Non-compete disputes · Dallas, Texas
Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation Disputes in Texas
Whether you are holding a former employee to the covenant they signed or defending against one written broader than the job, the outcome turns on the Texas statute, on timing and on evidence. Experienced counsel changes what each of those looks like.
- Shareholder, Hallett & Perrin, P.C.
- State and federal litigation experience
- Represents plaintiffs and defendants
When a non-compete becomes a dispute
These matters arrive from both directions, and the first weeks decide most of them.
- 01A key employee left for a competitorThe salesperson who signed a non-compete is now calling your customers from a rival's office. Whether an injunction is realistic is decided by what you can prove in the first weeks.
- 02You signed a non-compete and have an offerA new position is on the table, and the covenant you signed years ago reads broader than the work you actually did. Whether you can take the job is a statutory question.
- 03You hired someone bound by a covenantThe former employer's lawyer has written to your company, naming it as a defendant in waiting. Your exposure depends on what you knew and how the role was designed.
- 04The covenant looks too broad to enforceNationwide territory, every line of business, five years. Texas courts reform unreasonable covenants rather than strike them, and that changes both sides' math.
- 05Customers or staff are being solicitedNo non-compete, but a non-solicitation clause. Enforceability follows the same statute, with its own proof problems about who called whom.
How Tina approaches a non-compete matter
Speed matters in these cases, but so does knowing which facts will decide the hearing.
Read the agreement against the statute
Consideration, timing, territory, scope of activity and the governing law clause. Most covenants have a weak point, and both sides need to know where it is before anyone writes a letter.
Secure the evidence
Devices, cloud accounts, customer communications and the departure timeline, preserved in a way a court will accept. For a defendant, the same step shows what was not taken.
Measure exposure and define the goal
An injunction, damages, a negotiated carve-out or a clean exit. Section 15.51 shapes what each side can realistically recover, including the fee risk of enforcing an overbroad covenant.
Open with the right letter
A cease and desist, or a response that states the position without conceding facts. Many covenant disputes resolve here, with agreed limits on customers and timing.
Litigate when it is needed
A temporary restraining order and temporary injunction hearing in state or federal court, expedited discovery, and a case built toward trial or a settlement both sides can live with.
The Texas law on non-competes
Texas enforces non-competes, but only on the statute's terms. Since 1989 the rules have lived in Chapter 15 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, and Section 15.52 says those rules are exclusive: they preempt other law, including the common law. Every Texas non-compete case starts there.
Section 15.50: when a covenant is enforceable
Under Section 15.50(a), a covenant not to compete is enforceable if it is ancillary to or part of an otherwise enforceable agreement at the time the agreement is made, and if its limits on time, geographic area and scope of activity are reasonable and impose no greater restraint than necessary to protect the goodwill or other business interest of the employer or buyer. In practice the fight is about two things: what the employer gave in exchange (confidential information, specialized training, access to goodwill) and whether the limits match what the employee actually did.
Non-solicitation covenants that restrain competition are judged by the same section. A clause that forbids calling on former customers is a restraint on the scope of activity, and it must be reasonable on the same terms.
Section 15.51: reformation, damages and fees
If a covenant is ancillary to an enforceable agreement but its limits are too broad, Section 15.51(c) directs the court to reform it to reasonable limits and enforce it as reformed. That cuts both ways. An employer rarely loses the covenant entirely, but it cannot recover damages for any breach that happened before the reformation; relief for that period is limited to an injunction. And when the agreement is for personal services, the employee can recover costs and reasonable attorney's fees if the employer knew at signing that the covenant was overbroad and then tried to enforce it beyond what was necessary.
Section 15.51(b) assigns the burden of proof. In an employment covenant, the employer must prove the covenant meets the statute. In a covenant tied to the sale of a business or another agreement whose primary purpose is not personal services, the person bound by it must prove it does not.
Physicians, dentists, nurses and physician assistants
Section 15.50(b) has long required a physician non-compete to allow a buyout and keep patient records available. Senate Bill 1318, effective September 1, 2025, added firm limits: no longer than one year after the relationship ends, no wider than a five-mile radius of the physician's primary practice location, a buyout capped at one year's total salary and wages, and no enforcement against a physician discharged without good cause. New Section 15.501 applies the one-year, five-mile and buyout limits to dentists, nurses and physician assistants.
The FTC rule
Why experience in non-compete cases matters
Non-compete cases are decided fast and on facts. The temporary injunction hearing often comes within weeks of the filing, with a record built from emails, device images and customer declarations gathered in days. The side that knows what the judge will ask, and what Section 15.51 lets the court do, arrives with the right evidence instead of the most evidence.
Tina Wysk has litigated restrictive covenant disputes from both chairs: for employers protecting customer relationships and confidential information, and for individuals and new employers defending against covenants written broader than the job, in Texas state court and in federal court, including at trial. Seeing the case from the other side is what lets her tell a client early whether a covenant will hold, where a court is likely to reform it, and when a negotiated carve-out is worth more than a hearing.
Questions
Questions about non-competes in Texas
Is my non-compete enforceable in Texas?
It depends on whether it meets Section 15.50 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code: ancillary to an otherwise enforceable agreement, with reasonable limits on time, territory and the activity restrained. Covenants supported by confidential information or specialized training and limited to the territory and customers the employee actually handled are usually enforceable; the rest are reformed or refused.
Will a Texas court throw out an overbroad non-compete?
Usually not. Section 15.51(c) tells the court to reform an overbroad covenant to reasonable limits and enforce it as reformed. The employer pays a price for overreaching: no damages for breaches before reformation, and in an employment covenant, possible liability for the employee's attorney's fees.
How quickly can an employer get an injunction?
A temporary restraining order can issue within days of filing, sometimes with little notice, and lasts until a temporary injunction hearing that courts set within weeks. The employer must show a probable right to relief and a probable, imminent and irreparable injury. Evidence gathered before the filing usually decides that hearing.
Does the FTC non-compete ban apply in Texas?
No. The rule was blocked by a federal court in Texas in August 2024 before its effective date, the FTC moved to dismiss its appeal in September 2025, and the rule was formally removed in February 2026. Texas non-competes are governed by Chapter 15 of the Business and Commerce Code.
Are non-solicitation agreements treated the same as non-competes?
Yes, when they restrain competition. Texas courts apply Section 15.50 to covenants that bar soliciting customers or employees, so the same tests of consideration and reasonable scope apply. A non-solicitation limited to customers the employee actually dealt with is far easier to enforce than one covering every customer of the company.
What if I hire someone who signed a non-compete with a competitor?
Your company can be sued alongside the new hire, usually for interfering with the covenant, and can be named in the injunction. The exposure depends on what you knew, when you knew it and what the new role involves. A review of the covenant before the offer, and a role designed around its real limits, prevents most of these cases.
Guides on Texas non-competes
Plain-language answers to the questions employers and employees ask before they call.
Employer Disputes & Non-Competes
Getting, or Fighting, a Temporary Injunction in a Texas Non-Compete Case
A TRO lasts up to 14 days; the temporary injunction follows an evidentiary hearing where the employer must prove a probable right and irreparable injury, and post a bond.
Employer Disputes & Non-Competes
Hiring Someone Bound by a Non-Compete: Risks for the New Employer
The new employer's risk is a tortious interference claim, a trade secret claim and being named in the injunction. All three are manageable if the hire is structured up front.
Employer Disputes & Non-Competes
How to Enforce a Non-Compete Against a Former Employee in Texas
Confirm the agreement, lock down the evidence, send a targeted letter, then sue for a temporary injunction if the breach continues. The order of the steps matters.
Employer Disputes & Non-Competes
Is My Non-Compete Enforceable in Texas?
Yes, if it was part of an otherwise enforceable agreement and its time, territory and scope are no broader than needed to protect the company. Here is the two-part Texas test.
Employer Disputes & Non-Competes
Non-Competes for Physicians and Other Professionals in Texas
Since September 1, 2025, a Texas physician non-compete must end within one year, stay within five miles and offer a buyout capped at a year's pay. Dentists, nurses and PAs too.
Employer Disputes & Non-Competes
Non-Competes in the Sale of a Business
Yes. A seller's non-compete protects the goodwill the buyer paid for, the burden shifts to the seller, and Texas courts accept longer and wider limits than in employment.
Holding someone to a covenant, or defending against one?
Bring the agreement and the timeline. The first conversation covers what the statute allows, what the evidence shows and which path fits the business.