Seth M. Gerber

Seth is the leader of Morgan Lewis’s IP Trade Secrets Working Group. He co-authored the chapter on injunctions in the State Bar of California treatise on Trade Secrets and currently serves on the drafting team for the Sedona Conference, Working Group 12, on the topic of Cross Border Trade Secret Issues.

Seth prosecutes and defends claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, intentional interference, and breach of fiduciary duty, among other claims. He also counsels clients with respect to identifying, defining, and protecting their trade secret, confidential, and proprietary information. Seth works closely with forensic experts to conduct investigations of current and former employees. He has successfully defended complex mass “raid” cases to verdict after lengthy jury trials, and obtained and defeated ex parte applications for temporary restraining orders and motions for preliminary injunction.

Seth has successfully brought claims for violation of international law against agencies and instrumentalities of a foreign state under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. He participated in a hearing before the US Senate Helsinki Commission, directly negotiated with high-ranking foreign officials and the US State Department, and obtained a favorable judgment and sanctions award of over $60 million against a foreign state. Seth’s high-profile litigation matters have been the subject of articles in The National Law Journal, The Daily Journal, The Blog of LegalTimes, Law360, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and in law review articles in the Loyola of Los Angeles International & Comparative Law Review and the International Journal of Cultural Property.

Seth has served on boards of several community organizations. He is a recipient of the State Bar of California’s Wiley M. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services.

• Obtained a complete defense verdict on behalf of an insurance brokerage firm and ten individuals after a two-month jury trial concerning claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, breach of the duty of loyalty, and intentional interference with contracts. The Court also determined that the opposing party’s non-compete agreements were unenforceable under California law and awarded Seth’s client $6.13 million in attorney’s fees. This case arose from the 2014 departure of 75 employees from a competitor’s offices in Fresno, Salinas, and Walnut Creek, California.
• Obtained a favorable verdict on behalf of an insurance broker after a two-week bench trial involving a claim for declaratory relief against a large insurance brokerage firm. The court concluded that California law governed the agreements at issue and that non-compete provisions and Illinois choice of law and forum selection provisions were unenforceable, and the court awarded Seth’s client his fees and costs as the prevailing party.
• Defeated a motion for preliminary injunction after a one-week evidentiary hearing for an insurance brokerage firm in trade secrets litigation. 
• Obtained a favorable ruling by the Delaware Court of Chancery that California law must be applied to an employee agreement despite a Delaware choice-of-law provision, and denying a request for an injunction against Seth’s client on the ground that enforcing the non-compete provision would contravene California public policy favoring competition.  
• Defended one of California’s largest independent physician associations in a lengthy jury trial for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract. The jury found that Seth’s client did not engage in any willful or malicious misconduct and awarded a tiny fraction of the damages sought.
• Obtained a favorable jury trial verdict and damages against a distributor of fashion accessories for copyright infringement.
• Obtained a US Court of Appeals decision rejecting a foreign state’s defense of sovereign immunity to claims brought under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Thereafter, Seth obtained a judgment and sanctions award against the foreign state which has amassed to more than $60 million.
• Obtained a favorable arbitration award after a lengthy hearing finding the respondent liable for fraudulent inducement, fraudulent concealment, breach of confidential relationship and undue influence, and as relief for these claims rescission of stock grants worth $25 million. The arbitrator concluded that the respondent had engaged in “willful, malicious, systematic, intentional fraud and deceit that spanned his entire period of employment” and awarded Seth’s client nearly $6 million in attorneys’ fees and costs.
• Represented the University of Southern California in a lawsuit against a Tenet Healthcare subsidiary seeking a court declaration that Tenet had defaulted under a long-term ground lease and operating agreement, which resulted in USC’s acquisition of University Hospital and Norris Cancer Center from Tenet.
• Obtained a favorable arbitration award for the University of Southern California in a dispute concerning the value of a medical office complex.