Ex-employee poaching my clients, what can I do?

Q. I run an accountancy firm. One of my employees who has worked for me for 5 years has now left and set up in competition. He has been contacting my clients directly with a view to poaching them. What can I do to stop him?

A. The contract of employment should contain the necessary terms preventing your employee from using, copying or disclosing any confidential information, including clients of your firm either during his appointment or at any time following the termination of his employment.

Cases such as these are usually very urgent. As such it may be necessary to make an application for an urgent injunction to prevent the employee from using the client list and from enticing any further clients pending a trial. Where an injunction is awarded, any further attempts by the employee to use that list or approach your clients could be in contempt of Court.

Kally Singh, partner

*This article was previously published in the Peterborough Telegraph