As a result of the instability in the financial markets generally and at financial institutions in particular, the financial services industry has experienced significant turnover in 2008. The below chartrecently found in the New York Times reflects that the financial services industry has experienced more layoffs than any other industry.

  

 

Because of the importance of relationships between brokers and other customer-facing personnel in the financial services industry on the one hand and customers on the other, restrictive covenants are commonplace in the industry. These covenants typically take the form of: (1) customer non-solicitation covenants, in which employees agree not to solicit the clients of their former employees for a set period of time; and (2) non-disclosure covenants, in which employees agree not to use confidential information such as client lists and account or trading information.

It is likely that the significant turnover in the financial services industry will lead to an increase in the number of disputes between financial firms and their former employers, especially as those employees who were laid off find new positions in the industry and seek to mine relationships with former customers. (The obvious exception here is that employees laid off by liquidating financial institutions do not face the prospect of being sued by their former employers.)

an additional factor that can lead to an increase in restrictive covenant litigation in the financial services industry is the prevalence of larger firms buying smaller or distressed firms. Acquisitions of new companies often lead to restrictive covenant litigation because the employees of the purchased company find themselves working in a new work culture. A common scenario in such a situation is for the employee to bristle at the new culture, leave the company shortly after the acquisition, and then solicit their former clients. 

One factor that will reduce the tide of restrictive covenant litigation is the Protocol for Broker Recruiting. The Protocol, which has been signed by a number of (but by no means all) financial services institutions, identifies with particularity the information that departing brokers may take to their new employers. The Protocol also sets forth the clients that departing brokers may solicit after leaving. The Protocol was created for the purpose of reducing litigation between financial institutions and normalizing the process of broker movement. As such, it becomes especially important in the current environment for financial services institutions.