Legal jousting by ATM deployer DC Payments and a former staff member is occupying court time and providing a forum for a contest with the firm's newest competitor, Next Payments.Late last month, the Supreme Court of Victoria restrained Tyson Lester, DC's former national sales manager, from mis-using customer data allegedly copied from DC Payments' files.Lester had given notice in mid-April and had then, allegedly, accessed DC's files.He joined Next Payments in August, earning $11,000 a month as a sales and marketing manager. Next is a venture of serial ATM entrepreneur Tim Wildash, the founder of ATM Solutions (which is now known as DC Payments).Macquarie Bank owns a 49 per cent stake in Next Payments.Justice John Digby ruled against DC Payments' plea to restrain Lester from working for Next.He said "the balance of convenience, whilst supporting several of the injunctive orders sought by the Plaintiff, does not lie in favour of this court ordering the first injunction sought, which would effectively terminate the defendant's current engagement."Justice Digby said: "There are several serious issues to be tried in this proceeding… [which] also discloses a prima facie case with sufficient likelihood of success so as to justify interlocutory relief by way of appropriate injunctions."DC Payments has previously skirmished with Next over access to client lists, with the former alleging, in court proceedings in Western Australia, that its former WA state manager (now employed by Next) pilfered company records.