Employee Defection and Recruitment

In today's "information economy," losing employees is expensive. Not only is the employer's investment in the employees lost, but the potential loss of intellectual property and clients can be traumatic. This is particularly true when the departing employees are engineers, scientists, sales people, managers, and other personnel who are positioned to use their exposure to confidential information and client contacts to compete against their former employers. Without the proper agreements in place, departing employees may solicit clients, misappropriate technology, and otherwise deprive employers of their hard-earned competitive advantage.

Womble Carlyle has a team of attorneys with real experience in advising employers on employee defection and recruitment matters and litigating related cases throughout the country.

The Team’s Litigation Toolbox: Injunctions, Declaratory Judgments, and Damages

Womble Carlyle's Employee Defection and Recruitment attorneys regularly enforce non-competes and other restrictive covenants, including obtaining preliminary injunctions to stop violations, and trying cases, whether in court or arbitration, to secure money damages and permanent injunctive relief. In situations where no restrictive covenants are involved, our attorneys are equally adept at utilizing available statutory and common law remedies to stop defecting employee unfair competition.

Our Employee Defection and Recruitment attorneys are similarly called on to defend employers when they are sued in relation to new hires. This includes defending against lawsuits and, when appropriate, pursuing declaratory judgments and other related relief.

In addition to substantial in-court experience, our Employee Defection and Recruitment attorneys are able to apply Womble Carlyle's E-Discovery and Case Management Facility resources. This is a significant advantage not only in cases involving intensive discovery, but also in multi-jurisdictional litigation.

The Team's Contract Drafting and Counseling Skill Sets: Enforceable Agreements and Defensible Policies and Practices

Litigation is time consuming and costly. It has been said that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Womble Carlyle’s Employee Defection and Recruitment attorneys work closely with employers in proactively advising them on:

  • Drafting enforceable non-compete, non-solicitation, and nondisclosure agreements
  • Protecting intellectual property and trade secrets
  • Implementing database and Internet usage and protection practices and policies that comply with the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Economic Espionage Act
  • Drafting separation agreements, including "garden leave" provisions for key employees
  • Analyzing the legal risk involved in hiring employees subject to restrictive covenants and related statutory and common law restrictions

Industries the Team Has Represented


  • Technology
  • Government Contracting 
  • Life Sciences 
  • Financial Services 
  • Professional Services 
  • Retail 
  • Manufacturing