A wrench in the plans: issues with Jean-Robert’s new restaurant

by julie on October 30, 2009

The Business Courier is reporting that Jean-Robert’s Table, set to open the first of December, will violate his non-compete, which is set to expire a year after their partnership ends.

I’m not a lawyer, and won’t even try to think about the non-compete.  Aren’t non-competes historically hard to enforce? Inquiring minds…

  • Robert

    Yes in Ohio especially, but it come down too how much can you spend with a lawyer to fight it.

  • http://www.cogitatio.net/blog Chris S

    Non competes are indeed hard to enforce, it usually comes down to whether the non-compete is narrowly scoped (geography, type of employment, etc). In the end, it really just boils down to who has the most money for lawyers… Unfortunately, money is something the Wade’s have a lot of.
    .-= Chris S´s last blog ..Tis the season! =-.

  • http://www.hoperatives.com Carla

    In broadcasting, non-competes are the norm, yet there’s always been the issue of whether they are even legal. I knew a news director in Terre Haute that had a lawyer who was willing to work pro bono so they could test the legality. But the previous employer ended up waiving the non-compete so it became a moot point. I’ve always wondered about the legality of non-competes since then.
    .-= Carla´s last blog ..Short Hops (Growlers and Tastings Edition): October 30, 2009 =-.

  • CincyCapell

    Martin Wade must want to be the most hated man in the Greater Cincinnati area. It’s time for a formal boycott of Wade’s restaurants. BOYCOTT WADE!! And incidentally, Hamilton County courts typically will not enforce non-competes, particularly when the agreement deprives a person of making a livelihood at their trade.

  • johhny121

    The news anchor for one of the tv stations had a non-compete and waited like 8 months to switch. Ohio is however typically one of the hardest states on non-compete clauses…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

  • vudutu

    This is really disturbing on a lot of levels, just when I thought we were moving on. Personally, myself, and I think a lot of other people, want to like where they have gone recently with Chalk and Local 127. They alienated a lot of diners with the way they treated JR (real or perceived) and they need to move on.

  • Jonathan Quail Higgins

    Marty is a coward. He knows that JR’s new restaurant will spell the end for Jeanro, Lavamatic and maybe Local 127 as well. He’s trying to bully JR. I think that he’ll find that our loveable Frenchman won’t back down this time. There is more than one lawyer willing to help JR in exchange for meals!

  • Donna

    So hasn’t it been almost a year??? Would it be worth throwing money at attorneys to delay the opening of JR’s restaurant? They need to let it go. Concentrate on making your product better instead of messing with someone else. Karma happens.

  • http://gourmetorgourmand.blogspot.com Lesley

    His last meal at Pigalls was mid-February, so we’re talking about a few months at the most. Martin Wade is an arse and a former victim of the schoolyard bully who still hasn’t gotten over it.
    .-= Lesley´s last blog ..Cincinnati’s "Via Vite" e molto BENE!! =-.

  • LiveFarAwayVisitOften

    JR is a terrible businessman although a very good chef. In business, it is best to read your contracts. If he can’t look at his own, he won’t be reading the lease, the purchase orders, the loan docs, the permits from the City, etc, etc. He plays the celebrity victim well. Or, you all play it for him. Jeesh!

    • binarycode

      JR most likely partnered with Wade thinking that he would bring the business component to the equation. Instead it seems that Wade took advantage of JR’s flaws; who ssaid JR was a victim? Business always recognizes the disparity between parties to a venture. Would you have everyone be a business person- a lawyer and cook? It does not work that way; good business, especially the restaurant business, happens when people of diverse talents come together. Wade wants to take credit for something he was never good at, and JR was most likely never put in a position where he could develop as a business person.. his name brought the dollars and Wade, the consumate business person that he clearly is not, seems to have wasted all that good will. Jeesh is right! what a waste of money.

  • LiveFarAwayVisitOften

    Well, a waste of money may be the correct statement. Lets see, maybe the reverse logic is that JR wants to take credit for something he was never good at (business) and Wade was never put in a position where he could develop as a creative person? Then, JR would have had to stand on his own and never be helped to “develop as a business person.” In the hotel/motel industry, this is not a charity or bailout business.

    I welcome all old and new restaurants in the Queen City and hope they survive. Breaking even and/or making a profit, and hopefully, even having a great meal, are all critical. Time will tell with JR, but those of us in the hotel/motel business world have an office pool on how long till he is so in the red, he will go back to a regular and steady paycheck of the university system, with deep pockets.

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