Junkermier, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, P.C. v. Alborn, Uithoven, Riekenberg, P.C.

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Junkermeir, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, P.C. (Junkermeir) was a Montana accounting firm with offices in several Montana cities. Junkermeir lost its Bozeman branch office after the majority of its Bozeman shareholders decided to start their own firm, taking a significant number of Junkermier’s clients with them. Junkermeir filed a complaint against the former shareholders, claiming breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. The district court dismissed the breach of contract claim on summary judgment, concluding that the contractual covenant restricting competition that Junkermeir sought to enforce was unenforceable. After a trial, the district court ruled that most of the former shareholders owed no legal duty to Junkermeir and that while the remaining former shareholder breached his fiduciary duty to Junkermeir, Junkermeir failed to prove awardable damages from that breach. The Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part, holding that the district court (1) erred in ruling that the agreement was not an enforceable contract; and (2) did not err in concluding that only one former shareholder breached a fiduciary duty but erred in concluding that Junkermeir was not entitled to collect any damages stemming from that breach. View "Junkermier, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, P.C. v. Alborn, Uithoven, Riekenberg, P.C." on Justia Law