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USI seeks order to halt rival after three clients switched brokers
The brokerage lawsuit, filed in New Jersey federal court, alleges a former USI producer helped a rival win Phoenix Flavors & Fragrances, Strides Pharma, and Tilley Distribution within the insurers' short post-BOR change window.
USI Insurance Services has sued a competing firm, MacNair Enterprises, seeking to stop it from taking over three U.S. client accounts, according to a lawsuit filed August 5, 2026, in New Jersey federal court, as reported by Insurance Business.
The complaint says MacNair Enterprises, which USI alleges was started by a former USI producer, took on clients that the producer was contractually barred from soliciting or servicing after leaving. USI points to restrictive covenants signed when the producer joined in 2023, including limits tied to use of USI confidential information for three years and restrictions lasting one to two years on soliciting or servicing accounts he had managed, as well as on signing broker of record letters for those clients.
USI alleges that broker of record requests arrived in April 2026 for Phoenix Flavors & Fragrances, Strides Pharma, and Tilley Distribution, and that the business then went to MacNair Enterprises. The filing says the expected annual revenue from those accounts is more than $210,000 for Phoenix, more than $92,000 for Strides, and more than $35,000 for Tilley, and it states that Tilley confirmed it had switched its broker of record to MacNair.
The lawsuit says USI reached out to the three clients and that Phoenix and Strides did not respond. Insurance Business reports USI also says the former producer acknowledged in an April 2026 email that he had been in contact with all three accounts since leaving and that their business moved to his firm, and USI is pursuing claims for tortious interference, unjust enrichment, and unfair competition under New Jersey common law.