The most common response to this problem is to impose on the departing physician a restrictive covenant limiting competition. Restrictive covenants are becoming vital to any physician employment agreement. Yet these clauses are often misunderstood. I have heard many physicians claim that such clauses won’t stand up in court, or just make the employee mad and don’t do any good. In most jurisdictions, nothing could be further from the truth. While virtually all courts strongly favor free competition, most are willing to enforce restrictions that are reasonable and fairly negotiated between the parties. (In some states, such as California, restrictive covenants are seldom enforced because of strong court bias favoring unrestricted employment. This is the exception, though.)