If I switch companies is it legal for me to take clients with me?

The answer generally dependso on the nature of your position, this company's business, and any trade secrets and other rights they have that could be impacted. Just because you did not sign a confidentiality agreement does not necessarily mean you are free to take clients or do other actions that may harm your former employer. You need an attorney to review your exact situation and provide legal advice. This will much less costly than trying to defend a potential lawsuit. Look at VA employment lawyers here or contact your local bar association referral program.

You have some obligation to confidentiality with or without an agreement. Under VA law, were you to take any confidential information, you could be liable under the VA Trade Secrets Act. You can probably advise clients that you have left to go to XYZ company and advise that you are willing to continue to serve them. I would be certain, however, to advise that the choice is theirs. Although you have no agreement, you do have a common law duty to your employer, so you need to act cautiously. However, I see nothing to restrict you from advising clients where you have gone.

The first two answers are good. I would only add that if you were a director of the company, then you have a fiduciary duty to the company and its shareholders. An immediate raid on its cusotrmers would breach that duty adn could get you sued.

In Virginia, while you are on the Company's payroll, you have a duty to act for the company's best interest. While different lawyers may have different opinions, in my opinion you should not contact clients of your employer while still employed to advise them of where you are going. Once you are no longer working for a company, whether you can contact its former customers depends on a number of factors. For example, if there were a handful of customers that you dealt with several times a week, and you knew their contact info by heart, it would not necessarily be wrong to call them after you have started you new job to let them know where you are. On the other hand, it would be improper to print out a complete customer list and start contacting those customers, since the list is the property of your old company. In addition, even if it was legal to call a handful of contacts that you knew personally after you left, it would be improper to disclose or use confidential info to compete. For example if the pricing offered to customers is not known to the public, it would be improper to call a former customer of your old company and offer to provide the same service for a few pennies less than the old company, since no other competitor would know that info. As the others suggested, you should sit down and talk it out with a lawyer, it should only take an hour or two to go over the rules.