An assistant employed by a sole practitioner solicitor undertook as part of his duties work brought in by an important client. The client having said that if he left to set up on his own account he would transfer his business, the assistant handed in his notice and did so. And the client did follow him. The sole practitioner sued for breach of the implied terms of the contract of employment that the assistant would serve him with good faith and fidelity. The defence was that it was the client who had initiated the arrangement.
Held: It did not matter. Even were it to be so, the assistant having accepted the client’s offer whilst he was still employed by another and not having informed his employer of the offer was in breach.
Havers J said: ‘Now in my view there was a duty on the defendant at all times during the substance of the (employment) agreement to protect his master’s interests, especially to do his best to retain Mr Tully as a client for his master …. I am satisfied that in accepting the offer, by such conduct the defendant was guilty of breach of duty in regard to the agreement implied therein by law that the defendant would serve the plaintiff with good faith and fidelity.’ and ‘In my view it was the duty of the defendant to have reported this dissatisfaction of the secretary to his principal to give him an opportunity, as far as he could, to satisfy her. Instead of forwarding his principal’s interests he was concerned only in promoting his own. He made this alternative offer to Mrs Stanford which she accepted and the result of it and the result of that alone was that she left Mr Sanders and joined the defendant. That was in my view a breach of contract’
Judges:
Havers J
Citations:
[1967] 1 WLR 753
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Dass Solicitors v Southcott ChD 2-Apr-2009
The claimant solicitors said that the defendant employed solicitor had sought to leave without giving the required three months’ notice and had sought to persuade clients of the firm to go to his new practice. Application was made on a without . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Legal Professions, Employment
Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.375144