Senior Associate Henna Elahi has provided comment in City AM on disputes involving major insurance firms concerning team or employee poaches, and how restrictive covenants are subsequently evolving.

Commenting on the rising enforcement of restrictive covenant clauses, Henna said: “Increasingly employers, especially those in the insurance sector, are responding with threats of litigation where entire teams are switching firms. Whole team moves bring along with them the risk of poaching clients and taking key information and knowledge, which can be seen as commercially threatening.

“Disputes and litigation testing the strength of restrictive covenants, such as non-competes, non- solicitation and confidentiality obligations, are subsequently also on the rise. Historically such clauses were not enforced very vigorously, but in sectors such as niche, high-value insurance brokerage, where specialist expertise is hard to find and retain, and the team itself is responsible for securing future business, the potential cost of litigation is a viable investment to secure the business of the employer.”

Commenting further, Henna said: “As a result of the increase in whole team moves, restrictive covenants in employment and consultancy service contracts have become more robust and wider ranging. They often now include ‘anti team-move’ warranties and clauses, and employers are increasingly more willing to initiate legal proceedings to protect their legitimate business interests and, at the same time, use this threat to slow down team moves. Threats of such litigation are used not only against outgoing or former employees but also prospective employers to prevent poaching and slow down the move.”

Henna’s comments were published both online and in print in City AM, 15 January 2026.