A division of Newmark filed a lawsuit Friday against one of its former Chicago appraisers, alleging he made off with internal valuation and advisory documents, including one it characterized as “the blueprint of Newmark's business.”
Newmark's Chicago office at 500 W. Monroe St.
Newmark's valuation and advisory group is seeking at least $555K in damages and other compensation, according to its suit against Bryan Younge, a commercial property appraiser for the company's Chicago office from 2017 to 2024.
The suit, filed in New York County Supreme Court, alleges Younge misappropriated “at least three categories of Newmark’s confidential and proprietary information” when he left the company to develop a commercial appraisal business at Horwath HTL in Chicago at the end of 2024.
Newmark alleges Younge took Newmark's template client engagement letter, a collection of confidential Newmark appraisal reports and a highly confidential and closely held “Job Data Export” file containing detailed information on every Newmark appraisal assignment from 2022 through 2024, including thousands of appraisals Younge did not work on.
It said in the lawsuit that the Job Data Export file is “virtually the blueprint of Newmark’s business.” The document contains about 86,000 rows of data with details on every appraisal job Newmark completed between those years, including client names, contact information and assignment fees, the company claimed in the suit.
“This trade secret document would, standing alone, be worth millions to any competitor, particularly a competitor who was developing a new appraisal business,” it said in the filing. “If this document were to get into the hands of a competitor, it would severely damage Newmark’s business and provide a substantial leg up to that competitor.”
Younge declined to comment.
Newmark is seeking damages of no less than $500K and is asking for Younge to pay a $55K shortfall on tax obligations.
Younge signed a seven-year contract with Newmark in 2017 with post-termination restrictions that included an agreement to not solicit the company's current or prospective clients for three months after his departure, according to the lawsuit.
On or about Jan. 15 of this year, one of Newmark’s clients provided the company with a copy of an email Younge sent from his Horwath account soliciting the client to work with him at Horwath, it claims in the suit.
The email was “concerning” because the client had worked with a different appraiser, not Younge, Newmark said in the suit. After Newmark found out about the email, it claims it initiated an internal investigation and discovered that Younge sent the Job Data Export file from his Newmark email to his personal email four days before his last day at Newmark on Dec. 27.
Newmark further alleges in the suit that Younge sent Newmark's template engagement letter to his personal email on Dec. 9 and created a personal Dropbox cloud storage folder where he saved copies of appraisal reports he worked on at the company.
Newmark alleges its counsel wrote to Younge's attorney on Jan. 16 concerning his taking of confidential information and breaches of his nonsolicitation obligations. The company attempted to get assurances from Younge that he would destroy the documents he took but alleges in the suit that he refused to comply.
“Younge’s actions have caused, and will continue to cause, severe damage to Newmark’s business,” the company said in the lawsuit. “By taking a database of all of Newmark’s appraisal information for the last two years, the engagement letter template, and copies of appraisals, Younge has taken some of the most important materials to Newmark’s business.”
Neither Younge nor any attorney working on his behalf had formally responded to the suit as of publication time, according to New York court records.
CLARIFICATION, FEB. 26, 6 P.M. CT: This story has been updated to reflect that the suit was filed by a division of Newmark, Newmark Valuation & Advisory.
