EY Australia is suing five of its 17 former partners who moved to the Australian arm of consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, and the firm itself, in a high-stakes move that could test whether the restraint clauses in its partnership agreement are legally enforceable.

The civil action against A&M Australia and New Zealand and managing directors Sean Keegan, Andrew Sharp, Jagmohan Singh, Adam Woodward and Edward Consett comes as EY’s leadership asks at least eight partners to leave as part of a cost-cutting exercise.