Employee Competition

Paul Goulding QC is a leading silk in employment and sports law at Blackstone Chambers. He is a former Chairman of the Employment Lawyers Association, a Specialist Member of the Football Association Judicial Panel and has twice been shortlisted for The Lawyer Barrister of the Year Award.

1. Introduction ; Aim ; Structure of the book ; Restraint of trade ; 2. Duties ; Sources of duties ; Who owns duties? ; Good faith and fidelity ; Diverting business opportunities ; Companies Act 2006 ; Economic torts and the liabilities of third parties ; Team moves ; Checklist ; 3. Confidential Information and the Database Right ; The duty of confidence: an overview ; What is confidential information? ; Express confidentiality clauses ; Defences ; Remedies ; Database protection ; Checklist ; 4. Garden Leave ; Introduction ; The rule against specific performance of contracts of personal service ; The emergence of garden leave ; Garden leave clauses ; Imposition of garden leave by the employer ; Enforcement of garden leave by the court ; Checklist ; 5. Restrictive Covenants ; The general approach to restrictive covenants ; Incorporating and changing restrictive covenants ; Is it a restraint? ; Repudiation ; Construction ; Legitimate interests ; Reasonableness ; Severance ; Discretion ; Restrictive covenants and TUPE ; Checklist ; 6. Vendor-Purchaser Agreements, and Other Commercial Agreements ; Introduction ; Vendor-purchaser agreements ; Partnerships ; Other commercial agreements ; Checklist ; 7. The International Dimension ; Introduction ; The rules applicable to the relationship between employer and employee ; The international dimension and the recruiting employer ; Flow charts ; 8. Competition, Sport, Human Rights, and Intellectual Property Law ; Introduction ; Competition law ; Sports cases ; Human rights concepts ; Intellectual property ; 9. Pre-Action Steps ; Introduction ; The claimant employer ; The defendant employee ; The defendant employer ; 10. Injunctions and Other Interim Remedies ; Introduction ; Interim injunctions ; Other interim orders ; Final injunctions ; Contempt of court ; Checklist ; 11. Damages and Other Remedies ; Introduction ; Compensatory damages for the breach of contract ; Restitutionary or gain-based damages for breach of contract ; Contractual damages for breach of confidence ; Exemplary damages ; Liquidated damages ; An account of profits and equitable damages ; Delivery up and destruction orders ; Tracing ; Declarations ; Alternative remedies - making an election ; Remedies against a third party ; Interim payment ; Checklist ; 12. Practice and Procedure ; The Civil Procedure Rules ; Statements of case ; Applications for interim relief ; Disclosure ; Evidence ; Trial ; Judgements and orders ; Appeals ; Costs ; Mediations and settlement ; APPENDICES ; Appendix 1: Computer Forensic Investigations ; Appendix 2: Sample Employee Duties Clauses ; Appendix 3: Sample Confidential Information Clauses ; Appendix 4: Sample Garden Leave Clauses ; Appendix 5: Sample Particulars of Claim and Interim Injunction in Garden Leave Case ; Appendix 6: Drafting Restrictive Covenants: A Note ; Appendix 7: Sample Restrictive Covenants (Employment) ; Appendix 8: Sample Restrictive Covenants (Share and Business Sale and Partnership) ; Appendix 9: Sample Pre-Action Letters ; Appendix 10: Sample Witness Statement in Support of Application for Interim Injunction to Restrain Breach of Restrictive Covenant ; Appendix 11: Sample Prayer for Relief for Inclusion in Particulars of Claim ; Appendix 12: Summaries of Cases on Restrictive Covenants