Report of the Economic Survey

The AIPLA Trade Secret Summit is the leading trade secret conference in the nation, with speakers from across the spectrum of private practitioners, in-house counsel, government, and academia, as well as fantastic networking opportunities.

Registration Rates

AIPLA Regular and other Member Rate: $495
AIPLA Solo/Small Firm Member Rate: $395
AIPLA In-House Counsel $399 (special form required for non-member in-house counsel)
AIPLA Junior/Government/IP Paralegal-Tech Advisor Member Rate: $199
AIPLA Student/Academic/Judicial Member Rate: $55
Non-Member Rate: $895

Thursday, April 23

8:00 - 8:45 AM - Breakfast
8:45 - 9:00 AM - Welcome & Intros
9:00 - 10:00 AM - Trade Secrets in Texas
10:00 - 11:00 AM - Industry Panel: Trade Secrets in Financial Services
11:00 - 11:15 AM - Break
11:15 - 12:30 PM - Government Enforcement and Legislation of Noncompetes
12:30 - 1:30 PM - Lunch
1:30 - 2:30 - Trade Secrets Damages: Latest Trend of Large Verdicts Being Set Aside and Apportionment
2:30 - 3:30 PM - Texas Business Court Judges - The Role of the Business Courts in Trade Secrets Cases
3:45 - 4:45 PM - Combination Trade Secrets

Friday, April 24

8:30 - 9:00 AM - Breakfast
9:00 - 10:00 AM - How Forensics Can Make a Difference in Your Trade Secrets Litigation
10:00 - 11:00 AM - AI and Trade Secrets
11:00 - 11:15 AM - Break
11:15 - 12:15 PM - Trade Secrets Defenses: Generally Known or Readily Ascertainable
12:15 - 12:30 - Close

Hotel Details

Sheraton Fort Worth Downtown Hotel
1701 Commerce Street
Fort Worth, Texas, USA, 76102

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR ROOM

Single/Double Standard Room Rate:
$229 per night, plus applicable taxes (currently 19.34%)

The hotel group block has closed, so please contact the hotel directly to try and book with the group: 1-888-236-2427

Cancellation Policy:
Reservations must be canceled at least 48 hours prior to arrival to avoid a cancellation fee.

Early Departure Fee:
An early departure fee equal to one (1) night’s room rate, plus applicable taxes and fees, will apply if a guest checks out prior to their confirmed departure date. To avoid this fee, guests should notify the Sheraton Fort Worth Downtown Hotel at or before check-in of any changes to their length of stay.

Important Notice:
AIPLA does not engage third-party vendors to assist with hotel reservations. All reservations should be made directly using the booking link above or by calling 1-888-236-2427. Guests should identify themselves as part of the AIPLA group when booking.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Speakers

• Beck, Russell

  Beck Reed Riden LLP | Founder

  Russell Beck is a business, trade secrets, and employee mobility litigator, nationally recognized for his trade secrets and noncompete experience. He was invited to the Obama White House to develop guidelines for the proper use of noncompetes, and has been cited as an expert on trade secrets and noncompetes by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the White House, the Treasury Department, National Public Radio, the BBC World News Service, PBS Newshour, Le Monde, and many others.
• Bernardo, Micala

  Vartabedian Katz Hester Haynes | Partner

  Micala is a go-to attorney for companies in all industries facing high-stakes employment litigation. Micala represents employers in a wide variety of employment litigation matters, including cases involving breach of contract and fiduciary duty claims, claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful discharge, claims related to misclassification of employees and failure to pay for time worked, and claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, defamation, tortious interference and unfair competition.
• Bullard, Jerry

  Texas Business Court's Eighth Division | Judge

  Judge Jerry Bullard serves on the Texas Business Court’s Eighth Division, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas but covers 18 counties in North Texas. Prior to his appointment, Judge Bullard was a shareholder and attorney with Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. He has over 30 years of experience in state and federal court trial and appellate litigation. During that time, in addition to handling complex commercial litigation matters, Judge Bullard routinely represented and consulted with individuals and business organizations with respect to organizational governance, policy drafting, commercial transactions, and other operational matters.
• Dearing, Lea

  Berman Fink Van Horn PC | Shareholder

  A Shareholder at Berman Fink Van Horn, Lea counsels companies regarding disputes that arise in every day operations.
• Elkon, Michael

  Fisher & Philips LLP | Partner

  Michael Elkon is a partner in the Atlanta office. He helps companies recruit talent from competitors in a legal fashion and ensures that former employees do not exploit companies' key information and relationships.
• Fink, Benjamin

  Berman Fink Van Horn, P.C. | President & Shareholder

  Benjamin Fink is a shareholder at Berman Fink Van Horn P.C. in Atlanta, Georgia. With more than 30 years of experience, Benjamin has built a national litigation practice representing both defendants and plaintiffs in complex, high-stakes litigation involving noncompete, trade secret, and competition-related disputes. Benjamin regularly appears in U.S. state and federal courts and arbitrations nationwide, where he has successfully tried cases, defended and obtained injunctions, prevailed on numerous motions, and obtained favorable settlements.
• Gerber, Seth

  Morgan, Lewis & Bockius | Partner

  Seth M. Gerber is a partner with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in Century City, California. His trial practice focuses on trade secrets and non-compete litigation. Mr. Gerber has practiced extensively in both state and federal courts, and he has jury and bench trial, arbitration, and appellate experience.
• Hall, Dawn

  FTI Consulting | Senior Managing Director

  Dawn Hall is a Senior Managing Director in the Dispute Advisory Services (“DAS”) practice within the Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment at FTI Consulting and is the co-leader of the Intellectual Property practice. She is based in New York.
• Klapow, Mark

  Crowell & Moring LLP | Partner

  Mark A. Klapow is a partner in the firm's Litigation Group. He litigates complex commercial and intellectual property disputes, including trade secrets cases. Mark has represented Fortune 500 companies including Alcoa, AT&T, Caterpillar, Dow, Ericsson, ExxonMobil, Intel, Lenovo, Molson Coors, and Western Union in federal and state courts across the country.
• Lui, Cathy

  Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe | Litigation Partner

  Cathy Lui is a litigation partner at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and she is based in the San Francisco office. Cathy primarily specializes in trade secrets litigation and her practice crosses all industries and sectors including tech, life sciences, retail, and financial services, among others. Cathy also engages in complex commercial litigation including employee mobility, false advertising, and other commercial disputes. Her matters are often high-profile and industry changing. For her achievements, Legal500 has repeatedly recognized her as a “Next Gen Lawyer” in Trade Secrets and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association honored Cathy as a 2019 Best Lawyer Under 40. Cathy is also very involved in her community and with DEI initiatives. She previously served as Orrick’s hiring partner for San Francisco, was a Fellow with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, and a former co-chair of the Judiciary Committee for the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area.
• Marsh, John

  Bailey Cavalieri LLC | Member

  As the Co-Chair of the Firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group, John’s commercial litigation practice concentrates on trade secrets and the enforcement of restrictive covenants throughout the United States. John has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers of America for Intellectual Property Litigation, including Lawyer of the Year in Columbus in 2022 and 2024.
• Myers, Monty

  Eureka Software Solutions, Inc. | Founder & CEO

  Monty Myers is one of the top software and technology experts in the country. As the founder/CEO of Eureka Software Solutions Inc. based in Austin, Texas, he and his team have delivered numerous successful software products and solutions into the commercial marketplace for a wide range of industries over the last 40+ years. For the last 20 years, Mr. Myers has also served as an expert witness in hundreds of trade secret and IP-focused software and technology disputes for both plaintiffs and defendants ranging from Global conglomerates, Fortune 500 companies, and notable startups. Through this experience, Mr. Myers has accumulated hundreds of hours of testifying experience before juries, judges, arbitrators, and opposing counsel providing him with unique, hard-to-develop insights and perspectives.
• Ostroff, Eric

  Meland Budwick, P.A. | Managing Partner

  Eric Ostroff is the managing partner of Meland Budwick, P.A., where he chairs the firm’s Trade Secrets and IP Department. He is a Chambers-ranked lawyer who focuses his practice on business litigation and trade-secret litigation. He has extensive experience representing both companies and individuals in these matters, across a variety of industries. Eric is a trial lawyer who has tried a number of bench and jury trials dealing with trade secrets and business litigation issues. Eric earned his JD, summa cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law, where he currently teaches Trade Secrets Law.
• Pelletier, Dean A.

  Pelletier Law, LLC | Founder

  Dean is the founder of Pelletier Law, LLC, an intellectual property law firm in Chicago, IL. He has been working with IP for more than 30 years. His practice focuses on leveraging patents and trade secrets.
• Pooley, James

  James Pooley PLC | Founder

  James Pooley is one of the world’s foremost experts in trade secret law and management. His legal treatise, “Trade Secrets,” updated semi-annually, is the leading lawyer’s desk reference on the subject. His latest business book is “Secrets: Managing Information Assets in the Age of Cyberespionage” (Verus Press, 2015).
• Powitzky Steely, Rachel

  Foley & Lardner LLP | Partner

  Rachel Powitzky Steely is a leading female trial lawyer in Texas. Rachel has been recognized as one of the top 50 female lawyers in Texas, selected as a Houston elite 100 lawyer and was named a top 20 female trial lawyer by Texas Lawyer Magazine, the only trade secret/employment attorney to receive the honor. Rachel’s trial experience includes employment, commercial, corporate and insurance matters. She has won multimillion dollar verdicts and defended companies against claims exceeding 100 million dollars.
• Southwick, Stephanie

  Burford Capital | Director

  Stephanie Southwick is a Director with responsibility for originating new business with law firms and companies as part of Burford’s US commercial investment team.
• Tishler, Sarah

  Beck Reed Riden LLP | Partner

  Sarah Tishler is a partner at Beck Reed Riden LLP, a nationally-recognized boutique litigation firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. Sarah’s practice is concentrated on trade secret and restrictive covenant advising and litigation, employee mobility, and commercial litigation. Sarah has won successful outcomes for clients on both sides of these disputes in all stages of litigation, including the preliminary injunction stage, jury trials, and mediation. Sarah has also counseled clients on the identification and protection of trade secrets, and the enforceability of noncompetes and other restrictive covenants. Sarah was named by the Legal 500 in 2023 and 2024 in the area of Trade Secrets, and by Best Lawyers in 2026 as Ones to Watch for Commercial Litigation.
• Vaughn, Jim

  iDiscovery Solutions | Managing Director

  James D. Vaughn, a Managing Director of iDiscovery Solutions (iDS), is a court-recognized expert who has given testimony in nearly 70 cases involving topics such as evidence preservation, documentation of events, and computer forensic methodologies and procedures. In addition to being an EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE), Mr. Vaughn is certified by the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS) as a Certified Forensic Computer Examiner (CFCE).
• Weibust, Erik

  Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. | Partner

  Erik Weibust is a Partner in the Boston office of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., where he is Vice Chair of the firm’s Trade Secret & Employee Mobility practice group. Many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, technology, financial services, staffing, and insurance companies look to Erik for thoughtful and practical advice concerning how best to protect their trade secrets and customer relationships from misappropriation by former employees, ex-business partners, competitors, and hostile actors in the United States and abroad, and to avoid liability when hiring from competitors. When necessary, clients rely on Erik for aggressive representation in litigation, where he has won substantial victories in court and at the negotiating table, including broad-reaching injunctive relief and multimillion-dollar payouts, in trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and breach of restrictive covenant cases.
• Weil, Michael D.

  Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP | Partner

  Michael Weil represents employers in a wide range of employment disputes, with a focus on class and representative actions asserting multimillion dollars in damages and high stakes noncompete, employee mobility, and trade secrets matters arising from a variety of industries, including life sciences, technology, retail, and financial services, throughout the United States.
• Whitehill, Bill

  Texas Business Court First Division, Dallas | Judge

  Bill Whitehill is an inaugural Judge of the Texas Business Court First Division, Dallas. He came to the Court from Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton Nerenberg PLLC, where he was a member and led the firm’s Appellate Section. Before joining the Business Court, Bill served as a Justice on the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, where he authored over 600 substantive opinions.

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