New Mexico physician non-compete law
Physician non-competes are generally not enforceable in New Mexico.
If your contract is governed by New Mexico law, a physician non-compete is generally void — the state does not let an employer restrict where you practice after you leave. The clause may still appear in your contract; that alone does not make it enforceable. Confirm the restriction is tied to employment (not the sale of a practice or an ownership stake), and don't let an unenforceable clause talk you out of a move it cannot actually block.
- Posture
- Banned for physicians (statutory)
- Last reviewed
- 2026-06-10
- Radius that tends to stand
- —
- Term that tends to stand
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Governing law: NMSA 1978, § 24A-4-2 (recompiled eff. July 1, 2024 from former § 24-1I-2)
These are the general rules for New Mexico. Your contract's exact radius, term, and buyout decide how it actually lands. See how your own clause compares — free.
Check your contract — free →The detailed picture
By statute, a non-compete restricting a "health care practitioner" (physicians and osteopathic physicians are squarely covered) from providing clinical health care services in NM is unenforceable upon termination, renewal, or end of employment — a categorical ban (NMSA § 24A-4-2). The covered-practitioner list (§ 24A-4-1) is broad: dentists, physicians, osteopathic physicians, podiatric physicians, CRNAs, certified nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, plus psychologists, PAs and pharmacists added by 2023 HB 385, and veterinarians added by 2025 HB 366. Two carve-outs remain: a limited non-solicitation covenant of one year or less is enforceable, and the ban does not apply to agreements among practitioners who are shareholders/owners/partners/directors of a practice (§ 24A-4-5). Repayment (loan/relocation/bonus/training), confidentiality, and reasonable liquidated-damages clauses also survive (§ 24A-4-3); out-of-state choice-of-law/venue clauses are void. The provision was recompiled into the new Health Care Code (Ch. 24A, Art. 4) effective July 1, 2024 with no substantive change. No 2024-2026 amendment altered the physician ban; the only Article 4 amendment in that window (2025 HB 366) merely added veterinarians and corrected "podiatrist" to "podiatric physician." The 2026 session (e.g. HB 150, a PA scope-of-practice bill; HB 99 malpractice reform) did not touch physician non-competes.
Common questions
Are physician non-competes enforceable in New Mexico?
Physician non-competes are generally not enforceable in New Mexico. Governing law: NMSA 1978, § 24A-4-2 (recompiled eff. July 1, 2024 from former § 24-1I-2).
My New Mexico contract still has a non-compete — does that matter?
A clause can appear in a contract without being enforceable. Under New Mexico law a physician employment non-compete is generally void, so confirm the restriction is not tied to a practice sale or ownership interest, and check your own contract's exact wording.
Other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Non-compete enforceability turns on the exact wording of your contract and your circumstances; this page describes the state's general posture as last reviewed 2026-06-10.