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In Massachusetts, courts will enforce non-compete

agreements only if they are reasonable in time and

geographic scope, supported by consideration, and only

to the extent necessary to protect a legitimate business

interest. There is a lot packed into that sentence.

First, what is a “legitimate business interest” that

can be protected through a non-compete agreement? This

is one place where the words used by lawyers do not

have the same meaning you might give them in everyday

language. For example, you might consider it perfectly

legitimate to want to keep your competitors from

employing someone you have invested a lot of time and

money in training, but that is not enough, even though it

has practical and very real consequences for your

business. In the eyes of the law, to rise to the level of a

“legitimate business interest,” the harm you are trying to

59| Rules of the Road