STOCKBROKER / FINANCIAL ADVISOR RECRUITMENT AND DEPARTURE

A move by a stockbroker / financial advisor from one broker-dealer to another can carry with it the risk of an expensive multi-faceted litigation which can begin with an emergency request for injunctive relief in a state or federal court and end with a multi-session FINRA arbitration hearing. From handling hundreds of such matters throughout the last two decades, the financial services litigation attorneys at West, Edwards & Associates have direct experience addressing the key issues which are involved in such matters:

• Whether the move involves broker-dealers that are signatories to the Broker Recruitment Protocol.
• Whether any of the broker-dealers involved have filed side letters attempting to clarify the extent of involvement in the Protocol.
• Whether the non-solicitation, confidentiality, and / or non-compete clauses at issue are potentially unenforceable in the jurisdiction involved and/or under the law applicable to the agreement at issue.
• Whether a potential raiding claim may exist.
• Whether there may have been violations of any ancillary statutes such as those relating to trade secrets, computer fraud and abuse, or confidentiality of customer financial information.
• Whether certain aspects of the applicable employment agreement or other agreement at issue may be void as against public policy.
• Whether the stockbroker / financial advisor has switched broker-dealers before and, if so, what the broker-dealer he is leaving encouraged him to do at the time he joined them.
• Whether there are any team agreements or retiring stockbroker/financial advisor agreements involved.