One of our readers, Paula, asked in response to one of our recent posts, “I’m curious about how much you charge to review non-compete agreements.” Great question and here is my answer.
First, my law firm will only represent employees in disputes over noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements. Clients come to us in one of two situations: First, the client calls or emails and tells us they are thinking about leaving their current employer and going to work for a competitor. They previously signed a noncompete agreement and want to know how Virginia law would apply to their agreement and an assessment of their chances of successfully beating their noncompete. The second type of client calls to tell us he/she has already left their previous employer, is now working for a competign business, and has been sued by their previous employer to enforce the noncompete and recover damages.
We represent both types of clients based upon a rate of $175 to $200 per hour. The rate depends on the complexity of the case. For the first type of clients, we can usually provide an analysis of their situation with 3 to 5 hours of work. For the second type of client, it is impossible to estimate the total time and legal fees which will be required as the litigation is driven by the previous employer and can be both lengthy and expensive.