Meehan v. Shaughnessy
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
535 N.E.2d 1255 (1989)
Meehan and Boyle (plaintiffs), partners at Parker, Coulter, Daley & White (defendants), secretly began soliciting the firm's clients to join their planned new firm while still employed, met with a major client about transferring business, and drafted solicitation letters on firm letterhead, all while repeatedly denying to their partners that they intended to leave. After resigning, Boyle promptly sent his letters, then delayed for weeks in providing the list of clients he and Meehan intended to take so the firm could inform those clients they had a choice to stay, by which point Meehan and Boyle had already secured many clients' consent to switch firms; the trial court sided with Meehan and Boyle and rejected the firm's counterclaim for breach of fiduciary duty.
Whether it is a breach of fiduciary duty for partners, while still associated with a partnership, to secretly solicit the partnership's clients for their own gain while denying their intentions to the other partners.