Trade Secret Lawyer in Los Angeles

Last updated: November 2026. Reviewed by Pavel Kolmogorov, California business litigation attorney (State Bar No. 321018).

When an employee or competitor walks off with confidential files, a trade secret lawyer in Los Angeles moves quickly to stop their use, and defends those accused of taking them. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. litigates under California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act in Los Angeles Superior Court and under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act in the Central District of California. Both statutes allow injunctions against actual or threatened misappropriation and set a three-year deadline running from discovery. From our Irvine office we serve Los Angeles clients in person and by video.

Call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online to discuss a trade secret dispute in Los Angeles.

Trade secret services in Los Angeles County

Emergency injunctions. Applications for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction when files have left the building and a competitor may be using them.

Departing-employee investigations. Working with a forensic examiner to learn what was copied, forwarded, or synced in the weeks before a resignation, and deciding whether the evidence supports a claim.

Defense of accused employees and new employers. Responding to demand letters and lawsuits that follow a hire, including suits that have more to do with competition than with secrets.

State and federal claims. Pleading under the California act, the federal act, or both, with related claims for breach of contract and breach of the duty of loyalty.

Computer access claims. When someone knowingly accessed a system and took or copied data without permission, the owner of the data who suffers damage or loss may sue for compensatory damages and injunctive relief. (Pen. Code, § 502, subd. (e)(1).) That statute is a criminal one; the firm pursues the civil remedy, which our Penal Code 502 page describes.

Three Los Angeles trade secret disputes

A Santa Monica ad-tech company learns that an account director exported the advertiser list and two years of campaign performance data to a personal drive. She resigned two days later for a competitor in Playa Vista. The export log, the timing, and the destination make this a case for immediate relief.

A Torrance aerospace supplier hires a quality manager from a rival across the county. A letter arrives claiming he knows the rival's inspection processes and cannot do the new job without using them. No files are alleged to be missing. California does not accept that argument, for reasons set out on our inevitable disclosure page.

A Long Beach freight forwarder hires three dispatchers from a competitor in the same month and is sued a few weeks later. The complaint describes the secrets only as "customer relationships and pricing." The defense begins by making the plaintiff say what the secret is.

What each side has to show

A plaintiff starts with the secret itself. The information must draw independent economic value from not being generally known, and the owner must have made reasonable efforts to keep it that way. (Civ. Code, § 3426.1, subd. (d).) A rate card posted on a public website fails the first test. Client pricing that every salesperson could download without restriction may fail the second.

Then comes misappropriation. The statute covers acquiring a secret by improper means. It also covers using or disclosing a secret without consent after obtaining it improperly, or under a duty to keep it confidential or limit its use. (Civ. Code, § 3426.1, subd. (b).) Reverse engineering or independent derivation alone is not improper means. (Civ. Code, § 3426.1, subd. (a).)

California adds a procedural gate. The plaintiff must identify the secret with reasonable particularity before it may begin discovery relating to it. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2019.210.) Defendants use that rule to find out early whether there is a case.

If the proof is there, a court may enjoin actual or threatened misappropriation. (Civ. Code, § 3426.2, subd. (a).) Money remedies are actual loss and any unjust enrichment not already counted in that loss, plus exemplary damages of up to twice that award for willful and malicious conduct. (Civ. Code, § 3426.3, subds. (a), (c).) The deadline is three years from when the misappropriation was or should have been discovered. (Civ. Code, § 3426.6.)

Fee-shifting runs in both directions, a subject covered on our page about bad faith trade secret claims.

State court or federal court

A federal claim is available when the secret relates to a product or service used in interstate or foreign commerce, with the same three-year discovery rule. (18 U.S.C. § 1836(b)(1), (d).) Many Los Angeles companies meet that test, so the choice is usually strategic. Our comparison of the two statutes explains the differences.

In federal court the case goes to the Central District of California, which sits in downtown Los Angeles at the First Street Courthouse and the Roybal Federal Building and Courthouse. In state court, a case filed downtown is heard at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.

Plaintiffs often prefer federal court for its pace. Defendants often prefer state court, where the identification rule plainly applies. Neither preference is automatic.

The Los Angeles companies and people we represent

Technology, ad-tech, and software companies on the Westside. Aerospace suppliers in the South Bay and manufacturers in the industrial cities southeast of downtown. Entertainment vendors with client lists and rate structures worth protecting. Staffing, logistics, and professional service firms. Executives, engineers, and salespeople who changed jobs and were accused, and the companies that hired them.

Chambers and Partners ranks the firm in its USA Spotlight 2026 guide for general commercial litigation in Orange County. The firm is a BBB Accredited Business, rated A.

How the firm works in the first week

One attorney handles the matter from intake through trial. The first days decide many of these cases, so the work is front-loaded.

For a company, I start with preservation: the departing employee's laptop, email, cloud accounts, and phone, imaged before anyone reuses them. A forensic examiner reports what moved and when. With that in hand we send a demand for return and a written assurance, or we go to court. A restraining order application needs evidence, not suspicion.

For someone accused, the instructions are short. Delete nothing. Use nothing from the former employer. Let us find out what, if anything, is on your devices before a reply goes out. Our page for people accused of taking company data explains the response in detail.

What to bring to the first meeting

Bring the confidentiality, employment, and invention agreements. Add the policies that protected the information and a plain description of what it is. Any logs, forwarded emails, or forensic reports showing movement of files belong in the first conversation. If you are the accused, bring the letter or complaint and a list of every device and account you used at the old job.

Frequently asked questions

Our sales director downloaded the client database the night before she resigned to join a competitor in Los Angeles. What can we do this week?

Preserve her devices and accounts today and have a forensic examiner confirm what was taken. With that evidence, California law allows an application for a temporary restraining order barring use of the data and requiring its return, and courts can hear those applications on short notice. A demand letter to her and to the new employer usually goes out at the same time.

My former employer in Los Angeles sent a letter accusing me of taking trade secrets to my new job. Should I respond myself?

It is better not to. What you write can be used as an admission, and a hurried denial is hard to correct later. Under California law the former employer must show a real trade secret and actual or threatened misappropriation. Do not delete anything, tell your new employer, and have counsel review your devices before answering.

Can a Los Angeles employer stop a former employee from working for a competitor?

Generally not. California voids most contracts that restrain a person from a lawful profession, and its courts reject the argument that an employee will inevitably use what he knows. An employer can obtain an order against using or disclosing specific trade secrets when it has evidence of taking or threatened misuse.

What is the deadline to file a trade secret claim in California?

Three years. Under Civil Code section 3426.6, a California misappropriation claim must be brought within three years after the misappropriation is discovered or should have been discovered with reasonable diligence, and a continuing misappropriation counts as a single claim. The federal statute uses the same period. Waiting also weakens any request for an injunction.

Should a trade secret case in Los Angeles be filed in state or federal court?

It depends on the goal. Federal court in the Central District of California tends to move faster. It is available for a federal Defend Trade Secrets Act claim, which requires a secret related to a product or service used in interstate or foreign commerce. Los Angeles Superior Court applies California's rule that the plaintiff identify the secret with reasonable particularity before discovery relating to it. The right forum turns on the evidence and the relief needed.

Talk to a Los Angeles trade secret attorney

Call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. is located at 327 Magnet, Irvine, CA 92618, and represents companies and individuals throughout Los Angeles County.

This page provides general information about California and federal law and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on how the information was protected, the forensic evidence, and the court.