Loretta,

As you can see by the responses below non-competition agreements
are very difficult to enforce depending on the state in which you
live. If you reside in a state which will enforce one,
the courts generally construe the agreement strictly, and will enforce it
only to the extent that it is reasonable in its scope, meaning
the length of time for which enforcement is sought,
the geographical area in which there is competition to
be prevented and the nature of the activity
which is to be limited by the agreement. There was a case
several years ago in which an othodontist was training an assistant
and the assistant left to open his own dentistry practice.
The court would enforce the agreement only to the
extent that there was competition in the area of orthodontics, but not
with respect to other areas of dentistry.

if your state has a trade secrets statute, you may want to
incorporate it into the agreement for further protection.
In any event you would be well advised to let your attorney
draft the agreement rather than to rely on a form contract

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