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They're not "notoriously difficult to enforce", they're specifically unenforcable to non-executives. The CA legislature and judiciary have long since settled any questions regarding these and also have frameworks in place for companies trying to make you an "executive engineer" or "director of blah" to try and get around it.



Beyond that, not just the clause is unenforceable, it invalidates the whole contract.


Invalidating the whole contract is not good. You still want to get paid and get all the other benefits from the contract.


Isn't there usually a clause at the end stating that even if some parts are unenforceable, the rest of the contract still holds?


Yes, typically, there is a 'severability' clause that encodes that.


Wouldn't that clause be voided too?


The severability clause is what keeps illegal clauses from invalidating the whole contract.


Yes, and CA really doesn't want non-compete clauses, so they invalidate the severability clause as well.

By the way, the Silicon Valley HBO show can be remarkably accurate on things. It's rare that a TV show gets things like this right, where people in the business don't.

I just happen to know lots of attorneys in the space. I am not an attorney or giving legal advice. Talk to your attorney for that.




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