Tightening labor markets and high demand for key employees increase pressure on employers to enforce covenants not to compete. Those enforcement actions, though, carry heavy and immediate economic and non-economic costs and risks, particularly in seeking immediate injunctive relief. Attorney fees mount quickly because the work necessary for a temporary injunction compresses work done typically over a year in other litigation into less than a month. The employer should consider how it wants to achieve its goals and limit the exorbitant costs and risks of noncompete litigation. Therefore, before sending a demand letter or filing suit, former employers should not only prepare for temporary injunctive relief, but also determine how to reach an early, cost-effective resolution before the temporary injunction hearing.