A single reader's working-out of how post-employment restrictions get read, argued and abandoned, written down because the answers sit in scattered statutes and one paid consultation.
The gap between a useful consultation and an expensive hour of sympathy is almost always decided before the meeting starts, by who you called and what you brought. A non-compete question is narrow and document-driven, and an attorney who reads restrictive covenants weekly will tell you more in forty minutes than a generalist will in three hours of research billed to you. The checks below are the ones a careful reader runs before paying anything, in the order they tend to matter.
1. Establish which side of the room the attorney usually sits on
Employment law splits cleanly into management side and employee side, and most practitioners stay on one side for their whole career because the referral sources differ. A management-side firm may still take your case, but check for conflicts: if the firm has represented your employer or a competitor in your industry, it will decline, sometimes after you have already described your situation. Look at the biography page for phrases like represents executives, or counsel to employees, and at whether reported matters describe defending workers rather than drafting handbooks. Ask directly. The answer takes one sentence.
2. Separate the specialist from the capable general practitioner
A general practitioner who handles wills, closings and the occasional discrimination charge can read a contract competently, but restrictive covenant law is state-specific, fast-moving and full of doctrines that do not appear in the text of your agreement: blue-penciling, reformation, the inevitable disclosure doctrine, choice-of-law fights when you signed in one state and worked in another. The Federal Trade Commission has taken a national interest in non-compete practices in recent years, which has made the state-level picture shift more than it used to. Ask how many covenant matters the attorney has handled in the past year, and in which states.
3. Understand what a flat fee actually buys
Flat-fee contract reviews are common because the work is bounded, and they typically cover reading the agreement, a written or verbal opinion on which clauses are likely enforceable in your state, an explanation of the practical risk if you take a specific job, and a short conversation about how the language might be negotiated before you sign. What they usually exclude is correspondence with the employer, drafting a response letter, litigation, and any second review after you renegotiate terms. Get the boundary in writing, including whether a follow-up call is included and for how long.
4. Gather the documents before you book anything
Bring the signed agreement itself, every version of it, because employees frequently have an offer letter covenant, a later equity or bonus agreement with different language, and a confidentiality acknowledgment signed during onboarding. Add the employee handbook section on post-employment obligations, your job description, any severance agreement offered or signed, and your compensation history, since some states condition enforceability on pay thresholds. Include the written offer from the new employer if one exists, along with a plain description of what the new role actually involves day to day. Dates matter: note when you signed and what you received in exchange.
5. Know what a cease and desist letter is and is not
A cease and desist letter is a demand, not an order, and it usually arrives within days of the former employer learning where you went, often from a customer or a LinkedIn update. It will overstate the scope of your obligations, quote the broadest clause in the agreement, set a short deadline, and copy your new employer, which is the part that does real damage. Do not answer it yourself, do not delete anything, and do not return company property informally. Forward it to counsel with the full document set and the date it arrived.
6. Ask the questions that reveal how the matter will run
Ask what the realistic range of outcomes looks like, what an injunction hearing would cost if the employer filed one, whether the new employer has agreed to indemnify you, and what the attorney would do in the first week. Ask who handles the file day to day and what the hourly rate becomes if the matter moves past review. A good answer is specific about your state and your clause, names the weakest part of the employer's position, and tells you plainly which parts of the agreement you should expect to live with.
The practical value of an early consultation is that it converts an open-ended worry into a short list of defined risks, each attached to a decision you can still make. Bring the paper, ask the narrow questions, and the hour pays for itself.