According to the English philosopher Francis Bacon, “A man must make his opportunity as oft as find it.” Preventing a person from making his opportunity runs counter to the American ethos that a person should have the freedom to work wherever and whenever the person desires. This notion has been tempered by contractual and equitable principles that a person can bargain away or limit his freedom to work under certain circumstances as manifested in non-compete agreements (or covenants not to compete). Courts loathe to deprive someone of the ability to make a living. The following commentary is a generic discussion of this kind of an agreement.
