NON-COMPETE AGREEMENTS:Non-Compete Agreement • March 1st, 2007 • Virginia
At early common law covenants not to compete were void as against public policy. In those days, a person could not pursue a trade or craft without being apprenticed. Once apprenticed, a covenant not to engage in that trade, especially in a non-mobile society, would effectively deny a person the ability to earn a living and would make him a public charge.