Wolfe’s Pattern Jury Charge for Texas Non-Compete Cases

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Predicting the cost of litigation

Litigators usually wince when clients ask how much a lawsuit is going to cost. It’s kind of like asking “how much will it cost to invade Iraq?” You can’t control what other people do, and you don’t know how long the project will drag on.

For this reason, I’m going to start telling clients “on average, a lawsuit will cost you $10,000 a month until you settle.”

I think this gets the point across better than hemming and hawing about how the total expense is hard to predict. Of course, the $10,000 is just a rule of thumb. You can probably double or triple that for some law firms (you know the kind of firms I’m talking about). But the point is that the cost is largely a function of when the case settles.

And the case will settle, you can tell clients. It will not go to trial.

Ok, that’s a little too strong. But the vast majority of cases will settle before going to trial. We’re talking over 90%. Probably 95%. Maybe even 99%.

You get the point.

Why non-compete cases don’t go to trial

Trials in non-compete lawsuits are even more unusual. There are several reasons for this.

First, in many non-compete lawsuits there is a temporary injunction hearing in the first month or so. The judge’s decision at that hearing will often lead to the case settling, especially if the judge orders that the employee can’t work for the competitor that just hired her.

Second, most cases take at least a year to get to trial. Two years is more likely. Most non-competes expire in one or two years. You do the math.

Third, and this is where it gets a little more esoteric, in most non-compete lawsuits the key issue is enforceability of the non-compete, and that issue is typically seen as a “question of law” (whatever that means). A trial is not required to decide a question of law.

Notice these reasons had a lot of “many,” “often,” “typical,” etc. That’s because of course I’m generalizing. There are plenty of exceptions.

But as a general rule of thumb, non-compete lawsuits just don’t go to trial.

What happens when non-compete cases go to trial?

Of course, non-compete cases sometimes go to trial. I have had two in recent years. 

In one of those, I asked the owner of the company what he thought a reasonable time period for the non-compete would be, and he said “when hell freezes over.” That might give you a little insight into why the case went to trial.

When that happens, what are the questions that will go to the jury?

In most non-compete cases, there will be some dispute about whether the non-compete is enforceable as written. This was the subject of my very first blog post, What a Litigator Looks For in the Typical Texas Non-Compete.

Sometimes there will also be a dispute about whether the employee violated the non-compete as written. This is especially true when the non-compete prohibits solicitation of customers or employees. “Solicit” is a word built for factual disputes, which is why my Plain-Language Non-Compete doesn’t rely solely on the word.

But in many cases, it will be undisputed that the employee violated the non-compete—at least a little—as written. In those cases, the two key questions are:

(1) is the non-compete enforceable as written?

(2) if yes, what is the amount of damages caused by the breach?

(If the non-compete is unenforceable as written, there will be no damages. See Tex Bus. & Com. Code § 15.51(c).)

The second question will typically go to the jury (assuming there is admissible evidence establishing an amount of damages), and the standard breach of contract damages question from the Texas Pattern Jury Charge is probably adequate in most cases.

The first question is trickier. Does enforceability go to the jury?

In many non-compete cases, one side—or sometimes both—will move for summary judgment on whether the non-compete is enforceable as written. If the court grants summary judgment that the non-compete is or is not enforceable, then the issue won’t go to the jury (unless the judge changes her mind).

But what if nobody moves for summary judgment on enforceability, or if the judge denies summary judgment on the issue?

In that case, I say you need to submit enforceability to the jury, but I will concede this is more art than science. If you need ideas you can use Wolfe’s Pattern Jury Charge for Texas Non-Compete Cases:

I will also concede that you may get a funny look from the judge when you ask for a jury question on enforceability of the non-compete. “Counsel, isn’t that a question of law?”

And there it is, the “question of law” question. Be aware, there are dozens of Texas cases that say enforceability of a non-compete is a question of law. But those cases are largely wrong, for reasons I explain in Blown Call: The Thing Texas Courts Get Wrong About Non-Competes.

So the short answer to the judge is “no.” But you’ll have to explain.

Scenarios for submitting enforceability to the jury

There are several different ways the issue can arise.

Let’s say you represent the employer who is trying to enforce the non-compete against a former at-will employee.

DANGER! DANGER!

You must be careful in this situation. You might intuitively think that the burden is on the employee to prove unenforceability as a defense to the claim for breach of the non-compete. WRONG!

Take a look at Section 15.50(b) of the Texas Business and Commerce Code. If the non-compete is tied to a “personal services” agreement, e.g. the typical at-will employment agreement, then the burden is on the employer to establish that the non-compete meets the criteria specified in Section 15.50, i.e. that that the non-compete is ancillary to an otherwise enforceable agreement and is reasonable.

I think my smarter appellate lawyer friends will confirm that if a party bears the burden of proof on an issue, and if there is conflicting evidence on that issue, then the party with the burden of proof must submit a question to the jury on the issue. If it doesn’t, it waives the issue.

Sure, you could take a chance, not ask for a question on the issue, and then argue post-verdict that the enforceability of the non-compete is a question of law. And the trial court judge might agree with you. But if there was any evidence during trial that the non-compete was unreasonable, the judge would be wrong. And you’ve just given the employee a good issue to appeal.

Now let’s suppose you represent the employee in this situation. You don’t have the burden of proof on enforceability, so you can just sit back and watch the employer waive the issue, right?

I wouldn’t recommend that. The problem is that many Texas judges will incorrectly think that enforceability of the non-compete is a question of law, even though the statute is quite clear that the employer has the burden of proof on the issue.

If you represent the employee and you ask for a question on reasonableness of the non-compete, you may get it. And you may have a better chance with the jury on reasonableness than you do with the judge.

On the other hand, if the judge denies your requested question on enforceability, you’ve just bought yourself an insurance policy—in the form of reversible error—if the verdict and judgment go against you—assuming there is conflicting evidence on the issue.

That last proviso is important. If you represent the employee, you must be sure to offer evidence concerning the reasonableness of the non-compete.

For example, if it’s a three-year non-compete, ask your client “would the company’s confidential information still have any value after two years?” In most cases the answer will be no. If the geographic area of the non-compete is the State of Texas, ask your client “did your actual sales territory cover the whole State of Texas?” Again, the answer is probably no.

These are just examples, but you get the idea.

The last thing you want to do is blow it at trial after your client has spent $10,000 a month (or more) to get there.

_______________________

Zach Wolfe (zach@zachwolfelaw.com) is a Texas trial lawyer who handles non-compete and trade secret litigation at Zach Wolfe Law Firm (zachwolfelaw.com). Thomson Reuters named him a Texas “Super Lawyer”® for Business Litigation in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

These are his opinions, not the opinions of his firm or clients, so don’t cite part of this post against him in an actual case. Every case is different, so don’t rely on this post as legal advice for your case.

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