Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. v. Tarantino

Background

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is described as an insurance-brokerage firm that obtains insurance policies for clients from third-party insurance companies. The opinion says that Alliant Insurance, a competitor, hired 15 Gallagher employees, including the four defendants. Gallagher alleged that the defendants stole internal documents containing its trade secrets and sued them for trade-secret misappropriation under 18 U.S.C. § 1832 and California Civil Code § 3426, among other claims.

Discovery dispute

The parties disputed whether Gallagher had identified its trade secrets with the reasonable particularity required by California’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The opinion states that Gallagher disclosed three categories of trade secrets, all involving compilations about current and former customers in the form of customer contact lists and other customer information not publicly available. The compilations concerned approximately 350 to 375 customers.

Ruling

At the March 25, 2021 discovery hearing, the parties reached a compromise. They agreed that Gallagher’s disclosure was a sufficient identification of the trade secrets at issue and that discovery would be limited to the identified customers. The court noted that this limitation addressed concerns that the disclosure was too broad to allow the defendants to defend effectively and concerns that Gallagher’s discovery could be used to obtain Alliant’s trade secrets.

Judge Laurel Beeler stated that the agreement resolved the dispute identified as ECF No. 46 and attached the court’s procedures for addressing future discovery disputes. The order did not decide the merits of Gallagher’s trade-secret claims or the other claims in the lawsuit.