how do I send out a mailer for finding employees without violating a non-compete agreement?

The disclaimer you propose seems like a good idea, but it will provide no guarantee that you won't be sued.  A better one might be (I don't know if its practical business-wise) to take out a general ad in a trade publication with contact information; then if one of your former employer's employees contacts you, they will arguably be soliciting you for a job offer, rather than you soliciting them in violation of your employment contract. Either way, you could be sued.  If what you write is true and you can prove it, it is likely that you will win the suit, but you will still have to spend time and money defending it (I assume that your employment contract didn't contain a provision requiring the loser of any lawsuit to pay the winner's attorneys' fees and legal costs).  Unfortunately, this is one of the main reasons why employers include restrictive covenants in their contracts.  Courts are often loathe to enforce a non-competition covenant (although more likely to enforce a non-solicitation covenant, particularly one dealing with anti-raiding of employees rather than non-solicitation of customers), but just the presence of such a clause, and the knowledge that it will cost time and money to defend a suit, often intimidates former employees from competing.