DP1

DecisionPoint
http://proethica.org/ontology/cases#DecisionPoint

DP1

Should Firm B's engineers solicit former clients of Engineer A generally, restrict solicitation only to clients for whom none of them held specialized project knowledge, or refrain from all former-client solicitation pending ethics guidance?

Four engineers departed Firm A simultaneously, formed Firm B, and then solicited former clients of Engineer A. The core question is whether this general solicitation of former clients — where no active contract or formal selection/negotiation was underway — constituted an ethical violation of the supplanting prohibition or was permissible competitive activity under free enterprise principles. A secondary constraint applies where any departing engineer held specialized project-specific knowledge about a given client's work.

Proceed with general solicitation of all former clients of Engineer A where no active contract exists, but refrain from competing for specific projects on which any Firm B principal gained particular project-specific knowledge during employment at Firm A, unless all interested parties consent.

Treat all former-client solicitation as permissible competitive activity under the free enterprise principle, on the ground that general professional familiarity and personal client relationships — not confidential project data — are the basis of solicitation, and that no contractual non-compete restricts this activity.

Refrain from soliciting any former client of Engineer A until consent of all interested parties is obtained, on the ground that the personal relationships and project familiarity developed during employment are inseparable from specialized knowledge and that the ethical risk of inadvertent knowledge exploitation is too high to manage through self-policing.

Firm B Engineers (Four Departing Engineers)