Associated Surgeons, P.A. v. Watwood

SHORES, Justice.

Associated Surgeons, P.A., filed suit against the defendant, a medical doctor, for breach of contract claiming $20,000 as liquidated damages pursuant to the contract. The trial court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss on two grounds: (1) The contract sued on expired, by its terms, before the alleged breach; and, (2) the provision providing for the payment of $20,000 liquidated damages is “. . . a restraint of the exercise of the medical profession and is therefore void and unenforceable.” The plaintiff appealed.

The plaintiff and defendant entered into a written employment…