Hightower has rejected a lawsuit against Darren Riainig, a former Hightower adviser, claiming he violated non-competitive agreements and stole trade secrets from the firm when he left three years ago.

In a statement of dismissal from the volunteer work filed with the Delaware District Court this week, Hightower said he was removing the lawsuit as the case is being fought in arbitration. According to the announcement, the American Arbitration Association has set an arbitration panel to hear the issue.

“I am glad that Hightower Advisors has rejected the lawsuit against me in the Delaware district,” Rainig told Linkedin.com. “I remain hope that a resolution can be achieved so that we can all continue.”

The court recently decided that Non-competitive deal between Hightower and Advisor Riainig was unhappily and invalid under the California law. But Hightower was still able to fight claims that he stole trade secrets from the firm.

San Diego, based in Calif Binig, was the founding partner of Delphi Private Advisors, a Hightower Ria won in 2019 and melted with LourdmurrayAnother California -based firm. However, a few years later, Rinig decided to leave and recorded a new RIA with the SEC. When he started working in Hightower, Rinig signed a contract including confidentiality, non-competitive and non-promotional mandates.

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He underwent a two-year non-competition, which took place by the end of December 2023, according to Robert “Robin” Traylor, Reinigate's lawyer. Traylor said they managed to throw Hightower and tried to make them admit that non-competition had expired. But the firm was claiming that non-competitive rolls permanently through a provision of the number.

In the ruling of the Delaware Court, Judge Richard G. Andrews said the non-context of Hightower was invalid under the California law. Under an exception to California's law, if a restrictive covenant is made regarding the sale of a business, it is legal. However, this exception is limited to the geographical area of ​​the business sold. And since Delphi was based in San Diego, “Limiting the reinigrating from engaging in the investment advisory business across the United States is unworthy,” the decision reads.