Texas physician non-compete law
Texas sharply limits physician non-competes.
Texas treats physician non-competes with heavy skepticism and narrows or sets aside restrictions that reach too far. Restrictions that tend to stand here run about 5 miles and 12 months; terms beyond that are the most vulnerable. Before you sign, pull the radius and term to the low end of what the state lets stand, and make sure the clause covers only the sites where you actually worked.
- Posture
- Enforceable, but physician-specific statutory caps (1-yr / 5-mi / salary-capped buyout)
- Last reviewed
- 2026-06-10
- Radius that tends to stand
- 5 miles
- Term that tends to stand
- 12 months
Governing law: Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 15.50(b) (as amended by SB 1318, eff. 9/1/2025); new 15.501 (dentists, nurses, PAs); 15.52
These are the general rules for Texas. 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
Sadler Clinic Ass'n, P.A. v. Hart (2013, Tex. App.—Beaumont (9th Dist.)) — Held that if a physician contends the contractual buyout price is unreasonable, the remedy is binding arbitration to set a reasonable price, not voiding the covenant; covenant remained enforceable subject to arbitration. Note: SB 1318 superseded this arbitrated 'reasonable price' mechanism by imposing a salary-capped buyout, but the case remains accurate as pre-2025 framework.
The detailed picture
Physician non-competes are enforceable only if they satisfy the special requirements of Bus. & Com. Code 15.50(b). SB 1318 (signed 6/20/2025; eff. Sept. 1, 2025, for agreements entered or renewed on/after that date) hardened these: max 1-year duration, max 5-mile radius from the physician's primary practice location, and a mandatory buyout capped at the physician's total annual salary and wages at termination (replacing the old arbitrated "reasonable price"); terms must be clear and conspicuous in writing; and the covenant is void if the physician is involuntarily discharged without good cause. The statute preserves longstanding access-to-records and acute-patient continuity-of-care requirements, and new 15.501 extends similar limits to dentists, professional/vocational nurses, and PAs. General reasonableness under 15.50(a)/15.51 still applies on top.
Common questions
Are physician non-competes enforceable in Texas?
Texas sharply limits physician non-competes. Governing law: Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 15.50(b) (as amended by SB 1318, eff. 9/1/2025); new 15.501 (dentists, nurses, PAs); 15.52.
How far and how long can a Texas physician non-compete reach?
Restrictions that tend to stand here run about 5 miles and 12 months; terms beyond that are the most vulnerable. The radius and term in your specific contract decide how it lands — check your own clause.
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.