Non-Solicitation and Non-Interference 5.1 The Company, Employer and Employee hereby mutually agree that the nature of Employer’s business and Employee’s employment hereunder are based on the Company’s and Employer’s goodwill, public perception, and customer relations. Therefore, ancillary to this otherwise enforceable agreement and in exchange for Employee being provided access to the Confidential Information and the other agreements and consideration set forth herein, Employee hereby agrees and covenants to each and all of the following:
(a) During the Term and the longer of (i) the period of 12 months following the termination of this Agreement or (ii) the conclusion of the Salary Continuation Period, Employee hereby covenants and agrees that Employee will not, either directly, indirectly or through a subsidiary or an affiliate, solicit (x) any customer of the Company or its subsidiaries and affiliates that has utilized the services or products of the Company during the twelve (12) month period prior to the termination of this Agreement for the purpose of causing such customer to cease doing business with the Employer or (y) anyone with whom Employee had contact during the Term during the twelve (12) month period prior to the termination of this Agreement for purposes of selling products or services to such person that are in competition with the products or services offered or sold by the Company or its subsidiaries and affiliates.
(b) During the Term and the longer of (i) the period of 12 months following the termination of this Agreement or (ii) the conclusion of the Salary Continuation Period, Employee hereby agrees not to employ or otherwise engage , either directly, indirectly or through an affiliate, any employee or independent contractor of the Company or its subsidiaries and affiliates or any individual who was an employee or independent contractor of the Company or its subsidiaries and affiliates at any time during the twelve (12) month period prior to the termination of this Agreement, with whom Employee had contact during the Term. Further, Employee agrees not to contact in any manner any such employee or independent contractor for the purpose of encouraging such employee or independent contractor to leave or terminate his or her employment or engagement with the Company or its subsidiaries and affiliates.
(c) During the Term and the longer of (i) the period of 12 months following the termination of this Agreement or (ii) the conclusion of the Salary Continuation Period, Employee hereby agrees not to interfere or attempt to interfere with the relationship of the Company or any of its subsidiaries with any person who at the relevant time is an employee, contractor, supplier, or customer of the Company or its subsidiaries and affiliates.
5.2 Employee acknowledges and agrees that the length and scope of the restrictions contained in Section 5.1 are reasonable and necessary to protect the legitimate business interests of the Company and its subsidiaries. The duration of the agreements contained in Section 5.1 shall be extended for the amount of any time of any violation thereof and the time, if greater, necessary to enforce such provisions or obtain any relief or damages for such violation through the court system. If any covenant in Section 5.1 of this Agreement is held to be unreasonable, arbitrary, or against public policy, such covenant will be considered to be divisible with respect to scope and time, and such lesser scope or time, or either of them, as an arbitrator or a court of competent jurisdiction may determine to be reasonable, not arbitrary, and not against public policy, will be effective, binding, and enforceable against Employee. In the event of termination of Employee’s employment with Employer for any reason, Employee consents to Employer communicating with Employee’s new employer, any entity in the business or through or in connection with which Employee is restricted hereunder, or any other party about the restrictions and obligations imposed on Employee under this Agreement.
5.3 In the event the Company or its subsidiaries shall file a lawsuit in any court of jurisdiction alleging a breach of any of Employee’s obligations under Section 5.1 of this Agreement, the Non-Solicitation and Non-Interference periods referenced in Section 5.1 shall be tolled during any time Employee was in breach of those obligations.
Non-Solicitation; Non-Interference During the Term and for a period of one year following the termination of the Executive’s employment for any reason, the Executive agrees that he/she will not, directly or indirectly, for the Executive’s benefit or for the benefit of any other person or entity, do any of the following:
(1) solicit from any customer doing business with the Group during the Term business of the same or of a similar nature to the Business;
(2) solicit from any known potential customer of the Group business of the same or of a similar nature to that which has been the subject of a known written or oral bid, offer or proposal by the Group, or of substantial preparation with a view to making such a bid, proposal or offer;
(3) solicit the employment or services of, or hire or engage, any person who is known to be employed or engaged by the Group; or
(4) otherwise interfere with the business or accounts of the Group, including, but not limited to, with respect to any relationship or agreement between the Group and any vendor or supplier.
Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation (a) The Executive recognizes that in each of the highly competitive businesses in which the Company is engaged, personal contact is of primary importance in securing new customers and in retaining the accounts and goodwill of present customers and protecting the business of the Company. The Executive, therefore, agrees that during the Employment Period and, if the Date of Termination occurs by reason of the Executive terminating his employment for reasons other than Disability or Good Reason and other than during a Window Period, for a period of one year after the Date of Termination, he will not either within 20 miles of any geographic location of any Shale play with respect to which he has devoted substantial attention to the material business interests of the Company or any of its affiliated companies or with respect to any immediate geologic trends in any non-Shale plays, in either case, in which the Company or any of its affiliated companies have active leases or are actively pursuing leases through direct employee activity or hired brokers as of the Date of Termination, without regard, in either case, to whether the Executive has worked at such location (the "Relevant Geographic Area"), (i) accept employment or render service to any Person that is engaged in a business directly competitive with the business then engaged in by the Company or any of its affiliated companies in the Relevant Geographic Area, (ii) enter into or take part in or lend his name, counsel or assistance to any business, either as proprietor, principal, investor, partner, director, officer, executive, consultant, advisor, agent, independent contractor, or in any other capacity whatsoever, for any purpose that would be competitive with the business of the Company or any of its affiliated companies in the Relevant Geographic Area or (iii) regardless of whether it is in the Relevant Geographic Area, directly or indirectly, either as principal, agent, independent contractor, consultant, director, officer, employee, employer, advisor, stockholder, partner or in any other individual or representative capacity whatsoever, either for his own benefit or for the benefit of any other person or entity either (A) hire, contract or solicit, or attempt any of the foregoing, with respect to hiring any employee of the Company or its affiliated companies, or (B) induce or otherwise counsel, advise or encourage any employee of the Company or its affiliated companies to leave the employment of the Company or its affiliated companies (all of the foregoing activities described in (i), (ii) and (iii) are collectively referred to as the "Prohibited Activity"). Notwithstanding anything contained in this Section 10 to the contrary, the Prohibited Activity shall not be applicable to the state or federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico or outside of the United States except as to the area covered by any U.S. or foreign state or federal oil and gas lease, license or permit in which the Company owns a working interest which was acquired by the Company prior to or during the Employment Period and further limited to the depths in which the Company owns such working or operating rights interest. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of this Section 10 will not apply following a termination of the Executive's employment by the Company with or without Cause, by the Executive due to Disability or Good Reason or by the Executive during a Window Period.
(b) In addition to all other remedies at law or in equity which the Company may have for breach of a provision of this Section 10 by the Executive, it is agreed that in the event of any breach or attempted or threatened breach of any such provision, the Company shall be entitled, upon application to any court of proper jurisdiction, to a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction (without the necessity of (i) proving irreparable harm, (ii) establishing that monetary damages are inadequate or (iii) posting any bond with respect thereto) against the Executive prohibiting such breach or attempted or threatened breach by proving only the existence of such breach or attempted or threatened breach. If the provisions of this Section 10 should ever be deemed to exceed the time, geographic or occupational limitations permitted by the applicable law, the Executive and the Company agree that such provisions shall be and are hereby reformed to the maximum time, geographic or occupational limitations permitted by the applicable law.
(c) The covenants of the Executive set forth in this Section 10 are independent of and severable from every other provision of this Agreement; and the breach of any other provision of this Agreement by the Company or the breach by the Company of any other agreement between the Company and the Executive shall not affect the validity of the provisions of this Section 10 or constitute a defense of the Executive in any suit or action brought by the Company to enforce any of the provisions of this Section 10 or seek any relief for the breach thereof by the Executive.
(d) The Executive acknowledges, agrees and stipulates that: (i) the terms and provisions of this Agreement are reasonable and constitute an otherwise enforceable agreement to which the terms and provisions of this Section 10 are ancillary or a part of as contemplated by TEX. BUS. & COM. CODE XXX. Sections 15.50-15.52; (ii) the consideration provided by the Company under this Agreement is not illusory; and (iii) the consideration given by the Company under this Agreement, including, without limitation, the provision by the Company of Confidential Information to the Executive as contemplated by Section 8, gives rise to the Company's interest in restraining and prohibiting the Executive from engaging in the Prohibited Activity within the Relevant Geographic Area as provided under this Section 10, and the Executive's covenant not to engage in the Prohibited Activity within the Relevant Geographic Area pursuant to this Section 10 is designed to enforce the Executive's consideration (or return promises), including, without limitation, the Executive's promise to not disclose Confidential Information under this Agreement.
Confidentiality and Non-Solicitation (a) Optionee hereby acknowledges that Optionee has or in the future may have access to the Company's trade secrets and proprietary or confidential information developed or acquired by or licensed to the Company, including, but not limited to, information regarding the Company's operations, business plans, customers or prospects, products, computer passwords or other information regarding network or systems access and research and development information, as such trade secrets and proprietary or confidential information may exist from time to time ("Confidential Information"). As consideration for the Option granted to Optionee hereunder, Optionee will not, at any time during Optionee's relationship with the Company, in whole or in part, disclose or cause any other person to disclose the Confidential Information to any other person or entity (except the Company) under any circumstances. In addition, Optionee will not, during the term of Optionee's relationship with the Company, and for a period of one (1) year thereafter, solicit or assist any other person or entity in soliciting any employee of the Company to terminate the employee's employment with the Company under any circumstances.
(b) Optionee acknowledges that if there is a breach of any provision of this paragraph 9 by Optionee, the Company will suffer irreparable harm in that monetary damages would be inadequate to compensate the Company for such a breach. In the event of a breach or threatened breach of any such provisions by Optionee, in addition to such monetary and other relief as may be available, Optionee agrees that the Company will be entitled to injunctive relief as may be necessary to restrain any breach or further breach of such provisions by Optionee, without showing or providing any actual damages or loss sustained by the Company or notice to Optionee.
Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Because of the nature of the Company’s Business, and because, as a result of his employment with the Company, the Executive has been and will continue to be exposed to Confidential Information, the Executive acknowledges that the Company would sustain grievous harm in the event that he were to disclose Confidential Information, engage in business activities that compete with the Business, appropriate or divert business or customers of the Company or its affiliates and/or induce employees or consultants of the Company or its affiliates to leave the employment of the Company or its affiliates. The Executive acknowledges that the Company has a legitimate business interest in protecting itself from the aforementioned harm and in the protection and maintenance of the Confidential Information and of the good will and customer relationships of the Company and its affiliates. Therefore, the Executive hereby agrees and covenants to be bound by the non-competition and non-solicitation restrictions set forth herein below, which restrictions the Executive agrees and acknowledges are reasonable and necessary and do not impose undue hardship or burdens on the Executive.
a. The Executive agrees that, during his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, he and his affiliates shall not directly or indirectly own, manage, operate, control, be employed by, consult for, be a shareholder of, be an officer of, participate in, contract with or be connected in any capacity or any manner with any person or entity whose business activities directly or indirectly (whether through related persons, entities or otherwise) compete with the Business anywhere in the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, PROVIDED HOWEVER, that the Executive shall not be prevented from owning an interest in a publicly traded company so long as the fair market value of such interest at the date of acquisition is less than US$100,000.
b. The Executive agrees that during the period of his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, for any reason, he will not, within the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, directly or indirectly recruit, induce, divert, supervise, employ, manage, hire or entice, or cause to be recruited, induced, diverted, supervised, employed, managed, hired or enticed, any employee, consultant or independent contractor of the Company or its affiliates to leave or terminate the employment or other relationship thereof, for any reason.
c. The Executive agrees that during the period of his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, he will not, within the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, directly or indirectly appropriate, call on, induce, divert or solicit, or assist another to appropriate, call on, induce, divert or solicit any actual or potential business or customer away from the Company or its affiliates, or attempt to do any of the foregoing, or otherwise induce or attempt to induce any actual or potential business or customer of the Company or its affiliates, to terminate or adversely modify its relationship with the Company or its affiliates, or to enter into a relationship with or conduct business with the Company or its affiliates, which actual or potential business or customer the Executive was involved with or had a relationship with or whose identity became known to the Executive in connection with the Executive’s employment with the Company.
d. If any of the restrictive covenants set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable (in whole or in part), such restrictive covenant shall be deemed modified to the extent, but only to the extent, of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability, and a court of competent jurisdiction shall have the power to modify, any such restrictive covenant to the extent necessary to render such provision enforceable, and the remaining restrictive covenant shall not be affected thereby.
e. In the event of a violation of any of the restrictive covenants set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement, if the Executive is prevented by a court or arbitrator from committing any further violation, whether by a temporary restraining order, injunction or otherwise, the time periods set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement shall be computed by commencing the periods on the date of the applicable court or arbitrators’ order and continuing them from that date for the full period provided.
f. The Executive shall have the right to request a waiver of all or part of the restrictive covenants contained in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement by providing the Company with a written request for such a waiver that contains all relevant details. The Company may, in its sole discretion, waive all or part of the restrictive covenants contained in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement on such terms and conditions, and to such extent, as it, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Such waiver must be in writing.
g. The parties acknowledge that this Agreement would not have been entered into, that the benefits described in paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 would not have been promised to the Executive by the Company, in the absence of the Executive’s covenants and promises set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement.
Non-Competition/Solicitation To the Company’s knowledge, no Respondent is subject to any non-competition agreement or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or prior employer which could materially affect such Respondent’s ability to be and act in the capacity of a director or officer of the Company, as applicable.
Confidentiality Non Solicitation A&M and Engagement Personnel shall keep as confidential all non-public information received from the Company in conjunction with this engagement, except: (i) as requested by the Company or its legal counsel; (ii) as required by legal proceedings; or (iii) as reasonably required in the performance of this engagement. All obligations as to non-disclosure shall cease as to any part of such information to the extent that such information is, or becomes, public other than as a result of a breach of this provision. The Company, on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries and affiliates and any person which may acquire all or substantially all of its assets agrees that, until two (2) years subsequent to the termination of this engagement, it will not solicit, recruit, hire or otherwise engage any employee of A&M or any of its affiliates who worked on this engagement while employed by A&M or its affiliates (“Solicited Person”). Should the Company or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates or any person who acquires all or substantially all of its assets extend an offer of employment to or otherwise engage any Solicited Person and should such offer be accepted, A&M shall be entitled to a fee from the Company equal to the Solicited Person’s hourly client billing rate at the time of the offer multiplied by 4,000 hours for a Managing Director, 3,000 hours for a Senior Director and 2,000 hours for any other A&M employee. The Company acknowledges and agrees that this fee fairly represents the loss that A&M will suffer if the Company breaches this provision. The fee shall be payable at the time of the Solicited Person’s acceptance of employment or engagement.
Confidentiality, Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Employee agrees, as a condition to Employee’s employment with the Company, to execute the Company’s standard form of Employee Non-Disclosure, Invention Release and Non-Competition Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A.
Non-Solicitation and Non-Compete The Executive agrees that:
(i) except as agreed by the Board, during the term hereof, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, engage in any outside activity, whether or not competitive with the business of the Company, that could foreseeably give rise to a conflict of interest or otherwise interfere with his duties and obligations to the Company;
(ii) during the term hereof and for twelve (12) months after the term, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, solicit, hire or attempt to hire, or assist others in soliciting, hiring or attempting to hire, any individual employed by the Company at any time while the Executive was also so employed, or encourage any such individual to terminate his or her relationship with the Company; provided, however, that nothing in this Section 6(g) shall be deemed to prohibit Executive from: (A) making general solicitations of employment published in newspapers, trade journals or other publications of general circulation; or (B) employing individuals who have terminated their employment with the Company;
(iii) during the term hereof and for twelve (12) months after the term, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, engage in or undertake any planning for any activity which is competitive with the business of the Company, as conducted or under consideration at any time during his employment by the Company; provided that (A) an ownership interest by Executive of one percent (1%) or less in any outstanding equity securities of any company which is competitive with the business of the Company whose equity securities are listed on a national securities exchange, national or capital markets or traded in the over-the-counter bulletin board or (B) Executive’s employment by or otherwise association with a business or entity of which a subsidiary, division, segment, unit, etc. is in material direct competition with the Company or any parent corporation or subsidiary of the Company but as to which such subsidiary, division, segment, unit, etc. the Executive has no direct or indirect responsibility or involvement, so long as the Executive does not breach the confidentiality obligations hereunder, shall not be prohibited and shall not constitute activity which is competitive with the business of the Company.
Customer Non-Solicitation During the period commencing on the Effective Date and ending 24 months after the Termination Date, regardless of the reason for Executive’s termination of employment, the Executive shall not (except on the Company’s behalf during the Executive’s employment with the Company), for purposes of providing products or services that are competitive with those provided by any member of the Company Group, on the Executive’s own behalf or on behalf of any other Person, solicit any customer or client of any member of the Company Group with whom the Executive had contact, solicited, or served within the twelve (12) months prior to the Termination Date.
