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Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 683 requires that “[e]very order granting an injunction . . . shall set forth the reasons for its issuance; shall be specific in terms; shall describe in reasonable detail and not by reference to the complaint or other document, the act or acts sought to be restrained.”

But, what happens when a plaintiff is granted an injunction that prohibits a former employee and its new employer from soliciting or contacting the plaintiff’s customers; yet, the injunction does not specifically identify those off-limit customers nor does it reference a list identifying those off-limit clients?

The answer: it may be subject to dissolution on appeal.

In McCaskill v. Nat’l Circuit Assembly, 05-17-01289-CV, 2018 WL 3154616, at *4 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 28, 2018, no pet. h.) (memo op.), the Dallas Court of Appeals dissolved, in part, a temporary injunction that prohibited a former employee and her new employer from soliciting or contacting “any client or customer” that the former employee interacted with over a five-year period or from whom the former employee obtained confidential information while employed by the plaintiff when the injunction failed to sufficiently identify the off-limit customers or clients and required the defendants to make inferences or conclusions about who the off-limit customers or clients were.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Avatar of Casey Erick
Casey Erick is a Shareholder and focuses on Commercial Litigation and Employment Law. He has represented clients in both litigation and transactional matters that span across commercial law, labor and employment, real estate, consumer protection, and general litigation including, but not limited to breach of contract, corporate trade secret theft, tortious interference, defamation, personal injury, fraud, and various other kinds of civil litigation. He has represented high-profile clients as well as defended against high-profile national and global entities in matters related to commercial litigation, defamation, privacy, negligence, the Stored Communications Act, the Texas Harmful Access by Computer Act, Texas identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Casey is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law.