So Stern leaves Stern, Lockhart & Gardner to set up his own firm and then starts poaching staff almost immediately. If I remember correctly, English company law states that a partner can't just set up a competing company immediately after he's left the partnership or use any inside information he received while he was in his original partnership. Is this the case in American law as well? Additionally, even if it doesn't say that anywhere in the statute wouldn't any self-respecting law firm have a clause to that effect in their partnership agreement?