Quit prop firm after server side technology issues with API cost me my year; advice on non compete

Noncompetes are unenforceable in CA and severely restricted in a number of other states like VA, you may consider moving to one of these places. It also sounds like you are what they call judgement proof. No one acting rationally is going to spend the money to sue you if they know you don't have anything to pay out, plus no way to make any more money if they succeed! Call up an attorney that specialized in these things and pay for an hour of their time; this is something you can solve.
 
Your first mistake was signing up with Tower Hill / Great Point in the first place. There is so much negative information on this website about them.....including how bad the agreement is.

That being said....I agree with everyone else. The non-compete isn't enforceable...unless you steal trade secrets or go directly after their business with stolen information. Neither would apply.

Take the non compete and put it to good use next time you are in the bathroom and run low on toilet paper.
 
Have some experience...in a nutshell....will be almost impossible for them to enforce the Non Compete.

Don't take that as legal advice...but it is not up to you to void the Non Compete...it is up to them to enforce it.

Hope that helps.

H

This is a clever idea. I appreciate the input
 
Move to California. Non compete will be unenforceable.

Oh my former understanding was that the enforceability was on the state in which the NDA comes from not the state in which the NDA gets enforced. I'll do some further research.
 
I was told from the lawyer that wrote my prop trading contract that the non compete clause wasn't worth the paper it was written on! You can't stop someone from having a right to earn money and a lot of non compete clauses do seriously restrict.

If you left a firm due to gross misconduct you will have a few issues but provided you honoured everything in your contract my personal opinion would be to say to them "if you aren't happy then come and get me." Do they really want to lay out expense, time and bad press to recoup a few thousand? I doubt it. Unless you are a 500k a month trader it would be in their interest, but if you are you can afford top lawyers.

This is all my opinion based on experience and not professional legal advice by any means

Thanks for the input, I was in no way that big of a trader but I had a very high Sharpe/Sortino ratio. I'm actually lucky enough to be speaking with some commodity/futures HFs so I might be able to do another asset class anyways.
 
Move to California. Non compete will be unenforceable.

Brilliant thanks.
Not sure why you signed that contract in the first place. But, since you did... I agree with the others, if it is so restrictive it keeps you from earning a living, you may be able to get out of it.

Worse case scenario, develop a futures/options version.
What State does your ex-firm do business in ? My sense is that: 1. You developed your Intellectual Property prior to your latest employment stint, 2. asking for future income is undue consideration, and 3. your contract sounds incredibly burdensome and restrictive.

I'm certainly not an attorney but your description paints the picture of a document which is egregious and downright unenforceable.

My suggestion would be to hire a labor attorney with a license to practice in the State of your former employer, and ask him to spend two hours to review the covenant and write an opinion about its enforceability. Could be $600 or so very well spent, and would go a long way towards allaying the concerns of future employers.

http://www.foxrothschild.com/upload...survey_nationalSurveyRestrictiveCovenants.pdf

This is exceptional bone. I made all the systems prior to going there. I think they use the document more for retention than retaliation but then again excess optimism in others is what got me in this mess.
 
Your first mistake was signing up with Tower Hill / Great Point in the first place. There is so much negative information on this website about them.....including how bad the agreement is.

That being said....I agree with everyone else. The non-compete isn't enforceable...unless you steal trade secrets or go directly after their business with stolen information. Neither would apply.

Take the non compete and put it to good use next time you are in the bathroom and run low on toilet paper.

I never said explicitly that it was Tower Hill/Great Point Capital. I will neither confirm nor deny.
 
I don't know much about prop firms, but non-compete restrictions are usually involved when the company has provided you with some significant value (e.g., training, trading strategies) that would cause them harm or put them at a competitive disadvantage. What, if anything, did they do for you that would fall into this category? I don't think it can be used as a punitive technique to deter you from leaving their firm unless you are walking out with some company-provided value or IP in your pockets.
 
As a non-practicing attorney who is not providing you w/ legal advice, you need to have an experienced attorney review that non-compete for enforceability. Further, you need to have an attorney seriously look at whether you have claims against them for the tech issues that caused the losses. At the least, those tech issues might give you some leverage for having them waive the non-compete.
 
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