[MarinaMartin]

IANAL, but based on many conversations on the topic and a few close friends' personal legal experiences, WA generally doesn't uphold non-competes unless they're very specific (in geographic area and in time).

If someone is encumbered a geographical non-compete and they're leaving another state where they signed a non-compete, I'm willing to bet that the court battle will actually be in the original state, so CA law wouldn't apply. But again, IANAL.

I'm anti-non-competes unless a truly specific case warrants it (for commissioned sales teams, for example... I think it's reasonable that your new salesperson can't come in, print off your leads and go off on his own the next day).