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According to the Howe & Hutton Report, a recent ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court is likely to create uncertainty around the enforceability of noncompete clauses in employee contracts, because it eliminated established guidelines in favor of a review of the evidence that looks at, “the totality of circumstances” in each case.

Prior to the court’s decision in Reliable Fire Equipment Company v. Arnold Arrendondo, Illinois courts had established only two legitimate business interests that permitted a company to enforce a noncompete clause: protecting confidential information and protecting near-permanent business relationships with customers. In Reliable the Supreme Court ruled that these two do not make up the entire list of legitimate business interests, but provided no guidance as to what those additional legitimate business interests might be.

Employers may find this more vague standard works to their benefit in that they will be able to argue for consideration of other legitimate business interests, such as the “good will” between a company and all of its customers, not just with those with which it has a near-permanent relationship.