Unfair Competition & Trade Secret Litigation

Pestotnik + Gold LLP attorneys have diverse experience in business tort litigation involving companies, partnerships and LLC’s, including claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition and trade secret litigation. For example:

DRS Trading Company, Inc. v. Barnes.
Pestotnik + Gold LLP represented DRS Trading Company, Inc. at trial in a business fraud action in Orange County Superior Court. After trial, the Court entered judgment in favor of our client DRS and awarded the full amount of damages sought by DRS, which exceeded $1 million.

Palacios v. Billing Concepts, Inc.
Our lawyers represented Billing Concepts, Inc. a long distance billing service provider, which was sued in a class action alleging fraud and unfair competition in connection with collect telephone calls placed from Mexico. With our motion attacking class certification pending, plaintiffs settled the case for a nominal amount, a tiny fraction of what was sought.

Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc. v. McNamara and Merrill Lynch et al.
Our lawyers represented Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incorporated in a federal court injunctive relief/trade secret action in 2011 concerning customer lists and their status post-employment.

Eftekhary v. CompuOne Corp.
Pestotnik + Gold LLP represented CompuOne Corporation and its owners in successfully resolving a lawsuit with the company’s prior owners who were alleging a variety of business torts, including trade secret claims, all of which the clients vigorously disputed.

Gleason v. City of San Diego.
Our lawyers represented the City of San Diego in complex class action litigation alleging deliberate underfunding of the City employees’ pension system. We negotiated a settlement with 5,000 member class in a highly publicized action. We also opposed plaintiffs’ counsel’s fee petition in which plaintiffs’ counsel achieved less than one-fourth of the fees sought from the City in the lawsuit.

REMEC, Inc. v. Q Microwave, Inc.
One of our partners defended Q Microwave, and its two founding shareholders, in a misappropriation of trade secret and unfair competition lawsuit filed by REMEC, which aimed to put the fledgling start-up company out of a business. Following a year of intense litigation, a negotiated resolution allowed Q Microwave to continue in business. Now flourishing, Q Microwave employs over 100 people in its El Cajon, CA engineering and manufacturing facility.

Rothschild v. Tyco International, Ltd., et al.
One of our partners defended two water works parts distributors who sold parts to municipalities in California in an unfair competition case alleging that the parts were not manufactured as represented and failed to comply with industry standards and specifications. Following extensive litigation, the case was dismissed on summary judgment, and the result was affirmed on appeal.