The High Court has this morning handed down judgment in the blockbuster team move litigation between reinsurance giant Guy Carpenter (a Marsh McLennan company) and Willis Re (a new joint venture between global insurer, Willis Towers Watson, and Bain Capital). The claim alleged that 22 employees, including senior executives, were unlawfully poached from Guy Carpenter and sought injunctive relief to neuter their activity, and to prevent any further recruitment, to April 2027.
In a powerful, 125-page judgment, Birt J rejected the claim for injunctive relief in its entirety, marking a comprehensive defeat for Guy Carpenter. The carefully crafted counter-factual advanced by Willis Re, to the effect that all of the same consequences would have eventuated even without a certain measure of admitted unlawful conduct, was almost entirely accepted by the Court. Major team move cases commonly end in success for the Claimant employer. This judgment is one of the few to turn the tables.
Willis Re was represented by Jonathan Cohen KC, leading Matthew Sheridan, Grahame Anderson, Alex Francis and Amany Jabir, all of Littleton Chambers, instructed by Nicholas Dent and Richard Twomey of DWF LLP.
