Federal Court Grants Injunction Against Former Morgan Stanley Advisor Team
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
The Eccleston Law blog previously discussed the lawsuit filed by Morgan Stanley against its Former advisor team led by Wade Martin, as well as the counterclaim filed by the Martin team. On January 22, a federal court granted Morgan Stanley’s request for injunction and denied the Martin team’s counter claim, AdvisorHub reported.
Pursuant to the injunction, the Martin team is enjoined from soliciting their former clients, and is also required to return all client contact information they brought with them to RBC when they left Morgan Stanley. However, the prohibition on solicitation does not apply to clients that the Martin team serviced prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2010. According to a court filing by the Martin team, 80% of their book of business are clients they serviced prior to joining Morgan Stanley. The injunction will remain in-place until the FINRA arbitration panel rules on the case.
The counterclaim filed by the Martin team, was also denied by the court. The counterclaim sought an order prohibiting Morgan Stanley from attempting to retain certain clients that the Martin team serviced while at Morgan Stanley. The order entered by the court did not explain the reasoning for its decision aside from stating that “only the plaintiff has demonstrated that temporary injunctive relief is warranted.”
Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, morgan stanley, injunction, federal court