Trade Secrets & Non-Compete Disputes

Lewis Brisbois has attorneys across the country with the knowledge and experience necessary to take swift action on a moment’s notice when a client needs a temporary restraining order or an injunction to stop the dissemination of its stolen trade secrets or breach of a non-compete agreement.

We have litigated trade secrets disputes and claims related to unfair competition to a verdict for some of the largest companies in the country and we have successfully defended companies and individuals accused of trade secret theft or unfair competition tactics.

In addition to aggressive litigation, we help our clients protect their trade secrets to prevent litigation, by improving or creating trade secrets policies and procedures tailored to clients’ needs. We have helped our clients develop employee entry and exit procedures, trade secret protection policies and checklists, personnel manuals and confidentiality, non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. When trade secret theft is suspected, we can also conduct forensic investigations and surveillance.

Our Trade Secrets & Non-Compete Disputes Practice is an interdisciplinary practice, comprising lawyers from diverse backgrounds and specialties. In addition to their legal knowledge, many of our trade secrets attorneys have technical knowledge from a variety of industries and can approach your representation with familiarity. Our ability to form interdisciplinary and multi-state litigation teams is unparalleled, and when clients’ interests demand such an approach, we involve attorneys from our Labor & Employment, Intellectual Property & Technology, Antitrust & Competition, and Data Privacy & Cybersecurity practices.

Areas of Focus

Misappropriation of Trade Secrets by Former or Departing Employees
Trade Secrets Misappropriation by Business Partners
Enforcement of Non-Compete Agreements, Non-Solicitation, and Non-Disclosure Agreements
Litigation: TRO to Trial
Pre-Suit and Post-Suit Trade Secrets Practices Audit

Representative Industries

We have successfully represented clients in trade secrets misappropriation disputes in a variety of industries including: oil and gas; energy; media and entertainment, including radio and broadcasting; videogames; software; agriculture; apparel; aftermarket automotive parts; packaging; document digitization; insurance brokerage; medicine, nursing, and physical therapy; tax preparation; private aircraft charter and management; lighting; manufacturing; construction equipment; bowling alleys; and financial services.

Representative Matters

Obtained a unanimous jury verdict in a trade secrets case on behalf of a reptile breeder who developed an innovative and proprietary design for a cockroach breeding colony, which was misappropriated by an independent contractor who started a competing business.
Obtained temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and seizure orders preventing dissemination of misappropriated trade secrets on behalf of multiple clients; tried to verdict a complex trade secrets misappropriation lawsuit involving over $50 million in alleged damages; and successfully settled another trade secrets theft case two weeks into a trial.
Successfully defended a large packaging company accused of trade secrets misappropriation after it had hired employees from a competitor.
Successfully dissolved a wrongfully-obtained temporary restraining order against a private aircraft management and charter company in cases involving trade secrets misappropriation claims, paving the way to a successful resolution of the entire lawsuit.
Successfully defended an enterprise resource planning company accused of trade secrets misappropriation and non-compete violations in a number of related state courts lawsuits, a federal lawsuit, and a related arbitration proceeding.
Successfully enforced a non-compete agreement on behalf of staffing agency by obtaining a temporary restraining order against a former employee who was violating the agreement. As a result, the employee agreed to comply with the agreement’s restrictions.
Successfully enforced a non-disclosure agreement on behalf of a software company and obtained injunctive relief against a former employee requiring her to return the company’s data and pay the company’s attorney’s fees and costs incurred in the enforcement action.
Successfully enforced a non-compete agreement on behalf of an occupational therapy clinic by obtaining a temporary restraining order against a former employee who was violating the agreement; the employee agreed to comply with the agreement’s restrictions.
Successfully defended a foreign document digitization company accused of trade secrets misappropriation after it had hired employees from a competitor.Obtained a successful settlement of a trade secrets misappropriation lawsuit and related claims on behalf of a leading cloud-based technology software provider.
Successfully settled a breach-of-contract dispute involving non-disclosure and non-compete covenants with a sports agency over more than $3 million in contracts for several NFL professional players.
Obtained the return of confidential information and compensatory payment on behalf of a lighting company whose departed employees misappropriated trade secrets when hired by a competitor.