Morrison & Foerster
Firm overview:
Morrison Foerster is recognised by peers as among the leading firms on complex global trade secrets matters, and among the early specialists in trade secrets practice, growing up with the tech environment around Silicon Valley. Lawyers at the firm frequently appear before juries, judges and arbitrators to try cases involving misappropriation of trade secrets, the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, restrictive covenants, departures of key employees, and other related issues.
MoFo’s clients range from early-stage companies to large multinationals, which the team assists with tailored advice under the varying restrictive covenants laws in the US and international jurisdictions. MoFo attorneys also train clients to design and implement information security programmes and policies to counter intentional or inadvertent data loss.
The firm has handled trade secrets matters for Accenture, Adobe Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hansen Medical and Konami Digital Entertainment, among others.
Team overview:
A go-to contact at the firm for trade secrets matters, Palo Alto partner Kenneth Kuwayti has successfully brought and defended numerous trade secrets cases in state and federal court. His work highlights include a high-profile smartphone case that led to a jury verdict of over $900 million.
Also in Palo Alto, Bryan Wilson co-chairs the firm’s Trade Secrets Working Group, and has a successful track record in trade secrets and patent litigation as well as in arbitration proceedings. A thought leader on the topic, Wilson teaches a seminar in trade secret law at Stanford Law School and is a contributing editor to Trade Secrets (Law and Business 2016).
“When she’s on the other side, you take it seriously,” says a peer of San-Franscisco based Daralyn Durie, with another praising her “incredible creativity of issues in an attack”. Durie is highly regarded for her courtroom success for both plaintiffs and defendants. Described by industry peers as a “first rate excellent trial lawyer and strategist” and an “amazing litigator”, Durie has particular expertise in life sciences as well as artificial intelligence (AI), and co-founded litigation boutique Durie Tangri which combined with Morrison Foerster in 2023.
Key matters:
- Summary judgment victory in $900m+ trade secret suit
In March 2024, MoFo announced it had secured a complete summary judgment victory in trade secret litigation for its client, the US’s largest integrated healthcare system.
The plaintiff had sought over $900 million in damages, alleging breach of an NDA and trade secret misappropriation related to wearable medical device technologies. In February 2024, the Alameda County Superior Court granted summary judgment for MoFo’s client in all claims, finding there was no evidence that it breached the NDA or misappropriated any trade secrets.
On the MoFo team were Timothy Chen Saulsbury (partner, San Francisco), Allyson Bennett (a former partner who has now left the firm), Whitney O’Byrne (partner, Los Angeles), Katherine McNutt (associate, Los Angeles) and Joyce Li (associate, San Francisco).
Clients:
Accenture, Adobe Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hansen Medical, Konami Digital Entertainment
