Litigating Trade Secret Misappropriation Claims Post-DTSA: Pursuing Claims Against Former Employees or New Employers

Description

The ease of accessing, storing and transmitting data electronically significantly increases the risk of misappropriation of a company’s trade secrets by a departing employee. With the passage of the DTSA in 2016, employment litigators have a new tool in their arsenal for pursuing legal action against former employees and/or their new employers for trade secret misappropriation.

The DTSA gives employers the right to file private trade secret theft civil cases against employees in federal court and, more significantly, allows employers to forcefully recover misappropriated trade secrets from former employees through ex parte seizure orders. Since the DTSA was passed, there have been at least 49 trade secret misappropriation cases filed in federal court.

Employment litigators must be skilled in drafting continuing obligations letters and cease-and-desist letters to prevent the dissemination of misappropriated trade secrets, as well as savvy at pursuing ex parte seizure orders, preliminary injunctions, and litigation hold notices against former employees and/or their new employers. In addition, counsel must guide clients in developing clear, consistent trade secret protection policies and practices, and a strategic approach to dealing with departing employees.

Listen as our authoritative panel examines the latest trends in trade secret misappropriation lawsuits since the DTSA went into effect and strategies for employment litigators involved in trade secret misappropriation litigation. The panel will also explain upfront steps employment counsel should take to prevent the loss of confidential company information before a key employee leaves to work for a competitor.