A North Carolina Business Court ruling favored an insurance marketing organization in a dispute with former agents who launched a rival brokerage.
The case centers on client ownership, solicitation practices, and post-exit competition between firms.
The Assurance Group, known as TAG, operates as a Delaware-based insurance marketing organization with headquarters in North Carolina. In June 2024, former agents formed EPIC Broker Solutions.
Several TAG agents moved to the new brokerage, including Darrin Shackelford and Brandon Passe, who resigned in February 2025.
TAG filed suit days after their departure. The company alleged breach of contract, trade secret violations, tortious interference, and related claims.
The former agents responded with counterclaims, accusing TAG of improper tactics aimed at reclaiming clients tied to their prior work.
The dispute focused on outreach to so-called orphan accounts. These accounts remain with the original firm even after the servicing agent leaves.
The defendants alleged TAG directed agents to conduct in-person visits, referred to as door-knocking, targeting those clients.
They argued the practice interfered with existing relationships and violated federal Medicare marketing rules. Regulations restrict unsolicited contact with certain policyholders.
The defendants also claimed TAG agents made misleading statements about their former colleagues to encourage clients to switch representation.
The court dismissed most of those counterclaims. It rejected the tortious interference argument, finding the former agents were not direct beneficiaries of the insurance contracts. Commission income, the court said, qualifies as incidental, not contractual entitlement.
The defamation claim also failed. The court pointed to lack of detail in the allegations. Claims did not specify exact statements, speakers, timing, or recipients.
North Carolina law requires that level of precision, and the filings did not meet that threshold.
The unfair trade practices claim collapsed for similar reasons. It relied heavily on the same allegations already dismissed. A separate claim tied to alleged misuse of Medicare marketing funds did not hold.
The court found the claim too vague and the alleged harm too indirect.
One counterclaim remains. The court allowed a wage and hour claim against TAG’s president, Edward Lee Shackelford, to proceed.
The former agents allege unpaid compensation following their resignation. The court accepted those claims at this stage, allowing further review.
TAG’s original claims against the former agents continue. The case has not reached a final outcome. Still, the dismissal of four counterclaims with prejudice marks a clear procedural win for TAG.
According to Beinsure analysts, disputes over client ownership and solicitation practices continue to drive litigation risk in distribution-heavy insurance models.
As agent mobility increases, conflicts over post-exit conduct show up more often in court filings.
