North Dakota physician non-compete law
Physician non-competes are generally not enforceable in North Dakota.
If your contract is governed by North Dakota 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 (statutory void)
- Last reviewed
- 2026-06-10
- Radius that tends to stand
- —
- Term that tends to stand
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Governing law: N.D.C.C. § 9-08-06
These are the general rules for North Dakota. Your contract's exact radius, term, and buyout decide how it actually lands. See how your own clause compares — free.
Check your contract — free →A case that shaped this
Werlinger v. Mutual Service Casualty Insurance Co. (1993, N.D. Supreme Court) — Held a covenant barring an insurance agent from selling any insurance within a 25-mile radius for one year void under § 9-08-06, illustrating ND's flat refusal to enforce employee non-competes. (Insurance-agent case, not physician-specific.)
The detailed picture
N.D.C.C. § 9-08-06 makes any contract restraining a person from exercising a lawful profession, trade, or business void, with only two narrow exceptions — sale of a business's goodwill and dissolution of a partnership/LLC/corporation (each limited to a reasonable geographic area and time). Employee non-competes, including physician/healthcare non-competes, are unenforceable; there is no physician-specific statute or carve-out, and the categorical general ban controls. The 2019 HB 1351 amendment only updated the sale/dissolution exceptions (reasonable area/time, applies to entities) and did not authorize employment non-competes; no 2023-2026 (68th or 69th Assembly) amendment changed the employment ban. Verified independently: the three cited cases are all real ND Supreme Court decisions, though all involve insurance agents/sales reps rather than physicians — they correctly illustrate ND's categorical refusal to enforce employee non-competes, which applies equally to physicians.
Common questions
Are physician non-competes enforceable in North Dakota?
Physician non-competes are generally not enforceable in North Dakota. Governing law: N.D.C.C. § 9-08-06.
My North Dakota contract still has a non-compete — does that matter?
A clause can appear in a contract without being enforceable. Under North Dakota 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.