John C.C. Sanders Addresses Noncompete Agreements with Texas Lawyer

Winston & Strawn Dallas Partner John C.C. Sanders recently secured a victory for Winston’s client Natera in a case involving departing employees and noncompete agreements.

The lawsuit began in April 2020 when seven employees from Caris, a Texas-based life science company that offers cutting edge tests to cancer patients, left their positions to join Natera’s salesforce. Caris filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the employees and Natera, attempting to enforce the departing employees’ noncompete agreements.

According to John, “One of the most important aspects of noncompete cases is the threat of disclosure of trade secrets and confidential information. Ordinarily, the restraint sought must be judged in the context of whether confidential information will be disclosed if the departed employee is allowed to work for the new employer.”

“Typically, there is no threat of unlawful use of confidential information when the new employer does not offer any competing services or products or the departing employee assumes a noncompetitive role for a competitor,” he said.

Read John’s full commentary on the implications of this case here (subscription required).