A three-month post-employment restraint on an investment adviser dealing with clients with whom they had direct dealings in the previous 12 months is a reasonable restraint of trade, even where the restraint is Australia-wide and includes former clients, where the employer has a legitimate interest in protecting its client base. Where an employer requires departing employees to leave immediately and its solicitors write treating them as former employees, the employer will likely be found to have accepted the repudiation and cannot enforce a negative covenant against working elsewhere during the notice period.
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