A&O Shearman
Firm overview:
The 2024 merger to create A&O Shearman created new potential and inevitable fallout, with the impact on the new mega firm’s trade secrets trajectory still to play out. However, with nearly 4,000 lawyers and specialists across its network, A&O Shearman’s global reach in protecting leading clients’ trade secrets across the US, Europe and Asia is undisputed.
A&O Shearman’s trade secrets practice operates as a multi-disciplinary function across global practice groups, including IP litigation and transactions, employment advisory, litigation and investigations. Notable representations include acting for plaintiff SS&C Technologies in trade secret litigation against a key competitor, resulting in a $44 million jury award plus fees.
The firm’s commercial IP team has acted on some of the biggest IP-rich transactions in recent years, spanning the technology, media, life sciences, consumer and financial services industries.
Team overview:
In keeping with A&O Shearman’s overall strategy of ‘global reach and depth’, the firm offers specialists in the critical trade secrets jurisdictions of the US and China, as well as the UK and the important European jurisdictions of France, Germany and Benelux.
Mark Ridgway, who works out of the London and Dublin offices, draws on his technical background to litigate multi-jurisdictional disputes involving patents and trade secrets. Ridgway is a member of the AIPPI Standing Committee on Trade Secrets and chairs the trade secrets sub-committee of a major UK industry association.
Some of the firm’s other key partners for trade secrets work around the globe include Jill Ge (Shanghai), a partner with extensive experience in contentious trade secret matters as well as data-heavy transactions; and Jens Matthes (Dusseldorf), who specialises in trade mark, design, patent and trade secrets law among other IP matters.
In the US, John Bennett (Boston) focuses on high-stakes IP and technology disputes and former federal prosecutor Christopher LaVigne (New York) handles white-collar criminal defence, regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, as well as high-value commercial litigation.
