West Coast Cambridge, Inc., v. Rice,
No. A03A0813 (Ga. App. July 2, 2003)

A urologist joined a partnership which purchased a lithotripter to be leased by various hospitals on a rotating basis. As a part of the partnership agreement, the urologist signed a noncompete agreement indicating that he would not engage in a similar business for a three-year period of time within a fifty (50) mile radius of the locations serviced. The urologist subsequently entered into another lithotripsy partnership and the first partnership brought suit. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the urologist on the basis that noncompete agreements were unenforceable as a matter of law. The trial court also found that, since there had been a change in ownership within the first partnership, the noncompete agreement could not be reassigned to the new partners. However, the appellate court reversed the summary judgment in part, stating that this situation was like the sale of a business and, as such, deserved the least degree of scrutiny. The appellate court remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether the urologist had violated the noncompete agreement.