By Helen Kearney
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - A top adviser team from Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown will be able to start new jobs at a unit of Barclays Plc after they settled a lawsuit with their former employer.
Scott Zelnick, Patrick McBrien and Heidi Guldbrandsen, who generated over $15 million a year for Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown, joined Barclays Wealth on April 16. But Deutsche Bank AG stopped them from leaving with an injunction in the New York State Supreme Court alleging they had not given 60 days notice, as required by their employment contracts.
On April 21, Judge Bernard Fried of the New York State Supreme Court, ordered the advisers to return to Deutsche Bank to serve out the notice period.
But on Friday, a spokeswoman for Barclays Wealth confirmed there had been a settlement, although she declined to say when the advisers would start at Barclays, or even when the settlement was reached. A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman also confirmed a settlement had been reached.
Neither Deutsche Bank nor Barclays are signatories to the Protocol of Broker Recruiting, said Thomas Lewis, an attorney with Stark & Stark, who was not involved with this case.
Under the Protocol, participating firms allow departing advisers to take basic client contact details when they leave.
Boutique wealth management firms, such as Deutsche and Barclays, tend to recruit fewer people and are more concerned about holding on to talent, Lewis said.
'These firms don't want to join the Protocol because they're afraid they will lose people en masse,' Lewis added.
The settlement was first reported by Investment News.
(Reporting by Helen Kearney; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: BARCLAYS/DEUTSCHE (helen.kearney@thomsonreuters +1 646 223-6124; Reuters Messaging: helen.kearney.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - A top adviser team from Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown will be able to start new jobs at a unit of Barclays Plc after they settled a lawsuit with their former employer.
Scott Zelnick, Patrick McBrien and Heidi Guldbrandsen, who generated over $15 million a year for Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown, joined Barclays Wealth on April 16. But Deutsche Bank AG stopped them from leaving with an injunction in the New York State Supreme Court alleging they had not given 60 days notice, as required by their employment contracts.
On April 21, Judge Bernard Fried of the New York State Supreme Court, ordered the advisers to return to Deutsche Bank to serve out the notice period.
But on Friday, a spokeswoman for Barclays Wealth confirmed there had been a settlement, although she declined to say when the advisers would start at Barclays, or even when the settlement was reached. A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman also confirmed a settlement had been reached.
Neither Deutsche Bank nor Barclays are signatories to the Protocol of Broker Recruiting, said Thomas Lewis, an attorney with Stark & Stark, who was not involved with this case.
Under the Protocol, participating firms allow departing advisers to take basic client contact details when they leave.
Boutique wealth management firms, such as Deutsche and Barclays, tend to recruit fewer people and are more concerned about holding on to talent, Lewis said.
'These firms don't want to join the Protocol because they're afraid they will lose people en masse,' Lewis added.
The settlement was first reported by Investment News.
(Reporting by Helen Kearney; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: BARCLAYS/DEUTSCHE (helen.kearney@thomsonreuters +1 646 223-6124; Reuters Messaging: helen.kearney.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.