Skip to main content

Associate Doesn't Give Notice to Firm, is Barred From Practice

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on July 22, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Philadelphia attorney Robert Englert Jr. left a personal injury firm to work for another firm, but unfortunately won't be able to practice law. The reason is because he forgot about a pesky little notice clause in his employment contract.

Englert was supposed to give his former firm 60 days notice before he quit, reports the ABA Journal.

Well, he didn't. And now the firm isn't too happy about it, it appears, as they got an injunction levied against Englert barring him from the practice of law at other law firms, the ABA Journal reports.

Maybe Englert should have taken another gander at his employment contract with Kline & Specter before he decided to leave the firm.

Then, he could have left the firm with the requisite 60-day notice, letting him practice law as he pleases.

We all tend to know that it's generally against the ABA's Model Rules to restrict a lawyer's ability to practice law.

So, is this whole injunction business something that might be skirting the model rules? Maybe not, considering there's probably a relatively strict time deadline attached to the injunction.

Maybe you should take a look over your employment contract in order to determine if there are any attorney non-compete clauses or notice clauses that you might end up accidentally violating once you depart for greener pastures.

It seems that for most attorneys, while reading contracts may be part of the daily grind, reading the contracts that actually pertain to your daily life (like your employment contract or the contract you'll likely sign before buying that house) might be rather prudent. After all, you never know what your contract may be hiding (like a notice clause) in all its fine print.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard