As discussed in an earlier post, the effective date of Georgia’s recently enacted non-compete legislation is in doubt. Some believe that it was not and never can be effective. Others believe that it was effective as of January 1, 2011, and that it would survive constitutional challenges.

In an article published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on November 19, 2010, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, indicated that the legislature would move quickly to fix the potential problem when the session opened on January 10, 2011. In fact, House Bill 30 has been “prefiled” and is presumably ready to be that fix. HB 30 explicitly states that its enactment should not be taken as evidence that the previous statute (HP 173) was in fact invalid. Here is the introductory language of HB 30 in its entirety which explains why it was arguably necessary....