Business Contracts Non solicitation and acceptance

[Kailey]

Jurisdiction

Florida

I signed a non solicitation contract. I am hairstylist in Florida. The radius said I could not be within 4 miles away. Which I am 7. I did not solicit any client but they ended up finding me and booking appointments.

after reading the agreement it actually says:
Non-Solicitation or Acceptance of Customers…….
Provide goods or services to any Existing Customer……..

so I didn't solicit them. They found me and decided to leave. Does that mean I can't accept them and refuse to provide a service to them??? How can I get around this? Would they sign a paper stating they don't want to be a customer there anymore? It also states I can't interfere with their clients so wouldn't I be interfering?

HELP. I live in a small city and I thought I would be far enough away. Lots of previous clients found me and booked with me.

 

[Zigner]

You should consider having the agreement (in its entirety) reviewed by an attorney. The personalized advice you will receive will be far more valuable than anything you may get on an internet forum.

 

[flyingron]

A non-solicitation is different from a non-compete. The wording is very important. We don't interpret contracts here.

If it is truly a non-solicitation, then you're probably OK. In addition, it's up to your former employer (or whatever the entity was that you signed this contract with) to show that you violated the terms of the agreement when the customers jumped ship.

 

[adjusterjack]

so I didn't solicit them. They found me and decided to leave. Does that mean I can't accept them and refuse to provide a service to them???

I read that paragraph. Sure looks like it to me. But I agree that you should have a lawyer review the entire contract.

How can I get around this?

You ask your former employer to waive the limitation.

What the customers say or do doesn't mean anything.

HELP. I live in a small city and I thought I would be far enough away.

Then you have learned an expensive life lesson from the school of hard knocks. Never sign a contract that limits your ability to work.

 

[zddoodah]

I signed a non solicitation contract.

The material terms of which are what? Who is/are the other party(ies)?

Does that mean I can't accept them and refuse to provide a service to them?

I don't know. The little blurb you provided (section c) includes two incomplete sentences. Without full context, it is impossible to assess your questions intelligently.

From a practical perspective: how likely do you think the other party(ies) will be to make a stink about this?