Restraint of Trade and Breach of Restrictive Covenants
Many employees have terms in their employment contracts which are designed to prevent them from commercially competing with their former employers or making use of their former employer’s confidential information after they leave. These terms are often called Restrictive Covenants. Such terms seek to prevent the former employee from:
- Working for competitors;
- Setting up in business in competition with their former employer;
- Seeking to do business with customers and suppliers of their former employer;
- Seeking to employ former colleagues;
- Making use of confidential information belonging to their former employer.
In extreme cases where a former employee’s actions may cause substantial damage to their former employer’s business, the former employer may issue urgent proceedings for an injunction.
Whether you are an employee facing a claim for breaching such a term, or an employer looking to enforce these sorts of terms we can provide you with commercially focused advice on the options available to you.
Examples of cases handled by solicitors in our dispute resolution department include:
- Representing a national recruitment agency in claim for an injunction against a former director after he resigned from his employment and sought to do business with a number of his former employer’s clients and retained confidential information, including client lists, belonging to his employer.
- Defending a former employee in a claim for an injunction and damages exceeding £100,000 when she resigned from her employment and set up a new company with a colleague in competition with her former employer.
- Representing a large telecommunications company in a claim against a former director and shareholder who, following his dismissal, continued to make use of his former employer’s confidential information and software secrets.
We offer tailored advice to suit your objectives. Our team represent clients in Devon, Bristol, the South West and throughout the UK. We have experience of resolving disputes informally, through mediation and at trial.