But when Joel Soldado, Sam Tsiaousis, Michael Hardy and Niki Bogdanovski resigned in June last year to establish rival real estate agency Harcourts Newcastle, it sparked an expensive and bitter feud that is being played out before Justice John Sackar in the Sydney Supreme Court.

The four agents are being sued by Kenterprise, trading as PRD Nationwide Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, over alleged breach of contracts, theft of clients and using confidential PRD information.

In response, the agents are counter-suing Kenterprise alleging they are owed commissions for property sales, that Kenterprise has acted in a way that is misleading and caused loss and damage.

The turf war began last year when Mark Kentwell and his mother Shula Kentwell, as directors of Kenterprise, lodged a statement of claim in the Supreme Court, detailing a split with eight former staffers who quit PRD in June and July last year.

The court battle has turned the private dealings of PRD Nationwide Newcastle and Lake Macquarie into a very public stoush.

To date the case has failed to settle at mediation and the dispute is expected to go to a hearing in November.

The former PRD staffers at the centre of the allegations include the four agents who set up Harcourts, fellow agent Lynette Allison, her son Steven Allison who worked as her assistant, sales associate Luke Wilson and administration staffer Emma Black.

The Kentwells claim the former staffers are in breach of employment contracts, including a "restraint term", that prohibits them setting up in competition within nine months of leaving PRD.

It is alleged, among other things, that six of the former staffers, not including Mr Soldado or Ms Black, emailed confidential files from PRD's computer system to their private emails, tampered with PRD's database and failed to return commercially sensitive information following their resignations.

Part of the claim includes that Mr Tsiaousis emailed himself a copy of his own employment agreement and a friendly auction strategy plan, Steven Allison emailed himself and his mother a file called 'database1' in September 2017 and that Mr Bogdanovski sent himself a file called 'MyContacts".

The Kentwells also claim that the agents, Mr Wilson and Ms Black used confidential or commercially sensitive information while working for PRD to entice customers away from the business.

"The defendents [except Steven Allison] made improper use of their position at PRD by establishing a competing business to PRD and seeking to freeze, groom for later or divert relevant business opportunities, whilst still employed by PRD, away from PRD," the statement of claim reads.

That allegedly resulted in 42 property sales from "PRD clients" by Harcourts' staff estimated to be worth more than $28 million, which had the potential to earn PRD up to $557,902.

It is also alleged that the four founding Harcourts directors and Mr Wilson lied to the Kentwells about their reason for taking leave before they resigned and attended a Harcourts' convention on the Gold Coast.

In a series of defences the Harcourts staff deny any wrongdoing. The agents allege they were not employees of Kenterprise, rather worked as sales agents who earnt commissions.

They deny being bound by the nine month "restraint term" after leaving PRD, describing it as an "unreasonable restraint of trade", invalid and contrary to public policy.

Claims made by Kenterprise are alleged to have caused "prejudice, embarrassment and delay".

The men established STHB Pty Ltd on March 6, 2018, and registered the business name Harcourts Newcastle several months later on June 18.

They admit to working in the business, in competition with PRD, from July 2, or about a month after they resigned.

Hitting back at their former workplace, the Harcourts founders filed a cross-claim in November against Kenterprise and the Kentwells.

They claim to have suffered loss and damage and allege Kenterprise owes them money.

"Kenterprise engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive," the cross-claim alleges.

The Kentwells deny the allegations. The case is listed for directions before Justice Sackar in August.

Mr Bogdanovski left Harcourts and resigned as a director of STHB in August last year.