Brand Agency and Marketforce at loggerheads over Marshall move

Adam Marshall’s move from The Brand Agency to Marketforce could be the subject of legal action over timing.

Marshall had wanted leave the agency immediately upon resigning but The Brand Agency’s managing director, Steve Harris, told Campaign Brief he expects Marshall to honour his contract, under which he has to work out three months notice. That means he will remain a paid employee until the end of March. Harris said there is a further requirement that he has to wait another three months after leaving the agency before he can work for a competitor, which would be the end of June.

Whilst still not confirming (nor denying) Marshall was moving to theagency, Marketforce chairman John Driscoll said, on the face ofit, those conditions sounded like restraint of trade, however he wasn’tprivy to the specific details of Marshall’s contract with The Brand.Driscoll also said Harris had told him to expect a letter from theagency’s lawyers stipulating what Marshall’s contractual obligationswere.

If the obligations are enforceable and a compromise can’t be worked out, it means Marketforce would have to wait six months for their star media recruit to start.