Former-Client Solicitation Permissibility Applied to Engineer A
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/171#Former-Client_Solicitation_Permissibility_Applied_to_Engineer_A
Properties
Instance of
Former-ClientSolicitationWithoutActive-ContractSupplantingPermissibilityPrinciple
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#Former-ClientSolicitationWithoutActive-ContractSupplantingPermissibilityPrinciple
Applied to
Engineer B's Clients Prospective Engineering Services Client Relying on Firm Brochure
Balancing with
Definite Steps Threshold for Engineer Supplanting Prohibition Activation
Loyalty
Concrete expression
Engineer A's notification to Engineer B's clients that he was starting a new firm and seeking future work is permissible to the extent those clients had no active, executed contracts with Engineer B for specific projects, because solicitation of uncontracted clients does not constitute supplanting.
Confidence
0.87
Importance
high
Interpretation
The ethical permissibility of Engineer A's solicitation hinges on whether Engineer B's clients had taken definite steps toward retaining Engineer B for specific projects; absent such steps, the solicitation is competitive but not unethical supplanting.
Invoked by
Engineer A Pre-Departure Client-Soliciting Termination-Notified Engineer
Tension resolution
Solicitation of clients without active contracts is resolved as permissible under free and open competition principles, even when conducted during the notice period following employer-initiated termination.
Source Evidence
Source text
Engineer A thereupon notified clients of Engineer B that Engineer A was planning to start another engineering firm and would appreciate being considered for future work.
Text references
Engineer A thereupon notified clients of Engineer B that Engineer A was planning to start another engineering firm and would appreciate being considered for future work.
TTL
@prefix case171: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/171#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
case171:Former-Client_Solicitation_Permissibility_Applied_to_Engineer_A a proeth:Former-ClientSolicitationWithoutActive-ContractSupplantingPermissibilityPrinciple,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Former-Client Solicitation Permissibility Applied to Engineer A" ;
proeth:appliedto "Engineer B's Clients Prospective Engineering Services Client Relying on Firm Brochure" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Definite Steps Threshold for Engineer Supplanting Prohibition Activation",
"Loyalty" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "Engineer A's notification to Engineer B's clients that he was starting a new firm and seeking future work is permissible to the extent those clients had no active, executed contracts with Engineer B for specific projects, because solicitation of uncontracted clients does not constitute supplanting." ;
proeth:confidence "0.87" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "171" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "facts" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-02T14:28:39.943101+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "171" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-02T14:28:39.943101+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "The ethical permissibility of Engineer A's solicitation hinges on whether Engineer B's clients had taken definite steps toward retaining Engineer B for specific projects; absent such steps, the solicitation is competitive but not unethical supplanting." ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer A Pre-Departure Client-Soliciting Termination-Notified Engineer" ;
proeth:principleclass "Former-Client Solicitation Without Active-Contract Supplanting Permissibility Principle" ;
proeth:sourcetext "Engineer A thereupon notified clients of Engineer B that Engineer A was planning to start another engineering firm and would appreciate being considered for future work." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Solicitation of clients without active contracts is resolved as permissible under free and open competition principles, even when conducted during the notice period following employer-initiated termination." ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineer A thereupon notified clients of Engineer B that Engineer A was planning to start another engineering firm and would appreciate being considered for future work." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 171 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-02T14:51:15.272027"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 171 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
171
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
facts
First discovered
2026-03-02T14:28:39.943101+00:00
First case
171
Generated
2026-03-02T14:28:39.943101+00:00
Attributed to
Case 171 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-02T14:51:15.272027
Generated by
ProEthica Case 171 Extraction