Non-Disclosure agreements

[Ryan]

first not sure if thats the technical term or not, but looking for anyone who might have a copy to share or  point me in the right direction. I want to talk to another screen printer about some work and want them to sign paper work stating that they will not go after the account or talk about the "project". Something to protect myself against them. make sense? any one with ideas, greatly appreciated.

~Ryan

[blue moon]

most non disclosure agreements relate to the technology or process. You are looking for a non compete agreement. Those are usually structured to encompass a specific geographic area and are valid for certain amount of time. Indefinite or very large areas are very hard to enforce in court.

you will have to specify the amount of time they are not allowed to go after the other company. Generally, anything over three years is probably not going to hold water (your customer might find the other printer on their own and they have te have the option of going to them if they are not happy with your services, so courts generally think it reasonable to impose the few years but not much longer than that as the likelihood of the customer staying with you past that time period diminishes).

If you think that is long enough, then just write something up in very simple language stating that if you present the idea he is not allowed to pursue that customer for the specified time and is not allowed to disclose the details of the working relationship pertaining to this particular project. From what I understand, if you do not contact an attorney, courts are more lenient in the interpretation of the language and the general spirit of the agreement takes precedence over the specific wording.

pierre

[Ryan]

Its about them leaving their current job and coming over to work for me, but its really based on buying another company. Ok I sound like I'm confused. I'm company A, I need to talk to employee from company B about buying company C and working with me. Does this make more sense as to what I am looking for? I don't want employee from B going back and talking to their Boss about what we talked about.
Not sure what kind of "agreement" that would entail. Or is this a situation where I just shouldn't be talking them at all because it will bite me in the arse

[blue moon]

I don't think that will work, or at least not sure how to structure it. My thinking would be to talk to the employee and tell him you have a business opportunity and you would like to talk to him. If he is interested, explain in broad terms what would be required without listing the specifics or anything that can disclose your idea. Why do you need him? What does he bring to the table?

In the end, I think it needs to be said as "Hey if I get some work for you will you move?" Why does eh need to know the details?

pierre

[Ryan]

I've talked to him the past and he wasn't happy where he was. I don't know how much has changed. Unfortunately its even a stickier situation as it is a business that used to do all my volume contract work for screening and still some of my embroidery work as well and the owner  is a friend of mine. I'm probably treading on a slippery slope with this one. I guess I will have to way the pros and cons on this one to see what I need/want to do. Thanks

[blue moon]

I've talked to him the past and he wasn't happy where he was. I don't know how much has changed. Unfortunately its even a stickier situation as it is a business that used to do all my volume contract work for screening and still some of my embroidery work as well and the owner  is a friend of mine. I'm probably treading on a slippery slope with this one. I guess I will have to way the pros and cons on this one to see what I need/want to do. Thanks

If the owner is a friend, I would back off. Keep the friend relationship going. If the employee comes over to you on his own, it is a different story. While it might not be easy, you can find and /or train somebody. Take the high road and don't lose any sleep at night. It sounds to me that I am just stating the obvious here and that you already know the right answer!

pierre