Milligan, Robert

Robert Milligan co-chairs Seyfarth's Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes practice group. His practice primarily focuses on trade secret, non-compete, and data theft/protection litigation, investigations, and transactional work on a state, national, and international platform. Robert represents multinational companies in a variety of key industries in trade secrets and restrictive covenant litigation and routinely provides valuable transactional advice on how to best protect valuable intellectual property assets in significant business transactions. He is a recognized national leader in trade secrets law serving on the prestigious Sedona Conference for Trade Secrets Working Group and serving as Vice Chair of the State Bar of California Trade Secrets Interest Group. He previously served in similar positions for the ABA and ITechLaw. Clients frequently turn to Robert for his practical and effective advice to address their trade secret and non-compete issues, including conducting internal investigations, trade secret audits, and drafting relevant agreements and policies.

Corporate counsel routinely work with Robert on high stakes trade secrets and non-compete matters. He has successfully obtained and defeated temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and permanent injunctions involving trade secret and restrictive covenant matters throughout the country and prepared national restrictive covenant agreements/policies for many Fortune 50 companies. He has created innovative eLearning training platforms for companies seeking to protect their trade secrets and automated trade secret protection agreements. He uses innovative approaches with computer forensics to assist clients to avoid disputes, aid investigations, and leverage helpful evidence for contested matters.  He frequently also works with corporate counsel on significant business deals to address delicate trade secret, key employee, and restrictive covenant issues that often drive the deal valuation.

In the past few years alone, he has obtained numerous injunctions in several high profile “bet-the-company” matters involving high level executives and has also defeated numerous requests for injunctive relief in similar type matters. Robert is a leading industry expert on trade secret and non-compete matters and is often interviewed by the media concerning high profile and significant trade secret matters.

He played a leading role on the ABA Intellectual Property Section where he served as a special advisor, and he was instrumental in drafting ABA resolutions in support of the passage of Defend Trade Secrets Act, which were credited by Congress in its ultimate passage. He is the Editor in Chief of the firm’s award winning trade secrets blog, http://www.tradesecretslaw.com/, and he coordinates the firm’s popular trade secrets webinar series, which produces regular timely content on significant trade secret issues. He also serves an editor and author of three prominent trade secret/data security treatises, including the California Lawyers Association’s Trade Secret Protection treatise, and writes frequently regarding significant trade secret issues.