Advising furniture supplier on economic tort claim

Our dispute resolution team was instructed by a supplier of high value domestic furniture when its business was threatened by a competitor.

By making unsolicited tele-marketing calls to subscribers registered with the telephone preference service which enabled it to reduce its cost base, this company was able to gain a competitive advantage over our client and to attract some of its top sales representatives through offers of higher rates of commission. We argued that this involved the commission of the economic tort of causing loss to our client by unlawful means and that such conduct was also independently actionable in the tort of conspiracy involving the competitor company and its senior managers.

Against the backdrop of litigation, our client was able to turn its business around. The competitor company stopped its campaign of targeting our client's sales personnel. Morale improved within the business, our client recruited new sales representatives and undertook a range of measures to incentivise staff.

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