Claims for damages against Tysers and three former employees dismissed

The High Court has ruled against Lonmar Global Risks and in favour of Tyser & Co in a long-running poaching battle between the rival Lloyd's brokers.

Lonmar, previously SBJ Global Risks, claimed for damages against former employees Barrie West, Laurence Niel Mee and Stephen Karpus, claiming they had breached their contracts of employment when accounts switched hands. It also claimed damages from Tysers.

Lonmar had sought £2.5m from each of the defendants for losses it claimed to have suffered following the alleged team move by a number of its employees to Tyser.

In the case Lonmar Global Risks v West and others, lasting three weeks, Mr Justice Higginbottom yesterday dismissed the claim against all the defendants, finding no evidence of breach of contract beyond admissions made on behalf of the first defendant and found that Lonmar had not suffered a loss from alleged defendant misconduct.

Lonmar first issued a writ on 8 July 2009, claiming that accounts worth more than £300,000 were transferred between the two companies by staff prevented from doing so by contractual restrictions, as reported by Insurance Times in August 2009.

The judgement was detailed in a statement from Tysers's solicitor Littleton. Both Lonmar and Tysers could not be reached for comment.

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