Lex Machina Releases its 2024 Trade Secret Litigation Report

Lex Machina is proud to release its 2024 Trade Secret Litigation Report, which provides insights into trade secret litigation trends in federal district court and appellate court over the three-year period from 2021 to 2023. This report surveys emerging trends in case filings (including federal appellate cases), most active venues, judges, law firms, attorneys, parties, timing metrics, case resolutions, findings, and damages. The report often focuses on different sets of data, e.g., filtering cases in order to provide analytics on general trade secret cases, trade secret cases excluding Defend Trade Secret Act (“DTSA”) cases, and DTSA cases filed in the federal district courts, as well as trade secret cases docketed in the federal appellate courts.

Key Trends and Highlights from the report include:

• In 2023, 1,203 trade secret cases were filed in federal district courts.
• In the three-year period from 2021 to 2023, the highest number of trade secret cases was filed in the Central District of California, while Judge Yeakel from the Western District of Texas was the most active judge for trade secret cases.
• Financial institutions and insurance companies were predominant on the list of the most active plaintiffs over the three years from 2021 to 2023.
• In the three-year period from 2021 to 2023, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani was the most active law firm representing plaintiffs in trade secret cases.
• Littler Mendelson defended clients in the highest number of trade secret cases during the three-period from 2021 to 2023.
• For trade secret cases that were appealed to a federal appellate court and terminated from 2021 to 2023 with a decision on the merits of the appeal, 45% were ultimately reversed.
• $511 million in Punitive / Willfulness Damages was awarded from 2021 to 2023.

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Legal Analytics is used for planning, budgeting, and litigation strategy. The metrics in this report can help readers decide who to pursue as clients, whether to file a particular motion, or when to settle (and for how much). This research supplements traditional legal research and anecdotal data in order to gain a competitive edge in litigation.

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