A ruling by a federal district court judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia may provide a basis to “blue pencil” noncompetition agreements in Virginia. ”Blue penciling” allows a judge to modify an overly-broad non-competition agreement by striking through the portions that violate Virginia law.  Thus, in theory, the agreement would reflect the parties’ agreement minus the portions that do not conform to the law.  So rather than courts grading on a pass/fail basis, they can award partial credit.

In Virginia, plaintiffs’ attorneys frequently attempt to keep employment discrimination and harassment claims in state court.  There are many reasons why plaintiffs frequently prefer to bring their case in state court, even if it means avoiding a Title VII action.  Some of these reasons include the reluctance of Virginia state courts to dismiss cases through the use of summary judgment; the ability of plaintiffs to nonsuit their case (a voluntary dismissal with the ability to re-file the action); and the tight time constraints imposed by many federal courts in Virginia.