Edelman Financial Engines is suing a former advisor, Scott Butera, for poaching clients and breaching his contract after abruptly leaving and joining LPL Financial.
According to the suit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Southern Division, Edelman asserts that Butera misappropriated Edelman's trade secret, confidential and proprietary information and breached his contract.
Butera, according to the suit, "also agreed that he would not solicit, engage in, perform, divert, or accept any business from Edelman clients he had serviced or solicited on behalf of Edelman for fifteen months after his employment ended."
In the nearly one month since Butera resigned, "at least 21 client accounts" that Butera formerly serviced at Edelman have transferred their business to Butera Wealth Management and LPL Financial, the suit states.
Butera Wealth Management, based in Bethesda, Maryland, provides advisory services through LPL Financial.
A request for comment from Butera was not received by press time.
After 16 years of employment with Edelman, Butera "suddenly resigned, with no prior notice, on May 12, 2022," the law suit states.
