How Oklahoma treats non-competes
Oklahoma bans agreements that stop someone working in the same industry, but it draws the line differently from the other void states. Its statute expressly preserves the ability to restrict direct solicitation of a former employer's established customers. So a departing veterinarian in Oklahoma is free to practise nearby — and may still be restricted in whom they approach.
What that means in practice
- Agreements preventing someone from working in the same industry are prohibited.
- The statute expressly permits non-solicitation agreements covering the direct solicitation of established customers of a former employer.
- This split matters more in veterinary medicine than in many fields, because clients frequently follow an individual practitioner rather than a practice.
- "Non-competes are banned here" is therefore an incomplete reading of an Oklahoma agreement — the restriction may simply be in a different clause.
Non-solicitation is a separate question
Oklahoma is the clearest illustration in the country that non-compete and non-solicitation are separate instruments: it prohibits one while expressly permitting the other.
General information, not legal advice
Start with the mechanics
The reasonableness test, what a radius is measured from, the access-to-care argument, and the difference between a non-compete and a non-solicitation clause are covered in the national guide to veterinary non-competes. Read that first — this page only covers what is specific to Oklahoma.
Other states
Only states we have researched and dated appear here. Others are added in batches rather than generated in bulk — see the national guide for why.