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WTW sues Lockton over broker exodus. Richard Sine August 26, 2026 Eighteen employees from Willis Towers Watson's construction insurance team resigned within 44 minutes of each other last Wednesday, all headed to rival broker Lockton, in what a new lawsuit calls a "smash and grab". Within 48... Want to read this article? ULTIMATE ACCESS PROVIDES YOU WITH * Unrestricted access to Commercial Risk, Commercial Risk Europe and Global Risk Manager news, exclusive expert analysis and opinion * Breaking news, daily and/or weekly Commercial Risk Europe newsletters and regular digital publications * Breaking news, weekly and monthly Global Risk Manager newsletters and quarterly digital Journal * European and global surveys, rankings and special reports * National European local language newsletters * Preferential access to webinars and virtual and physical conferences If you are already a registered user or subscriber you can LOGIN below for ultimate access:

WTW sues Lockton after 18 construction insurance brokers jump ship. London-based Willis Towers Watson seeks to block servicing of transferred contractor and owner accounts. August 26, 2026 Willis Towers Watson sued rival insurance broker Lockton Aug. 24 after 18 members of the former's construction practice resigned within 44 minutes and joined the competitor, alleging that 13 client accounts began moving immediately afterward. The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts, involves a specialized Willis Towers Watson team providing insurance and risk-management services to construction companies nationwide. The dispute could also affect contractors and owners that followed their brokers to Lockton. London-based Willis Towers Watson seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against both Kansas City, Mo.,-based Lockton and the former employees, asking the court to bar further solicitation and restrict Lockton from servicing certain transferred accounts. "In other words, the clients Lockton stole should be told that they need to go back to WTW or to another competitor," Willis Towers Watson argues in its filing. "Lockton should not be allowed to profit from its unlawful conduct." Client accounts follow departing brokers. The departures began at 8:02 a.m. Aug. 19 when Michael Scott, a senior leader in Willis Towers Watson's New England construction practice, resigned effective immediately, according to the company filing. By 8:46 a.m., the other 17 defendants had resigned. Among them was Thomas Grandmaison, Willis Towers Watson chief client officer for construction, who has previously spoken with ENR about construction insurance issues. Most members of the group worked in Boston, while several worked in Pennsylvania or Alabama and reported to the construction team's leadership. Looking for quick answers on construction and engineering topics? Try Ask ENR, our new smart AI search tool. Ask ENR Thomas Grandmaison, most recently Willis Towers Watson chief client officer for construction, spoke with ENR in 2021 about insurance challenges facing delayed construction projects. He was among 18 company brokers who resigned Aug. 19 and joined Lockton. By Aug. 21, Willis Towers Watson says it had received broker-of-record letters from five clients transferring their business to Lockton and carrier notifications involving eight other accounts that had designated new brokers. Four of the broker-of-record letters were dated Aug. 19 - the day the employees resigned. The 13 relationships represented more than $5 million in annual revenue to Willis Towers Watson, according to the filing. That amounts to about 0.3% of the $1.55 billion in revenue that Willis Towers Watson's North American Risk & Broking business generated in 2025. The clients are not identified. Willis Towers Watson alleges the employees joined Lockton in violation of employment agreements requiring 15 days' notice and restricting solicitation or servicing of certain of its clients for 12 or 24 months. Willis Towers Watson also alleges Scott and Grandmaison breached fiduciary duties and that Lockton aided the alleged breaches and interfered with employee agreements. The allegations have not been adjudicated. As evidence that the departures were planned in advance, Willis Towers Watson alleges Scott had earlier disclosed details of a compensation package Lockton offered him while negotiating with his then-current firm over compensation for himself and his team. Willis Towers Watson also says Lockton's offer to Scott included a 25% salary increase, a $500,000 annual bonus guaranteed for five years and additional production incentives. Lockton declined to comment on the litigation. Willis Towers Watson also has declined comment beyond its court filings. Construction broker moves have precedent. Mass departures of construction brokers have triggered litigation before. ENR reported in 2011 that about 100 construction accounts representing roughly $20 million in annual revenue followed two senior Aon construction insurance executives to Alliant, with dozens of Aon employees eventually making the same move. The resulting litigation involved contractor clients including Turner Construction and Tutor Perini. Grandmaison and Scott were themselves previously part of another major move of construction insurance brokers. They joined Willis Towers Watson from Aon in 2022 with other members of a 10-person construction team. Grandmaison previously served as chief broking officer for Aon's construction xervices group. Willis Towers Watson also points to a 2019 case in which Lockton sought court protection after 26 employees left its Denver operation for a competitor. Willis Towers Watson argues that Lockton obtained restrictions in that case similar to those the London broker now seeks in Massachusetts, including preventing the competing broker from retaining certain client business transferred following the employee departures. The court had not ruled on Willis Towers Watson's request for emergency relief as of Aug. 25. SPONSORED BY Hi there. I'm Ask ENR. You can ask me anything about construction and engineering, and I'll help find the content you're looking for. Go ahead, Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction and community issues, including finance, law and real estate. He has reported for Adweek and the San Diego Daily Transcript and led a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif. He served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and as managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage. At Engineering News-Record, Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure and megaprojects, regulatory developments and business trends across the U.S. and global construction sectors.

Willis Towers Watson accuses Lockton of 'smash and grab' of construction team. Insurance broker Willis Towers Watson (WTW) is accusing rival Lockton Companies and 18 former employees of WTW's Northeast construction insurance team of engineering a "smash and grab" operation that began on August 19. On that day, 18 members of WTW's Northeast construction team, including senior leadership, resigned between 8:02 am and 8:46 am, according to the WTW complaint filed in Superior Court in Boston on Monday. Also, according to the WTW complaint, within 48 hours the departed employees had taken 13 WTW clients worth more than $5 million in annual revenue with them to Lockton, along with confidential business information. WTW alleges that the departed employees have violated non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements and that Lockton aided and abetted them in the execution of the "smash and grab" operation. WTW argues that its restrictive covenants are reasonable and common in the insurance brokerage industry, and maintains that Lockton requires its employees to sign very similar non-solicitation covenants. WTW is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block further Lockton contact with its clients, enforcement of its employment agreements, invalidation of the policies written with the new Lockton employees, and disgorgement of any gains and relationships Lockton has realized from the former WTW clients, as well as damages. "Lockton should be required to disgorge the client relationships that it wrongfully obtained from WTW - relief that Lockton itself requested and obtained in the context of a comparably extreme raid. In other words, the clients Lockton stole should be told that they need to go back to WTW or another competitor. Lockton should not be allowed to profit from its unlawful conduct. Again, this is the same relief Lockton asked for when it was raided by a competitor," WTW told the court. The former WTW senior leaders cited in the complaint are Michael Scott and Thomas Grandmaison. Most of the 18 employees worked in the Boston office although several worked with the Boston team from Pennsylvania and one did so from Alabama. Reached for comment, Lockton said it does not comment on litigation. Was this article valuable? Simpson is a freelance writer and editor. He retired as Chief Content Officer for Wells Media Group in July, 2022 after 18 years with the company. Interested in construction? Get automatic alerts for this topic.