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Mercer Legal Group represents California employees facing non-compete agreements that are void under state law. Business and Professions Code section 16600 makes most non-competes unenforceable here. Free, confidential case review with a senior attorney.
A non-compete can scare you out of a better job you’re legally free to take. California is one of the strongest states in the country against them — most are void, and recent laws give employees real power to push back. Our attorneys focus on section 16600, the 2024 reforms, and what they mean for your situation.
A non-compete lawyer can explain whether the agreement you signed actually binds you in California, and usually it doesn’t. We represent employees threatened with enforcement, workers whose offers were pulled over a prior non-compete, and people pressured to sign overbroad restrictions as a condition of employment.
California Business and Professions Code section 16600 makes contracts that restrain anyone from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business void, with narrow exceptions tied to the sale of a business. Unlike most states, California won’t “blue-pencil” an overbroad non-compete to make it enforceable — it voids it.
Two laws that took effect on January 1, 2024 went further. Senate Bill 699 (SB 699) makes it unlawful for an employer to enter into a void non-compete or to try to enforce one, no matter where or when it was signed, so an out-of-state agreement reaches no further. Assembly Bill 1076 (AB 1076) wrote the rule from Edwards v. Arthur Andersen into the statute and required employers to give written notice, by February 14, 2024, telling current employees and many former employees that their non-compete is void.
SB 699 also lets an employee sue. A worker can take an employer to court for imposing or trying to enforce an illegal non-compete and seek an order voiding it, actual damages, and attorney’s fees. An attorney can review your agreement and explain where you stand.
Mercer Legal Group reviews employment law claims carefully, explains available options, and pursues appropriate remedies when the facts and law support them. Every case is different, and no attorney can guarantee a specific result.
Where an illegal non-compete is at issue, available relief may include:
Every situation is different, and no attorney can guarantee a specific outcome.
Our California employment attorneys review the agreement, explain your rights under California law, and push back when an employer crosses the line. From the first call, you have a senior attorney reading the agreement — not an intake clerk reading a script. We explain your options and the fee arrangement up front.
Mercer Legal Group focuses on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and whistleblower claims tied to a protected characteristic or protected activity, plus the employment-agreement matters that surround them. We generally do not handle standalone wage-and-hour disputes, unpaid commission claims, Kaiser Permanente matters, public agency claims, or ordinary workplace disputes with no protected legal issue.
If you’re dealing with a non-compete for the first time, the practical questions matter as much as the legal ones. Below are the questions clients ask us most, with the kind of plain-English answers a senior attorney would give you on a first call.
Almost never. Business and Professions Code section 16600 voids most non-competes, and California courts won’t rewrite an overbroad one to make it enforceable. They strike it. The main exceptions involve selling a business or dissolving a partnership, not ordinary California employment.
Not in California. Senate Bill 699 (SB 699), effective in 2024, makes non-competes void here even when they were signed in another state, if you now work or seek work in California. A California employer can’t use an out-of-state signature to get around section 16600, and trying to enforce one is itself unlawful.
Often you can take the job. A void non-compete gives a former employer no legal basis to stop you, and California’s 2024 reforms let employees go on offense. You may be able to sue an employer that tries to enforce an illegal restriction, with attorney’s fees available. Get the threat reviewed before you back down.
Yes, but through different tools. California enforces genuine trade-secret protections and reasonable non-disclosure agreements. What it won’t enforce is a blanket non-compete that bars you from working in your field. For California workers, the line between protecting secrets and restraining a career is where these disputes are fought.
You can push back. Trying to enforce an illegal non-compete is itself unlawful under Senate Bill 699 (SB 699), and Assembly Bill 1076 (AB 1076) required employers to notify affected employees, by February 14, 2024, that the restrictions are void. An attorney can tell you what’s actually binding before you sign.
A non-compete shouldn’t trap you in a job you’ve outgrown. If you’ve been threatened with enforcement or pressured to sign one, contact Mercer Legal Group for a free, confidential review with a senior attorney.
