Sheppard Mullin secured a complete victory for Presidio, a global digital services and solutions provider, in a trade secret and non-compete case filed in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, by the plaintiff, Eastern Computer Exchange ("Eastern"), a Presidio competitor. Eastern alleged that Presidio and two of its executives used Eastern trade secrets and confidential information and violated their non-compete and non-solicit agreements when the executives left Eastern and joined Presidio in March 2022.
Eastern filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and the Court set an in-person trial for the Preliminary Injunction. During the trial on June 1, 2022, Sheppard Mullin demonstrated through the cross-examination of Eastern's COO, as well as the testimony of the two executives, that neither Presidio nor its employees had used any Eastern trade secret information and that the restrictive covenants were not related to a legitimate business interest.
The Court ruled that Eastern had not proven the misappropriation of trade secrets nor irreparable harm. Eastern then claimed millions of dollars in damages, and on January 19, 2023, Sheppard Mullin filed a motion to compel documents and data supporting for the allegations in the plenary case. On January 25, the eve of the hearing, Eastern dismissed the entire case with prejudice, providing the Presidio and its executives with a resounding win.
Sheppard Mullin partner and co-leader of the Business Trial practice, Robert Friedman, special counsel Josh Schlenger and associate Meghan Stuer represented Presidio in the case.