After a coordinated resignation, eight former Herbert
Smith Freehills ran FREE for the HILLS (don't you just love
puns!) to take up shop at White & Case, a big wig Wall Street
firm that's trying to crack our Australian shores.
Stung like spurned lovers, the rest of the HSF partners rushed
off to court seeking an urgent injunction to stop the runaway
defectors in their tracks, relying on the restraints in two
partnership agreements.
We hear that HSF was seeking to enforce 14 clauses across the
two agreements, which make us think that someone over there needs
to revisit their approach to drafting. However, the restraints
essentially boiled down to your typical prohibition on poaching
staff and clients, and non-competition that would prevent the
former partners from joining a competitor like White & Case for
a period.
