Tennessee Bar Journal

On April 1, 2005, in Palmer & Cay Inc. v. Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals revised a USDC, Southern District of Georgia ruling than an employer's non-compete agreement was unenforceable only in Georgia. The employee initiated the case in Georgia to take advantage of the state's employee-friendly laws. The court extended the unenforceability to any other lawsuit between the same parties, even lawsuits filed outside of Georgia. Benson and Daniel detail the background and ramifications of this significant ruling.