Q: I am in a partnership dispute. I am a member of a 50/50 partnership. We both agree to dissolve the company.
Are there any case law for me to ask for a non-compete or moratorium for both of us not to be able to use the existing customers of the business for a certain amount of time?
A: Good question. These items that you wish to have, such as a non-compete or a non-circumvention agreement, are documents that should really be agreed to up front at the time you and your partner did your initial business deal - so PRIOR to the actual dissolution of a company and not during a dispute. Coming to terms with these items during dissolution negotiations will definitely make things more difficult for the parties, but "Yes" these items can still be settled and agreed to as part of the termination of the business relationship. For more information, see www.ProvenResource.com
Thomas. R. Morris agrees with this answer
A: As Mr. Soble said, these are typically the subject of an agreement between the partners. It might be possible to formulate an argument that relief is available from a court based upon concepts of unfair competition, but you have not supplied facts to enable an evaluation of the application of "unfair competition" or a similar concept.
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