Kieran Corrigan & Co Limited v Onee Group Limited & Ors
[2024] EWHC 2146 (Ch)
Celebrity Speakers Limited v David Daniel & Ors
25 August 2023
[2023] EWHC 2158 (KB)
High Court
A speaker agency sued its ex-director and his friend for stealing client information to start a rival company. They lost in court and have to pay a lot of money in damages and can't use the stolen information anymore.
Key Facts
- •Celebrity Speakers Limited (CSL) sued David Daniel (former director), Andrew Leighton-Pope, and D&A Associates Limited for breach of contract and misappropriation of confidential information.
- •Daniel and Leighton-Pope set up D&A, a competing speaker bureau, while still employed/engaged by CSL.
- •Daniel misused his CSL access to the Confidential Database containing client and speaker information.
- •Leighton-Pope, although lacking database access, was complicit in the scheme.
- •Defendants' statement of case was struck out due to non-compliance with court orders.
- •CSL claimed damages for lost commission from diverted bookings (primarily Bruce Dickinson's) and for interference with its database.
Legal Principles
Default judgment establishes liability for *some* damage, but causation of specific heads of loss remains open to the defendant.
New Century Media v Makhlay [2013] EWHC 3566 (QB), John Turner v P.E Toleman (1999), Lunnun v Singh (1999), and subsequent cases.
Statement of value in claim form does not limit the court's power to award higher damages.
CPR 16.3(7), Harrath v Stand for Peace Ltd [2017] EWHC
Restrictive covenants are interpreted to give business sense, and reasonableness is assessed considering proximity to termination.
Service Agreement, Clause 14
A duty of good faith and to refrain from commercially unacceptable conduct can exist even without an express non-compete clause.
Particulars of Claim, paragraph 25-27
Damages are assessed as best as possible even with difficulties in quantification caused by defendant's actions.
Morris-Garner v One Step (Support) Ltd [2019] AC 649, One Step at [37] and [38]
Negotiating damages can compensate for the economic value of a breached right.
Morris-Garner v One Step (Support) Ltd [2019] AC 649
Outcomes
Damages awarded for lost commission related to Dickinson's bookings: £160,383.
CSL provided sufficient evidence, deducting commissions payable to Daniel and Leighton-Pope, to demonstrate lost profits.
No additional damages awarded for other lost bookings.
Insufficient evidence presented to support the claimed £50,000 loss.
Negotiating damages awarded for database interference: £50,000.
The database was a valuable asset, and the awarded sum reflects a hypothetical licensing fee.
Injunctions granted against all defendants to restrain further use and disclosure of confidential information.
Necessary to prevent ongoing misuse of the data and avoid double compensation.
Interest awarded at 1% over base rate on damages.
To compensate CSL for the delayed receipt of funds, reflecting potential borrowing costs.
Total damages awarded: £220,453.22 (including interest and additional court fees).
Summation of damages, negotiating damages, and interest.
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