251-217-9733
Trade Secret Litigation
The value was in nobody else knowing. Now somebody else knows.
What Counts as a Trade Secret
A trade secret is information with commercial value precisely because it is not generally known (a formula, a method, a pricing model, a customer list, a supplier arrangement) which the owner has taken reasonable steps to keep confidential.
That last requirement is where most claims are won or lost. There is nothing to register and no certificate to produce, so the question a court asks is what you actually did to protect it. A business that treated information as secret only after it was taken is in a materially weaker position than one that restricted access, marked it confidential, and required agreements from the people who saw it.
What We Handle
Departing employee claims
Where information leaves with someone, whether downloaded, emailed, or simply remembered and used.
Competitor misappropriation
Where a competitor has obtained information it should not have.
Emergency injunctive relief
Restraining use or disclosure while the case proceeds.
Forensic recovery
Device imaging, download logs, and email forwarding (coordinated with forensic specialists).
Defense of claims
Representing employees and new employers accused of taking something, including where the information was never actually secret.
Protection assessments
Reviewing whether your confidential information would survive the reasonable-measures test today.
Sound familiar?
Would Your Information Survive the Test?
A court will ask what you actually did to keep it secret. These are the answers that work.
Restricted access
Only the people who need the information can reach it. Information available to everyone in the company is difficult to call a secret.
Confidentiality agreements
With employees and with anyone outside who sees it. Their absence is the most common weakness in these claims.
Marked as confidential
Documents and systems labelled. Simple, cheap, and evidentially useful.
Technical controls
Access logs, download restrictions, and device management, which also produce the evidence you will need.
Exit procedures
Devices returned, access revoked promptly, and a documented reminder of obligations at departure.
Consistent treatment
Information you share freely at trade shows is not a secret. Courts notice inconsistency.
Who does this work
Jordan W Gerheim
Trade secret and confidential information disputes alongside intellectual property enforcement and commercial litigation.
Benjamin N. Kearns
Business and contract litigation, including claims involving departing employees and competitor conduct.
Cost and related pages
Want a number for your situation?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is our customer list a trade secret?
It can be, if it has value because competitors do not have it and you took reasonable steps to keep it confidential. A list of businesses anyone could compile from a directory usually is not. A list carrying pricing, contract terms, purchasing patterns, and contacts built over years frequently is (provided you treated it that way).
An employee left and we think they took files. What now?
Move immediately and preserve the evidence before it is overwritten. Access logs, download records, email forwarding, and device activity are usually available for a limited period. Do not confront the employee before you have the picture, and do not have IT poke around in a way that compromises the forensic record.
We never had them sign an NDA. Is that fatal?
Not necessarily, but it is a significant obstacle. The absence of confidentiality agreements is evidence that you did not treat the information as secret, and it is the first thing a defendant will point to. Other measures can carry the argument (restricted access, technical controls, consistent handling) but the agreement is the cheapest and strongest of them.
They say they just remembered it. Does that matter?
It is a real argument and it comes up constantly. General skill and knowledge an employee acquires belongs to them; specific confidential information does not, even if it was memorized rather than copied. Where the line falls depends on how specific and how genuinely secret the information was, which is why the reasonable-measures evidence matters so much.
Related Insights
The Evidence Has a Short Life
Call 251-217-9733 or book a Risk-Free Strategy Session today. Download logs and device records do not wait for you to decide.