The court upheld a solicitor’s covenant restricting him from practising within ten miles of the firm for twelve months.
Held: The employee’s appeal against the upholding of the covenant as reasonable failed: ‘The claimant’s are a small firm with a local clientele, much of it being clients who are frequently in trouble with the law in all sorts of fashions, in crime, in matrimonial affairs, in motoring matters, frequently having extended families with children who are getting into trouble and new generations appearing from time to time that provide the staple work o a small solicitor in the provinces . . and other similar small towns . . Such clients frequently attach themselves to one firm and they and their families come back to the same firm throughout generations for their divorce cases and for their matrimonial troubles and for their petty crime and on occasions their more substantial crime.’ The court respected the county court’s judge’s knowledge of the local area.
Citations:
[2000] IRLR 712
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Allan Janes Llp v Johal ChD 23-Feb-2006
The claimant sought to enforce a restrictive covenant against the defendant a former assistant solicitor as to non-competition within a certain distance of the practice for a period of three years. After leaving she had sought to set up partnership . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 14 May 2022; Ref: scu.240035