An employer in the IT consulting industry has a legitimate interest in protecting customer connections where consultants are deployed to client premises for extended periods, even where the client is a large company and the consultant works as part of a team. However, a restraint clause that extends beyond clients to whom the employee actually provided services to include clients with whom the employee merely had contact is unreasonable in extent. A 12-month restraint may be unreasonable in the IT consulting context given the dynamic nature of IT projects and the opportunity for replacement consultants to establish rapport quickly. A deliberate forensic decision not to pursue a severance argument at trial will preclude raising it on appeal, particularly where the respondent would suffer prejudice.
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