Derek Hecht is an experienced litigator who represents clients on a range of issues, including trade secret theft, the enforceability of restrictive covenants, proprietary information and confidentiality agreements, executive compensation and separation, and electronic data policies.
Derek’s practice focuses on using his extensive background in trade secret and unfair competition law, and technical knowledge of electronic security measures, to help his clients protect their business. With his extensive experience with computer forensics, Derek works with clients to proactively establish robust legal and technical security measures, investigate threats and security breaches, recover and protect confidential and proprietary information, and aggressively litigate high stakes matters. He has conducted dozens of forensic investigations, including for government entities and some of the largest tech companies in the world. In litigation, Derek takes a proactive approach, often obtaining preliminary injunctive relief to put a stop to misconduct before trial and help his clients efficiently achieve positive resolutions. His experience in both technical and legal writing allows him to explain complex forensic and technical matters in a straightforward manner.
Selected Matters
- Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of a nationwide printing company based on evidence that a departing employee had taken valuable sales information and solicited the company’s customers before leaving. Derek then secured sanctions against the defendants for contempt of that preliminary injunction when forensics revealed that defendants had failed to turn over all electronic devices.
- Defeated a motion for a temporary restraining order on behalf of a home décor business by showing that the business names at issue were not infringing on plaintiff’s trademarks, and that the defendant had contractual permission to use the names, prompting plaintiff to dismiss its claims entirely.
- Obtained a stipulated injunction, followed by a permanent injunction, on behalf of an insurance company against a former employee who had taken confidential customer information in an attempt to form a competing business.
- Obtained a temporary restraining order and then preliminary injunction on behalf of a major California public university school system against one of California's largest private universities. This was a landmark case in the area of university-sponsored medical research. Derek worked with leading forensic investigators to help uncover a massive and coordinated theft of information by an entire team of employees, and to secure the return of the university’s information and other property. The favorable settlement of the action included a public apology by the private university, in addition to other terms.
- Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of a California-based healthcare company against a departing executive who had secretly formed and run a competing business while still employed, including soliciting customers and recruiting and paying other employees of the healthcare company to work for him instead. A Northern California federal court granted a temporary restraining order, and following expedited discovery granted a preliminary injunction, leading to a positive settlement.