyone who hires an attorney for any case. You hire one that specializes in the right area.
As far as the employer is concerned, they will hire a lawyer that specializes in non-compete agreements. Once this lawyer hears that an employee or partner is in breach of their non-compete agreement, they will send out an injunction stopping the the employee from working. That’s more powerful than a stern letter. It’s pretty standard in non-compete agreements.
It will cost the employee over $10,000 to defend himself or herself in court. They will be advised by their employment attorney that it’s more than likely that they will lose because he or she signed the agreement. It’s like a form letter and the wording is always the same which makes it iron clad.
If we want to refer to a case, it wouldn’t be very hard. Last year, in Chicago, Ill, Rene Garcia and Arnold Arredondo lost their bid to open an office in their hometown because the judge ruled that since they signed their non-compete in 1997 with Reliable Fire. That was nearly 14 years ago. This is what will happen in your typical non-compete case.
All I can do is shake my head and think of all the people I know in my industry and know that they lost their jobs and they’re being deprived of a living due to their non-compete agreement. That’s why I wrote my book 96 Rocks and A Hell of Woman. I’m trying to take this issue seriously and make people aware of the real issues of what a non-compete agreement is and how people are sacrificing their education, their finances, and their future all in an effort to keep non-competes working.
The reality is when three employment lawyers tell me that non-competes like mine should be illegal but it isn’t. Companies act as though they’re doing you a favor by giving you a job because they can fire you at any time for any reason and keep you out of the industry for at least two years and deprive you of a living. The strategy is that the employer wants to make sure that you lose knowledge so you won’t get back into the industry. This way your career is destroyed.
In the end, as they said, it’s up to the state government to something to stop this like they’re doing in Massachusetts. As long is nothing is done, this will continue.
I can choose not to watch Fairly Legal again because I am offended by what they did. I can take it seriously. And I’m sure that a lot of employees who are on non-competes and are sitting at home wanting to work but can’t work because they are being deprived of a living are not laughing about this either, especially if they were dragged into court and forced to pay legal fees over $10,000.
You would think that the screenwriter for this show would have high standards but I guess that's the reason shows like Fairly Legal along with many others get cancelled just after two seasons. This is an unbelievable story to me because I know what it is to be on a non-compete agreement. What hurts the most that there was an opportunity to really show what happens when people are on a non-compete agreement and forced to apply for jobs that they aren’t qualified for. Show how discrimination is involved because everyone doesn't even sign this agreement due to favoritism. Instead Fairly Legal showed that it wasn’t a big deal to be on a non-compete agreement and that the court would never enforce it.
Rick Holman