Sales of medical practices and physician employment contracts may contain covenants not to compete, also known as restrictive covenants. These covenants prohibit sellers from competing with buyers and employees from competing with former employers for a specified period of time. As a result of a call for legislative action to dispel confusion created by case law regarding these covenants, there now exists a statute dealing with restrictive covenants. This new law abolishes the "common calling" test, a standard for determining the enforceability of covenants not to compete in employment agreements, which the Texas Supreme Court adopted in 1987. Among other remedies, the new law provides procedures for reforming a broad restrictive covenant to one that is reasonable. This article discusses the 1987 Texas Supreme Court case and reviews the new statute.
医疗业务的出售以及医生雇佣合同可能包含竞业禁止条款，也称为限制性契约。这些契约禁止卖方与买方竞争，以及禁止雇员在特定时间段内与前雇主竞争。由于呼吁采取立法行动以消除判例法在这些契约方面造成的混乱，现在有一部关于限制性契约的法规。这部新法律废除了“普通职业”测试，这是德克萨斯州最高法院于1987年采用的用于确定雇佣协议中竞业禁止条款可执行性的标准。除其他补救措施外，新法律还提供了将宽泛的限制性契约修改为合理契约的程序。本文讨论了1987年德克萨斯州最高法院的案件并审视了这部新法规。
