Aon and Howden settle lawsuit

A lawsuit that Aon filed against Howden US Services has been settled.

The complaint, filed on 11 December 2025 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleged a coordinated raid involving the theft of confidential information and the simultaneous resignation of seven long-tenured staff at a time when Howden seemingly accelerated its entry into the US retail insurance broker market.

The following day, a US district judge temporarily restricted Howden US Service from soliciting and recruiting Aon employees after finding “good cause” to act, pending a hearing.

However, the case has now been settled. A joint statement from Aon and Howden said: “Aon’s claims against Howden have been settled on terms which are confidential between the parties.”

Both firms said that they had nothing further to comment.

Brown and Brown case

Meanwhile, Brown and Brown also filed a lawsuit against Howden US Services.

The Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts issued a company-wide temporary restraining order on 29 December 2025 after it was claimed 200 employees left overnight on 18 December.

The court said the plaintiffs had demonstrated a “substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits” of their claims and that irreparable harm would result without intervention.

The order restrained individual defendants from soliciting or inducing Brown and Brown staff to join Howden and from soliciting or servicing clients they had worked with during the previous 24 months.

It also required the return of confidential information and company devices within seven days.