Restrictive Covenant Review

Restrictive Covenant Review

Purpose

Produce a structured, attorney-ready review of restrictive covenants — non-competition, non-solicitation (of customers or employees), no-hire, and confidentiality provisions — wherever they appear: an offer letter, an employment or consulting agreement, an equity or incentive award, or a separation document. The skill inventories each covenant's scope exactly as written, organizes the enforceability factors as questions for counsel, and flags consideration and conflict-posture issues. It never concludes that a covenant is or is not enforceable — enforceability is intensely jurisdiction-specific and is an attorney determination. This is draft legal work product for attorney review, not legal advice.

Use When

• An employer is drafting or imposing covenants in an offer, employment agreement, equity award, or separation document and wants the scope and risk points organized before finalizing.
• An employee has been asked to sign covenants and wants a structured read of what each one restricts.
• A new employer is assessing the covenants an incoming hire signed with a prior employer, to understand the conflict posture before the hire starts.
• Covenants are being added or expanded at separation and their reach beyond any prior agreement needs to be mapped.
• A user asks "are these non-competes a problem?" or "what do these restrictions actually cover?"

Required Inputs

• The document(s) containing the covenants, in full. If the covenants are described but not provided, stop and request the text. Never reconstruct covenant language from memory.
• The client's posture: employer imposing, employee bound, or new employer assessing an incoming hire's prior covenants. The risk framing differs materially by posture.
• The role, compensation, and work location(s) of the affected individual, as provided — scope reasonableness and which jurisdiction's law may apply both turn on these.
• Optional: the consideration offered for the covenants (initial employment, a raise, promotion, equity, severance, or other).
• Optional: any prior agreements the same individual has signed that bear on the covenants (a prior non-compete, an assignment agreement, a handbook acknowledgment).