{ "type": "practice-guide", "canonical": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama", "links": [ { "rel": "self", "href": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama.json", "type": "application/json" }, { "rel": "alternate", "href": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama", "type": "text/html" }, { "rel": "alternate", "href": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama/markdown", "type": "text/markdown" }, { "rel": "alternate", "href": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama/json", "type": "application/json" } ], "data": { "topic": "non-compete", "state": "alabama", "frontmatter": { "title": "Non-Competes in Alabama", "description": "A question-by-question summary of Alabama non-compete law under the 2016 Restrictive Covenant Act (Ala. Code § 8-1-190 et seq.), including the void-by-default rule, the six statutory exceptions and their duration presumptions, protectable interests, the Ala. Code § 8-1-192 all-parties signature requirement, judicial reformation, the professional exemption, tolling-during-breach clauses, and choice-of-law limits.", "state": "Alabama", "lastReviewed": "2026-06-03", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "authors": [ "steven-obiajulu" ], "summary": { "enforceability": "reasonable", "bottomLine": "Alabama voids non-competes by default but enforces an employee covenant that fits the Restrictive Covenant Act's narrow safe harbor, protects a statutory interest, and is properly signed.", "keyLaw": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190 et seq. (Restrictive Covenant Act)", "exceptions": "Sale of business; current-customer non-solicit (18-mo); employee no-hire for uniquely essential workers; professional exemption (physicians, CPAs, veterinarians, physical therapists)", "courtNarrowing": "rewrite", "appliesToContractors": "unclear", "extendedForBreach": "Not addressed by statute or case law", "maxLength": "2 years presumed reasonable (employee)", "noticeRequirement": "None", "incomeThreshold": "None", "saleOfBusiness": "Allowed — sale-of-business safe harbor", "customerNonSolicit": "Allowed for current customers (18 months)", "employeeNonSolicit": "Allowed no-hire for uniquely essential workers" }, "about": [ "Alabama non-compete agreements", "Alabama Restrictive Covenant Act, Ala. Code § 8-1-190 et seq.", "Alabama statutory exceptions and duration presumptions", "Alabama protectable interests and specialized training", "Amanda Howard Real Estate v. Lee signature requirement", "Alabama professional exemption for physicians and other professionals", "Alabama judicial reformation of restrictive covenants" ], "translations": [ { "language": "中文", "status": "planned" }, { "language": "Español", "status": "planned" }, { "language": "Português", "status": "planned" }, { "language": "Deutsch", "status": "planned" } ], "relatedForm": { "slug": "openagreements-restrictive-covenant-alabama" } }, "questions": [ { "slug": "employee-non-compete-enforceability", "label": "Are employee non-competes enforceable?", "heading": "Are employee non-compete agreements enforceable in Alabama?", "answerText": "Yes, but only inside a narrow statutory safe harbor. Alabama starts from the rule that every contract restraining a lawful profession, trade, or business is void, and then allows an employee non-compete as one of six listed exceptions; a covenant of two years or less is presumed reasonable.", "sources": [ { "id": "ala-8-1-190-void", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(a).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-190", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(a) supports the rule that every contract restraining a lawful profession, trade, or business is void except as the section otherwise allows.", "verbatimQuote": "Every contract by which anyone is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind otherwise than is provided by this section is to that extent void.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-190-void" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-190-employee", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(4).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-190", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(4) supports that an employee may agree to a geographically limited non-compete and that restraints of two years or less are presumed reasonable.", "verbatimQuote": "Restraints of two years or less are presumed to be reasonable.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-190-employee" } ] }, { "slug": "allowed-covenants", "label": "Which restrictive covenants does the Act allow?", "heading": "Which restrictive covenants does the Alabama Restrictive Covenant Act allow?", "answerText": "Six categories, each with its own limits. The Act lists employee no-hire covenants for uniquely essential employees, exclusive-dealing agreements, sale-of-business covenants, employee non-competes, current-customer non-solicitation covenants, and dissolution covenants, with presumptively reasonable durations of one year for sales, two years for employee non-competes, and eighteen months for current-customer non-solicits.", "sources": [ { "id": "ala-8-1-190-sale", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(3).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-190", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(3) supports that a sale-of-business covenant restraint of one year or less is presumed reasonable.", "verbatimQuote": "Restraints of one year or less are presumed to be reasonable.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-190-sale" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-190-nonsolicit", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(5).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-190", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(5) supports the current-customer non-solicitation exception and its eighteen-month (or paid-consideration) presumption of reasonableness.", "verbatimQuote": "Restraints of 18 months or for as long as post-separation consideration is paid for such agreement, whichever is greater, are presumed to be reasonable.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-190-nonsolicit" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-190-no-hire", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(1).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-190", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(1) supports that an employee no-hire covenant is allowed only where the worker holds a position uniquely essential to the business.", "verbatimQuote": "A contract between two or more persons or businesses or a person and a business limiting their ability to hire or employ the agent, servant, or employees of a party to the contract where the agent, servant, or employee holds a position uniquely essential to the management, organization, or service of the business.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-190-no-hire" } ] }, { "slug": "protectable-interest", "label": "What must the covenant protect?", "heading": "What is a protectable interest under Alabama law?", "answerText": "A statutorily listed interest, not ordinary competition. Section 8-1-191 lists trade secrets, confidential information, specific customer relationships and goodwill, and specialized training as protectable interests, and it states that job skills alone are not.", "sources": [ { "id": "ala-8-1-191-customers", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191(a)(3).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-191", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191(a)(3) supports that commercial relationships with specific prospective or existing customers are a protectable interest.", "verbatimQuote": "Commercial relationships or contacts with specific prospective or existing customers, patients, vendors, or clients.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-191-customers" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-191-jobskills", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191(b).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-191", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191(b) supports that job skills by themselves are not a protectable interest.", "verbatimQuote": "Job skills in and of themselves, without more, are not protectable interests.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-191-jobskills" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-191-training", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191(a)(5).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-191", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-191(a)(5) supports that specialized training is a protectable interest only when the training is specifically set forth in writing as the consideration for the restraint.", "verbatimQuote": "Specialized and unique training involving substantial business expenditure specifically directed to a particular agent, servant, or employee; provided that such training is specifically set forth in writing as the consideration for the restraint.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-191-training" } ] }, { "slug": "signature-requirement", "label": "Must the employer sign the covenant?", "heading": "Must an Alabama non-compete be signed by all parties, including the employer?", "answerText": "Yes. Section 8-1-192 requires the covenant to be in writing, signed by all parties, and supported by adequate consideration, and the Alabama Supreme Court held in Amanda Howard Real Estate v. Lee that an employer's failure to sign the document containing the covenant makes it void.", "sources": [ { "id": "ala-8-1-192", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-192", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-192.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-192", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-192 supports that a covenant must be in writing, signed by all parties, and supported by adequate consideration to be valid.", "verbatimQuote": "In order to be valid, any contract or agreement executed pursuant to this article shall be reduced to writing, signed by all parties, and be supported by adequate consideration.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-192" }, { "id": "howard-affirm", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Amanda Howard Real Estate, LLC v. Lee", "citation": "Amanda Howard Real Estate, LLC v. Lee, 387 So. 3d 120 (Ala. 2023).", "url": "https://www.cunninghambounds.com/documents/appellate-blog-category-/Howard-Real-Estate-LLC-v-Lee-and-JRHBW-Realty-Inc..pdf", "proposition": "Amanda Howard Real Estate v. Lee supports that a covenant is void where the employer did not satisfy the statutory all-parties signature requirement of § 8-1-192.", "verbatimQuote": "We affirm the judgment because none of Howard Real Estate's arguments establish that it satisfied the statutory signatures requirement.", "date": "2023-06-30", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-howard-affirm" }, { "id": "howard-thing-signed", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Amanda Howard Real Estate, LLC v. Lee", "citation": "Amanda Howard Real Estate, LLC v. Lee, 387 So. 3d 120 (Ala. 2023).", "url": "https://www.cunninghambounds.com/documents/appellate-blog-category-/Howard-Real-Estate-LLC-v-Lee-and-JRHBW-Realty-Inc..pdf", "proposition": "Amanda Howard Real Estate v. Lee supports that the document that must be signed by all parties is the contract or agreement containing the noncompete provision.", "verbatimQuote": "Thus, the thing that must be signed by all parties is the \"contract or agreement\" containing the noncompete provision.", "date": "2023-06-30", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-howard-thing-signed" } ] }, { "slug": "timing-of-signing", "label": "When must the covenant be signed?", "heading": "When does an Alabama non-compete have to be signed relative to employment?", "answerText": "The safer answer is that it must. Under the predecessor statute, the Alabama Supreme Court held in Pitney Bowes v. Berney Office Solutions that a covenant signed before the employer-employee relationship began was void; the current Act's employee exceptions are written the same relationship-first way, though no decision under the 2016 Act has yet addressed the point.", "sources": [ { "id": "pitney-timing", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Berney Office Solutions", "citation": "Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Berney Office Solutions, 823 So. 2d 659 (Ala. 2001).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1099624/pitney-bowes-inc-v-berney-office-solutions/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1099624/pitney-bowes-inc-v-berney-office-solutions/#:~:text=The%20voidness%20of%20the%20agreement,a%20month%20after%20the%20signing.", "proposition": "Pitney Bowes, construing the former § 8-1-1, supports that a covenant signed before the employer-employee relationship existed is void and is not cured when employment later begins.", "verbatimQuote": "The voidness of the agreement in this case did not disappear when Pitney employed Morris almost a month after the signing.", "date": "2001-12-21", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-pitney-timing" }, { "id": "pitney-consideration", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Berney Office Solutions", "citation": "Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Berney Office Solutions, 823 So. 2d 659 (Ala. 2001).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1099624/pitney-bowes-inc-v-berney-office-solutions/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1099624/pitney-bowes-inc-v-berney-office-solutions/#:~:text=This%20statute%2C%20however%2C%20presupposes%20noncompete%20agreements%20supported%20by%20consideration.", "proposition": "Pitney Bowes, construing the former § 8-1-1, supports that the restrictive-covenant statute presupposes a covenant already supported by consideration, so paying for the covenant does not by itself save an otherwise void restraint.", "verbatimQuote": "This statute, however, presupposes noncompete agreements supported by consideration.", "date": "2001-12-21", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-pitney-consideration" } ] }, { "slug": "court-narrowing", "label": "Will a court narrow an overbroad covenant?", "heading": "Will an Alabama court narrow an overbroad non-compete instead of voiding it?", "answerText": "Sometimes. Section 8-1-193 lets a court reform a covenant that is overly broad in duration, but it also tells the court to void the restraint entirely if it does not fit one of the six statutory exceptions in the first place.", "sources": [ { "id": "ala-8-1-193-reform", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-193", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193 supports that a court may reform a restraint that is overly broad or unreasonable in duration and enforce it in part.", "verbatimQuote": "If a contractually specified restraint is overly broad or unreasonable in its duration, a court may void the restraint in part and reform it to preserve the protectable interest or interests.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-193-reform" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-193-void", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-193", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193 supports that a restraint that does not fall within the § 8-1-190(b) exceptions may be voided in its entirety.", "verbatimQuote": "If a contractually specified restraint does not fall within the limited exceptions set out in subsection (b) of Section 8-1-190, a court may void the restraint in its entirety.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-193-void" } ] }, { "slug": "professional-exemption", "label": "Are professionals exempt from non-competes?", "heading": "Does Alabama exempt professionals from non-compete agreements?", "answerText": "Yes, within limits. Section 8-1-196 preserves Alabama's common-law professional exemption, under which a non-compete cannot bar a member of a recognized profession from practicing that profession; Alabama courts have applied it to veterinarians and physical therapists. The exemption protects the practice of the profession, not unrelated business conduct.", "sources": [ { "id": "ala-8-1-196", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-196", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-196.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-196", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-196 supports that the Act does not eliminate any professional exemption recognized by Alabama law.", "verbatimQuote": "Nothing in this article shall be construed to eliminate any professional exemption recognized by Alabama law.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-196" }, { "id": "friddle-factors", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Friddle v. Raymond", "citation": "Friddle v. Raymond, 575 So. 2d 1038 (Ala. 1991).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1839261/friddle-v-raymond/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1839261/friddle-v-raymond/#:~:text=this%20Court%20stated%20several%20relevant,need%20to%20make%20instantaneous%20decisions.", "proposition": "Friddle v. Raymond, construing the former § 8-1-1, supports the factors Alabama courts use to decide whether an occupation is a profession: required training and skill, the delicate nature of the services, and the need to make instantaneous decisions.", "verbatimQuote": "this Court stated several relevant factors to be considered in resolving the issue as to what constitutes a profession: professional training, skill, and experience required to perform certain services; delicate nature of the services offered; and the ability and need to make instantaneous decisions.", "date": "1991-01-11", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-friddle-factors" }, { "id": "friddle-cannot-fall", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Friddle v. Raymond", "citation": "Friddle v. Raymond, 575 So. 2d 1038 (Ala. 1991).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1839261/friddle-v-raymond/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1839261/friddle-v-raymond/#:~:text=this%20Court%20has%20stated%20on,fall%20within%20these%20statutory%20exceptions.", "proposition": "Friddle v. Raymond, construing the former § 8-1-1, supports that a professional cannot fall within the statutory exceptions, so a covenant not to compete against a professional is unenforceable.", "verbatimQuote": "this Court has stated on numerous occasions that a \"professional\" cannot fall within these statutory exceptions.", "date": "1991-01-11", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-friddle-cannot-fall" }, { "id": "benchmark-pt", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Benchmark Medical Holdings, Inc. v. Barnes", "citation": "Benchmark Med. Holdings, Inc. v. Barnes, 328 F. Supp. 2d 1236 (M.D. Ala. 2004).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2438759/benchmark-medical-holdings-inc-v-barnes/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2438759/benchmark-medical-holdings-inc-v-barnes/#:~:text=Because%20a%20physical%20therapist%20as,not%20subject%20to%20non%2Dcompetition%20agreements.", "proposition": "Benchmark Medical Holdings v. Barnes, construing the former § 8-1-1, supports that a physical therapist is a professional and therefore is not subject to a non-compete that bars the practice of the profession under Alabama law.", "verbatimQuote": "Because a physical therapist as a professional cannot fall within either of these statutory exceptions, the general rule that non-compete agreements are invalid applies; therefore, physical therapists are not subject to non-competition agreements.", "date": "2004-07-27", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-benchmark-pt" }, { "id": "benchmark-scope", "authorityType": "case-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Benchmark Medical Holdings, Inc. v. Barnes", "citation": "Benchmark Med. Holdings, Inc. v. Barnes, 328 F. Supp. 2d 1236 (M.D. Ala. 2004).", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2438759/benchmark-medical-holdings-inc-v-barnes/", "deepLink": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2438759/benchmark-medical-holdings-inc-v-barnes/#:~:text=A%20doctor%20is%2C%20instead%2C%20protected,receive%20the%20doctor's%20professional%20services.", "proposition": "Benchmark Medical Holdings v. Barnes, construing the former § 8-1-1, supports that the professional exemption protects the professional only in the practice of the profession, not in unrelated business conduct.", "verbatimQuote": "A doctor is, instead, protected only in his practice of medicine, for the purpose of the protection is the interest of the public in being able to receive the doctor's professional services.", "date": "2004-07-27", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-benchmark-scope" } ] }, { "slug": "extended-for-breach", "label": "Does a tolling clause extend the period?", "heading": "Does a tolling or extension-during-breach clause extend an Alabama non-compete?", "answerText": "Alabama law does not answer this directly. No Alabama appellate decision under the 2016 Act addresses a clause that pauses or extends the restricted period during breach or litigation, and a tolling clause that pushes the effective restraint past the presumptively reasonable window is exposed to reformation as an unreasonable duration.", "sources": [ { "id": "q8-ala-8-1-190-2yr", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(4).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-190", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-190(b)(4) supports that only restraints of two years or less are presumed reasonable, which bears on a tolling clause that extends the effective period.", "verbatimQuote": "Restraints of two years or less are presumed to be reasonable.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-q8-ala-8-1-190-2yr" }, { "id": "q8-ala-8-1-193-reform", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-193", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-193 supports that a court may reform a restraint that is overly broad or unreasonable in its duration.", "verbatimQuote": "If a contractually specified restraint is overly broad or unreasonable in its duration, a court may void the restraint in part and reform it to preserve the protectable interest or interests.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-q8-ala-8-1-193-reform" } ] }, { "slug": "burden-remedies", "label": "Who bears the burden, and what remedies apply?", "heading": "Who has the burden of proof, and what remedies are available in Alabama?", "answerText": "The party enforcing the covenant bears the burden on every element, while the party resisting must prove undue hardship if it raises that defense; remedies include injunctive relief, damages, and contractual attorneys' fees.", "sources": [ { "id": "ala-8-1-194", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-194", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-194.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-194", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-194 supports that the party seeking enforcement bears the burden of proof on every element.", "verbatimQuote": "The party seeking enforcement of the covenant has the burden of proof on every element.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-194" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-195-fees", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-195", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-195(a)(3).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-195", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-195(a) supports that contract remedies, including attorneys' fees or costs where provided, are available for breach of a covenant under the Act.", "verbatimQuote": "Any remedies available in contract law, including attorneys’ fees or costs, if provided for in the contract or otherwise provided for by law.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-195-fees" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-195-defenses", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-195", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-195(b).", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-195", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-195(b) supports that the Act does not limit any defense otherwise available in law or equity.", "verbatimQuote": "Nothing in this article shall limit the availability of any defense otherwise available in law or equity.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-195-defenses" } ] }, { "slug": "choice-of-law", "label": "Can a choice-of-law clause bypass Alabama law?", "heading": "Can an out-of-state choice-of-law clause bypass Alabama non-compete law?", "answerText": "Usually not. Section 8-1-197 declares the Act to be fundamental public policy and directs Alabama courts to apply it instead of a foreign law whose application would violate that policy.", "sources": [ { "id": "ala-8-1-197-policy", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-197", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-197.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-197", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-197 supports that the Act expresses fundamental public policies of the State of Alabama.", "verbatimQuote": "It is hereby declared that this article expresses fundamental public policies of the State of Alabama.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-197-policy" }, { "id": "ala-8-1-197-govern", "authorityType": "primary-law", "tier": "primary-source-backed", "title": "Ala. Code § 8-1-197", "citation": "Ala. Code § 8-1-197.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama/8-1-197", "proposition": "Ala. Code § 8-1-197 supports that the Act governs instead of a foreign law whose application would violate the fundamental public policy the Act expresses.", "verbatimQuote": "Therefore, this article shall govern and shall be applied instead of any foreign laws that might otherwise be applicable in those instances when the application of those foreign laws would violate a fundamental public policy expressed in this article.", "anchor": "https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/non-compete/us/alabama#src-ala-8-1-197-govern" } ] } ] } }