Mark Shoffner, Brent Hockaday and Mason Jones secured a complete defense victory on behalf of three departing partners of a national public accounting firm against allegations of trade secret misappropriation, breach of fiduciary duty and violations of non-compete agreements.

After a five-day final hearing, the arbitrator denied all requested relief – including a request to cancel the firm’s future payment obligations to the departed partners – and entered a take-nothing judgment and final award in favor of Bell Nunnally’s clients. The arbitrator also substantially reformed and narrowed the restrictive covenants in response to arguments and defenses under the Texas Covenants Not to Compete Act.

In addition, one of the departed partners asserted and prevailed on a breach of fiduciary duty counterclaim and secured significant damages against members of the accounting firm’s compensation committee.