Marsh USA, a leading insurance broker, has turned to a New York court seeking to halt what it describes as a coordinated effort by rival Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and several former Marsh employees to siphon off its aviation and space insurance clients using confidential information.
According to a lawsuit filed in New York state court, Marsh accuses WTW, along with Garrett Hanrahan—Marsh’s outgoing global head of Aviation and Space Practice—and John Andrews, the outgoing managing director of the same group, of orchestrating a plan to recruit and solicit a significant number of brokers and clients from Marsh’s aviation division.
The complaint alleges that in late 2024 or early 2025, Hanrahan collaborated with John Rooley, WTW’s CEO of Global Aviation and Space Practice and Hanrahan’s former colleague, to recruit between 30 and 40 key members of Marsh’s Aviation and Space Practice across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Once these employees join WTW, they are said to be instructed to immediately solicit their former clients to move their accounts to WTW.
Marsh further claims that Rooley assured concerned Marsh employees that WTW would indemnify them against any legal consequences of breaching their employment agreements, even offering to cover settlements amounting to roughly twice the revenue generated from the solicited clients. “In short, WTW offered the targeted employees a blank check to disregard their restrictions,” the lawsuit states.
Following Hanrahan’s resignation effective May 12, 2025, five additional Marsh employees have stepped down, including Steve Kisor, Claudia Shipman, Elizabeth O’Raidy, and John Andrews, all of whom plan to join WTW. Marsh says it is aware of ongoing efforts by Hanrahan and Rooley to recruit more senior members of its aviation team.
The legal action lists claims such as breach of contract, breach of duty of loyalty, civil conspiracy, tortious interference, and aiding and abetting. Marsh and its parent company, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., are requesting temporary restraining orders and permanent injunctions to prevent further employee and client solicitation. They also seek to enforce confidentiality, employee non-solicitation, and customer non-solicitation agreements.
Marsh warns that the alleged conduct has caused, and will continue to cause, “irreparable” damage, including loss of revenue, wasted investments in employee training and client relationships, loss of institutional knowledge, and compromised trade secrets and cross-selling opportunities.
WTW declined to comment when approached by Insurance Journal.
This lawsuit highlights how fiercely competitive the insurance industry is, especially in niche sectors like aviation and space. The alleged tactics by WTW sound very aggressive.
If these allegations are true, it’s a serious breach of trust and ethics. Companies invest heavily in training and client relationships — poaching like this can cause huge damage.
Interesting to see how employee non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements play out in court. I wonder how this will affect future hiring practices in the insurance sector.
Marsh’s move to seek injunctions is a smart step to protect their business. It will be important to watch how the court handles the balance between employee mobility and contractual obligations.
If the allegations are true, Marsh has every right to defend its client relationships. Poaching undermines trust in the industry
This feels like typical corporate drama. Clients are free to choose who they want to work with — calling it ‘poaching’ might be overblown.
Hard to take sides without seeing the full legal details. These disputes usually reflect deeper competitive tensions in the industry.