Is this employment contract valid?

Question

My friend works as a consultant (not full time staff) for an engineering company. At the time of being employed by them, he signed an agreement stating that upon leaving employment with them, he wouldn't work for any of the competitors in the industry. At the time of signing, they sent him a contract without any signatures, and had him mail it back with his signature only. Does the fact that at the time of his signing there were no signatures present on the contract invalidate it? (he has been working there for about 9 months now). Even if this contract is valid, what are the chances that the company could successfully sue him in court, in the event that he leaves and immediately goes to a competitor?

Answer 1

yes it is valid. and yes they could sue. but unless he "suddenly" comes up with a money making idea for his new company they probably wont take him to court

Answer 2

he signed it. it is, unfortunately, completely valid and this kind of thing happens ALL THE TIME.

now, he could always try waiting a while and then get a new job in the industry and possibly risk this company checking up on him later. i would not let him do this without first getting some official legal counsel though as i am definitely not a lawyer.

the non-competition agreements i've seen out there are pretty scary, but they normally only cover 2 or 3 years. it seems fairly odd to me that they stated he could never work in the industry again.