The Sedona Conference Working Group 12 Annual Meeting 2025

Date:

Monday, October 6, 2025 - 8:30am to Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 1:00pm

Location:
The Emory Conference Center Hotel
1615 Clifton Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

Save the dates of October 6-7, 2025, for the 2025 Working Group 12 Annual Meeting in Atlanta. A welcome reception will be held on the evening of Sunday, October 5, from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

The primary focus of this meeting will be dialogue to obtain member comment on the following current WG12 drafting projects and advance them to publication for public comment:

International Trade Secret Enforcement and Protection
Developing an Effective "Incident Response Plan" When Trade Secret Disputes Begin
Trade Secret Guidance for Employees Who Change Jobs
When Continued Possession of Trade Secrets Post-Separation Does or Does Not Constitute Misappropriation of Trade Secrets

Another goal of the annual meeting will be to receive any final member comment and consider any public comments received on the following written materials, which are expected to be ready for publication following the Atlanta meeting:

The Use of Clean Rooms in Managing Trade Secret Litigation Risk
Exemplary Damages and Attorney Fees in Trade Secret Cases
DTSA Model Jury Instructions
Forensic Issues in Trade Secret Disputes
Sharing Trade Secrets with Other Organizations
Protecting Trade Secrets and Confidential Information Through Contract

We will also engage the Working Group in dialogue about what new topics we should pursue over the next year. Additionally, we are planning a Judicial Roundtable, including some of our Judicial Advisors who have graciously and generously supported Sedona's Working Group efforts to date.

Please join the dialogue and help us ensure that our forthcoming publications reflect the consensus, nonpartisan approach of The Sedona Conference.

To attend the Annual Meeting, you need to be a current member of The Sedona Conference Working Group Series (WGS). WGS members are eligible to take part in the activities of all Working Groups, including WG12.

We hope you can join us next October in Atlanta!

Dialogue Leaders

David Almeling O'Melveny & Myers LLP San Francisco, CA, USA	Michael Bandemer HKA Berkeley, CA, USA	Russell Beck Beck Reed Riden LLP Boston, MA, USA	Hon. Laurel Beeler U.S. District Court, Northern District of California San Francisco, CA, USA
Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo U.S. District Court, Southern District of California San Diego, CA, USA	Michael Berkovits Cooley LLP New York, NY, USA	Hon. Hildy Bowbeer (ret.) St. Paul, MN, USA	Leigh Ann Buziak Blank Rome LLP Philadelphia, PA, USA
Amy Candido Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP San Francisco, CA, USA	Janet Craycroft American Express New York, NY, USA	Sheryl Falk Crowe LLP Houston, TX, USA	Cameron Fine DLA Piper LLP (US) Phoenix, AZ, USA
Benjamin I. Fink Berman Fink Van Horn P.C. Atlanta, GA, USA	Hon. Simon J. Frankel Superior Court of California, Appellate Division San Francisco, CA, USA	Seth Gerber Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Los Angeles, CA, USA	Hon. Allison Goddard U.S. District Court, Southern District of California San Diego, CA, USA
John Gray Perkins Coie LLP Phoenix, AZ, USA	Dr. Amber Harezlak Kirkland & Ellis LLP Salt Lake City, UT, USA	Dina Hayes Arnold & Porter Chicago, IL, USA	Lily Hines Covington & Burling New York, NY, USA
Prof. Camilla Hrdy Akron Law Akron, OH, USA	Angelique Kaounis Gibson Dunn Los Angeles, CA, USA	Hon. Young Kim US District Court - Northern District of Illinois Chicago, IL, USA	Kate Ellis Lazarus Kwun Bhansali Lazarus LLP San Francisco, CA, USA
Lauren Linderman Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Minneapolis, MN, USA	Nathanial J. McPherson Foley Hoag LLP Boston, MA, USA	Hon. Mary Mikva Illinois Appellate Court Chicago, IL, USA	Mindy Morton Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP San Jose, CA, USA
Eric Ostroff Meland Budwick, P.A. Miami, FL, USA	Jeff A. Pade Paul Hastings LLP Washington, DC, USA	Anand Patel Department of Justice Washington, DC, USA	Dean Pelletier Pelletier Law, LLC Chicago, IL, USA
James Pooley James Pooley PLC Menlo Park, CA, USA	Daniel Reza Saeedi Blank Rome LLP Naperville, IL, USA	Dave Shenian Clark Hill, LLP Los Angeles, CA, USA	Avi Skoff Moses & Singer LLP New York, NY, USA
Jim Vaughn iDiscovery Solutions Costa Mesa, CA, USA	Erik W. Weibust Epstein Becker & Green P.C. Boston, MA, USA	Bryan Wilson Williams & Connolly LLP Washington, DC, USA	Lisa D. Zang Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. Los Angeles, CA, USA

Working Group 12 Annual Meeting 2025 Agenda

Time	Session	Dialogue Leaders
	Sunday, October 5, 2025
5:30 — 7:30 p.m.	Welcome Reception
	Monday, October 6, 2025
7:30 — 8:30 a.m.	Breakfast & Registration
7:45 — 8:15 a.m.	Orientation for first-time Sedona Conference Attendees (in breakfast area)
8:30 — 8:45 a.m.	Welcome & Announcements
8:45 — 9:45 a.m.	[Session 01] International Trade Secret Enforcement and Protection
	At its Annual Meeting in September 2024, The Sedona Conference Working Group 12 on Trade Secrets decided to create a Brainstorming Group to address the topics of international trade secret enforcement and protection. Members of that Brainstorming Group will discuss the status of their work. This panel will also provide an update on recent developments in international trade secret litigation.	Jeff Pade, Daniel Saeedi*
9:45 — 10:45 a.m.	[Session 02] Protecting Trade Secrets and Confidential Information Through Contract
	Members of this Commentary Drafting Team will discuss their final version of this Commentary and will solicit from the audience any suggested final revisions before this Commentary is published following this Annual Meeting in The Sedona Conference Journal.	Russell Beck, Hon. Hildy Bowbeer (ret.), Camilla Hrdy, Lily Hines, Mindy Morton*, Jim Pooley, Avi Skoff
10:45 — 11:00 a.m.	Morning Break
11:00 — 12:00 p.m.	[Session 03] Developing An Incident Response Plan When Trade Secret Disputes Begin
	This Brainstorming Group was formed following our 2024 Annual Meeting in Phoenix. They are considering how companies can anticipate and plan for trade secret incidents whether as the trade secret owner or the recipient of the trade secret information. Thinking through the appropriate steps to mitigate risk before an incident arises can produce productive outcomes when later faced with a possible claim of trade secret misappropriation.	Angelique Kaounis*, Dave Shenian
12:00 — 12:45 p.m.	[Session 04] Exemplary Damages and Attorney Fees In Trade Secret Cases
	At our September 2024 Annual Meeting, this project moved forward from a Brainstorming Group to a Drafting Team. With productive discussions over the intervening months building on a strong project charter, this drafting team will discuss their draft Commentary and seek feedback from the membership on additional issues to consider within the scope of this project.	Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo, Erik W. Weibust, Bryan Wilson
12:45 — 1:45 p.m.	Lunch
1:45 — 2:15 p.m.	[Session 5] Brainstorming New WG12 Projects
	In this dialogue with attendees, led by our Chair David Almeling, the Working Group will identify new projects to be advanced over the next year through our Brainstorming Group processes and by subsequently formed Drafting Teams. Development of ideas through this important dialogue is at the core of WG12’s mission “to develop consensus and nonpartisan principles for managing trade secret litigation and well-vetted guidelines for consideration in protecting trade secrets ….”	David Alemling*
2:15 — 3:15 p.m.	[Session 06] Trade Secret Guidance for Employees Who Change Jobs
	This Brainstorming Group is approaching this project from the perspective of providing guidance to employees when they change jobs, offering ideas on what steps can be taken to eliminate or mitigate trade secret risk in moving to a new position. Few resources consider these trade secret issues from the employee perspective and both employees and employers are better served when employment decisions are made with forethought and deliberation.	Hon. Laurel Beeler, Leigh Ann Buziak*, Seth Gerber, Kate Ellis Lazarus
3:15 — 3:30 p.m.	Afternoon Break
3:30 — 4:30 p.m.	[Session 07] DTSA Model Jury Instructions
	This Drafting Team will update the membership on its progress in compiling a collection of trade secret jury instructions. Importantly, this Team has written explanatory summaries for particular instructions that will elucidate the issues involved and provide context for the specific instructions.	Amy Candido*, Seth Gerber, Hon. Mary Mikva
4:30 — 5:30 p.m.	[Session 08] When Continued Possession of Trade Secrets Post-Separation Does or Does Not Constitute Misappropriation of Trade Secrets
	Since September 2024, this Brainstorming Group has been analyzing this question of whether (and under what circumstances) continued possession of a trade secret after leaving one's previous employment is or is not misappropriation. Drawing from current case law, this group has assessed under what circumstances retention may constitute misappropriation and under what other circumstances the result may be different. The Group will seek feedback from the membership on this question and following the meeting will make a recommendation on whether a discussion paper is warranted via a Drafting Team.	Benjamin I. Fink*, Hon. Young Kim, Mindy Morton, Dean Pelletier
5:30 — 7:30 p.m.	Reception (guests invited)
	Tuesday, October 7, 2025
7:00 — 8:00 a.m.	Breakfast & Registration
8:00 — 8:35 a.m.	[Session 09] Fireside Chat with the DOJ
	Anand Patel, from the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (CCIPS), will join us in a fireside chat to discuss a variety of topics, including the current DOJ climate, the types of cases that might get investigated, how and what to include in a referral, the scope of investigations for domestic and overseas actors, and hot topics in trade secret criminal indictments and cases. We’re pleased to hear from this DOJ leader in a conversational setting about the DOJ Criminal Division’s current activities and priorities.	Jeff Pade*, Anand Patel
8:35 — 9:10 a.m.	[Session 10] Forensic Issues in Trade Secret Disputes
	This Drafting Team will be presenting its final version of its Forensic Issues Commentary seeking membership input. Comprised of forensic experts and trade secret litigators, this Drafting Team will discuss its recommendations and its forensic protocol included as an exhibit to the Commentary.	Michael Bandemer, Michael Berkovits, Sheryl Falk, Hon. Simon J. Frankel, Eric Ostroff*, Jim Vaughn
9:10 — 9:45 a.m.	[Session 11] Sharing Trade Secrets With Other Organizations
	This Drafting Team will present its final version of its Commentary exploring the ways in which both a disclosing party and a receiving party can mitigate their trade secret infringement risk by using contractual, physical and technological tools to avoid claims of misappropriation. Following this meeting, and consideration of meeting comments, this Commentary will be submitted to The Sedona Conference Journal for publication.	Cameron Fine, Hon. Allison Goddard, Amber Harezlak, Dina Hayes, Dean Pelletier*, Daniel Saeedi
9:45 — 10:15 a.m.	Morning Break
10:15 — 10:50 p.m.	[Session 12] Use of Clean Rooms to Minimize Misappropriation Risk
	Members of this Drafting Team will discuss the current state of this Commentary. Over the last year, the Clean Rooms Team has published its Commentary for public comment and has provided a webinar to Sedona members of this topic. With the close of the public comment period, the Drafting Team has reviewed comments received and has made appropriate edits. Following this Annual Meeting, the Commentary will be scheduled for publication in The Sedona Conference Journal.	John Gray, Angelique Kaounis, Lauren Linderman*, Nate McPherson, Lisa Zang,
10:50 — 11:50 p.m.	[Session 13] Trade Secrets from the In-House Perspective
	Trade secrets often are critical assets for companies, but can be less well understood and harder to identify than their government-sanctioned relatives: patents, trademarks and copyrights. And for attorneys working within the corporate setting, the decisions involving the balancing of trade secret protection against the associated costs can be challenging for counsel and clients alike. This panel of seasoned in-house counsel will discuss these and other challenges in building and managing their trade secret portfolios while educating their employees on the nuances of identification and protection of these corporate assets.	Janet Craycroft
11:50 — 12:50 p.m.	[Session 14] Judicial Roundtable: Voices From The Bench
	This panel of expert judges will discuss important trade secret litigation issues and will also provide guidance on effective advocacy.	Hon. Laurel Beeler, Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo, Hon. Hildy Bowbeer (ret.), Hon. Simon J. Frankel, Hon. Allison Goddard, Dina Hayes, Hon. Young Kim, Hon. Mary Mikva
12:50 — 1:05 p.m.	Closing Statements
1:05 p.m.	Grab-&-Go Lunch (provided)

*(Panel Moderator)

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Regular Registration Fee:	$1495 USD
Government & Non-Profit Employee Registration Fee:	$1295 USD

If you qualify for a discount, but are not able to obtain it when registering, please contact our office at [email protected] for further assistance.

Our financial aid policy is available upon request.

Refund Policy

Refunds are available for cancellations made at least 21 days before the program is scheduled, less any credit card processing fees charged to The Sedona Conference. For cancellations made within 21 days of the program, no refunds are available but substitution of another individual from the same organization is permitted or a credit can be requested to be applied to a future Sedona program.

The Sedona Conference Working Group 12 Annual Meeting 2025

Dialogue Leaders

Working Group 12 Annual Meeting 2025 Agenda

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