Posts from October 2019

Morris James' Healthcare Law Attorneys Recognized in Delaware Today "Top Lawyers" Survey

Morris James is pleased to announce that 48 of its lawyers in 18 practice areas were voted by their peers as “Top Lawyers” in a survey conducted by Delaware Today for the November 2019 edition. Kim Hoffman was recognized in the Healthcare Law category. The overall number of recognized attorneys was the highest of any Delaware law firm for the second consecutive year. More ›

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Delaware Superior Court Enforces Noncompetition Covenant Against Physician Placed on “Garden Leave” Following Notice of voluntary Termination of Employment

The Delaware Superior Court has rejected the effort of a physician, bound by a noncompetition covenant with his former practice group, to argue that the covenant was unenforceable because the practice placed him on “garden leave” during the final four-and-a-half months of the contract’s mandatory six-month notice period.  During a typical garden leave, the departing physician would get paid, but he or she could not practice. 

The Court ruled that the physician’s effort to repudiate his noncompetition obligations by bringing suit against his former practice constituted an anticipatory breach of the physician’s obligation to pay liquidated damages as a result of going into prohibited competition with the practice following his departure.  This case sets a new Delaware precedent, as no Delaware court has formerly decided garden leave could be used when the covenant did not authorize it expressly, but rather gave the practice broad enforcement authority.  More ›

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