Are restrictive trade clauses legally enforceable?

[kryten22uk]

I am a contractor sometimes conducting contracts through agencies, and they put clauses in the contracts which say I cant form a direct relationship with the end client for a minimum of 12 months after the end of the job (and hence protect their revenue).

Does anyone know if these are actually enforceable, or if anyone has gone to court over this?

[kryten22uk]

flyingjase said:

It is only enforcable if it is reasonable and 12 months is on the fringe of being reasonable (in my lawyers opinion), therefore I have a 6 month restriction in my contract as this is much more likely to be enforced if it went to court, that said it depends on the the nature of services you provide.

Every business has the right to protect it's profit.

This is also the opinion of my lawyer. He doesnt think 12months would stand up in court. I just wanted to see if others shared his opinion, which they seemilngly do.