Seth M. Gerber
Seth M. Gerber is an accomplished trial lawyer for trade secret, restrictive covenant, and employee mobility matters. Lex Machina’s 2024 Trade Secrets Litigation Report identified Seth as defending the second highest number of US trade secret cases over the last three years, and the greatest number for California lawyers. He has been recognized five times as a “Top Trade Secrets Lawyer in California” (Daily Journal) and three times as a “Leading Lawyer” for Intellectual Property – trade secrets (The Legal 500), and has been “Highly Recommended” for trade secrets litigation (World IP Review Global and USA Rankings) and Recommended (Nationwide) for trade secrets litigation (IAM Patent 1000).
According to The Legal 500, Morgan Lewis’s “trade secrets working group head Seth Gerber enjoys a stellar reputation in the space for his work as a trial lawyer, prosecuting and defending claims for misappropriation and mass raid cases.”
Seth’s cases cover a broad range of confidential and trade secret information from customer lists to sophisticated, innovative technologies, including semiconductors, electric fracking equipment, and custom-engineered parts for aerospace, space, and military industries. Seth also counsels clients with respect to defining, classifying, and protecting their confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information. He has successfully defended complex mass raid cases to verdict after lengthy jury trials and handled numerous evidentiary hearings concerning requests for injunctive relief.
Seth has been profiled by the Daily Journal for his cross-border litigation to recover cultural and religious property seized during World War II. Seth has participated in a hearing before the US Senate Helsinki Commission, negotiated with high-ranking foreign officials and the US State Department, and obtained a favorable judgment and sanctions award of $180 million against a foreign state.
Seth serves on the Steering Committee for the Sedona Conference Working Group 12 on Trade Secrets, and he regularly speaks on panels for the Practising Law Institute, American Bar Association, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and Sedona Conference on trade secret matters. Seth frequently publishes articles about trade secret law and co-authored the chapter on injunctions in the treatise Trade Secret Litigation & Protection by the Intellectual Property Section of the California Lawyers Association.
Seth has served on the boards of several community and civil rights organizations. He is a recipient of the State Bar of California's Wiley M. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services and the Anti-Defamation League's Daniel R. Ginsberg Leadership Award.
- Obtained a judgment ordering a foreign state to return irreplaceable religious property that was looted during World War II and a monetary sanctions award of $180 million
- Obtained an arbitration award worth $25 million in stock and $6 million in attorney fees and costs. The arbitrator found the opposing party liable for fraudulent inducement, fraudulent concealment, breach of confidential relationship and undue influence, and concluded that the respondent had engaged in willful, malicious, systematic, and intentional fraud and deceit
- Obtained a complete defense verdict after a six-day jury trial in federal court in Oregon. The plaintiffs sought $7 million in damages plus punitive damages based on allegations that the defendants breached an employment agreement and intentionally interfered with contractual and prospective economic relationships. The jury returned a defense verdict after less than two hours of deliberations.
- Obtained a complete defense verdict and $6.13 million award of attorneys’ fees and costs after a two-month jury trial concerning the departure of 75 insurance professionals from a competitor’s offices in Fresno, Salinas, and Walnut Creek, California; plaintiff had sought $50 million in damages plus exemplary damages of twice that amount but obtained nothing
- Obtained a favorable judgment after a two-week bench trial declaring that the defendant’s covenant not to compete and Illinois choice-of-law and forum selection provisions in stock agreements were unenforceable
- Obtained a dismissal with prejudice of claims for misappropriation of trade secrets against a Chinese telecommunications company on the grounds that the plaintiff did not plausibly allege a conspiracy
- Obtained a preliminary injunction against insurance producers and an insurance brokerage firm precluding them from any improper use or disclosure of confidential or proprietary information
- Obtained a preliminary injunction against a sales engineer and competitor in the aerospace industry prohibiting the defendants from any improper use or disclosure of confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information
- Defeated a motion for preliminary injunction after an evidentiary hearing in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois; the plaintiff sought injunctive relief against an insurance brokerage firm and insurance professionals for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets
- Defeated a motion for preliminary injunction after an evidentiary hearing in federal court in Arizona after several insurance brokers left a major brokerage firm to join a firm client
- Defeated a motion for a temporary restraining order in federal court in Illinois after 26 reinsurance professionals left a major brokerage firm to join a firm client
- Defeated a motion for preliminary injunction sought in the Court of Chancery in Delaware against an insurance brokerage firm and insurance professionals for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets
- 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 the defendant 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
- Represented the University of Southern California (USC) 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 USC in a dispute concerning the value of a medical office complex
- 1999年 University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of the Law) (J.D.)
- 1994年 Trinity College (B.A. Departmental Honors, Pi Gamma Mu)
- California
- 米国連邦最高裁判所
- US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- カリフォルニア州中央地区連邦地方裁判所
- US District Court for the Eastern District of California
- カリフォルニア州北部地区連邦地方裁判所
- 米国カリフォルニア州南部地区地方裁判所
- US District Court for the Western District of Texas
- US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Ranked, Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets, California, Chambers USA (2025)
Ranked, Intellectual Property: Trade Secrets, Nationwide, Chambers USA (2025)
Recognized, Top IP Lawyers in California, Daily Journal (2025)
Recognized, Top Trade Secrets Lawyers in California, Daily Journal (2020–2024)
Recognized, Top 20 California Lawyers Under 40, Daily Journal (2011)
Highly Recommended, Trade Secrets, World IP Review USA Trade Secrets Rankings (2024)
Highly Recommended, Trade Secrets, World IP Review Global Trade Secrets Rankings (2024, 2025)
Recommended (Nationwide), Trade Secret Litigation, IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals (2024, 2025)
Hall of Fame, Intellectual Property: Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters), The Legal 500 US (2025)
Leading Lawyer, Intellectual Property: Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters), The Legal 500 US (2022–2024)
Recommended, Intellectual Property: Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters), The Legal 500 US (2020, 2021, 2025)
Recognized, Thriving in Their 40s, Los Angeles Business Journal (2020)
Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, Los Angeles (2019, 2020, 2022–2026)
Recognized, Southern California (business litigation), Super Lawyers (2011–2023)
Rising Star, Southern California Super Lawyers (2005–2010)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Intellectual Property, Law360 (2019, 2024)
Member, Litigation Department of the Year–Intellectual Property, The American Lawyer (2019)
Recipient, State Bar of California’s Wiley M. Manuel Award
Recipient, Anti-Defamation League’s Daniel R. Ginsberg Leadership Award
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Intellectual Property and Litigation Sections, Los Angeles County Bar Association
Member, Century City Bar Association
Member, Steering Committee, Sedona Conference, Working Group 12 on Trade Secrets
Community Service
Former Member of the National Commission, the National Legal Affairs Committee, and the National Civil Rights Committee, Anti-Defamation League
Former Chair, Board of Directors, Pacific Southwest Region, Anti-Defamation League
Former Member, Board of Directors, Los Angeles County Bar Foundation
Former Member, Associates Advisory Board, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
