Marsh USA Inc. v. Cook

I agree the trial court should take first crack at assessing whether today’s non-competition covenant “contains limitations as to time, geographical area, and scope of activity ... that are reasonable and do not impose a greater restraint than is necessary.”1 That inquiry — essentially, “Are the restrictions too restrictive?” — received scant attention below, rendering the record before us underdeveloped. The affidavit submitted by Marsh USA (Marsh) asserts that the stock-incentive plan aimed to boost goodwill by giving Cook a stake in Marsh’s long-term success.2 Growing goodwill is all well…