R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-37-33

This is the official text of R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-37-33, part of Rhode Island’s Gen. Laws — part of the compiled statutory law of Rhode Island, published by the state as "Gen. Laws." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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§ 5-37-33. Restrictive covenants.

Official statutory text

(a) Any contract or agreement that creates or establishes the terms of a partnership, employment, or any other form of professional relationship with a physician licensed to practice medicine pursuant to this chapter that includes any restriction of the right of such physician to practice medicine shall be void and unenforceable with respect to said restriction; provided, however, that nothing herein shall render void or unenforceable the remaining provisions of any such contract or agreement.

(b) Restrictions rendered void under subsection (a) shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1) The right to practice medicine in any geographic area for any period of time after the termination of such partnership, employment, or professional relationship; and

(2) The right of such physician to provide treatment, advise, consult with, or establish a physician/patient relationship with any current patient of the employer; and

(3) The right of such physician to solicit or seek to establish a physician/patient relationship with any current patient of the employer.

(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the prohibition on physician covenants shall not apply in connection with the purchase and sale of a physician practice, provided the restrictive covenant and/or noncompete covenant is for a period of a time of no more than five (5) years.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.