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Jury Verdict : Bury & Partners sued Mason, alleging breach of contract, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Bury & Partners claimed Mason's actions caused a client to break off a contract and to not bring expected future projects to the firm. It claimed this cost it $89,000 in past and expected future projects, and sought that amount plus attorney fees. In September 2005, plaintiff Bury & Partners, a Houston civil engineering firm, hired Deborah Mason, a civil engineer. Mason signed a non-compete agreement as a condition of her employment. She left the firm in March 2006 to establish her own firm and one of her intial clients was a Bury & Partners' client. Mason had been manager of the client's project for Bury & Partners. Bury & Partners sued Mason, alleging breach of contract, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of trade secrets. It claimed Mason was in breach of a clause in the non-compete agreement barring her from taking current Bury & Partners clients. It further claimed Mason's actions caused the client to break its existing contract with Bury & Partners and prevented prospective future contracts, constituting tortious interference. Mason denied she solicited the client in question. She claimed the non-compete agreement allowed her to take on clients she had known before starting at Bury & Partners, and that this applied to the client in question. She also claimed failure of consideration, justification and comparative responsibility. The misappropriation of trade secrets case was dropped before trial.

Full post as published by The Trade Secrets Vault on October 15, 2008 (boomark / email).