Seth M. Gerber is an accomplished first-chair trial lawyer for trade secret, restrictive covenant, and employee mobility matters. Lex Machina’s 2024 Trade Secrets Litigation Report identified Seth as defending the second highest number of US trade secret cases over the last three years, and the greatest number for California lawyers. He has been recognized five times as a “Top Trade Secrets Lawyer in California” by the Daily Journal and three times as a “Leading Lawyer” for IP – trade secrets by The Legal 500, and been “highly recommended” for trade secrets litigation (World IP Review) and recommended (nationwide) for trade secrets litigation (IAM Patent 1000).
According to The Legal 500, Morgan Lewis’s “trade secrets working group head Seth Gerber enjoys a stellar reputation in the space for his work as a trial lawyer, prosecuting and defending claims for misappropriation and mass raid cases.”
Seth’s cases cover a broad range of confidential and trade secret information from customer lists to sophisticated, innovative technologies, including semiconductors, electric fracking equipment, and custom-engineered parts for aerospace, space, and military industries. Seth also counsels clients with respect to defining, classifying, and protecting their confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information. He has successfully defended complex mass raid cases to verdict after lengthy jury trials and handled numerous evidentiary hearings concerning requests for injunctive relief.
Seth has been profiled by the Daily Journal for his cross-border litigation to recover cultural and religious property seized during World War II. Seth has participated in a hearing before the US Senate Helsinki Commission, negotiated with high-ranking foreign officials and the US State Department, and obtained a favorable judgment and sanctions award of $180 million against a foreign state.
Seth serves on the Steering Committee for the Sedona Conference Working Group 12 on Trade Secrets, and he regularly speaks on panels for the Practising Law Institute, American Bar Association, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and Sedona Conference on trade secret matters. Seth frequently publishes articles about trade secret law and co-authored the chapter on injunctions in the treatise Trade Secret Litigation & Protection by the Intellectual Property Section of the California Lawyers Association.
Seth has served on the boards of several community and civil rights organizations. He is a recipient of the State Bar of California's Wiley M. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services and the Anti-Defamation League's Daniel R. Ginsberg Leadership Award.
Recognized, Top Trade Secrets Lawyers in California, Daily Journal (2020–2024)
Highly Recommended, Global Trade Secrets, World IP Review (2024)
Recommended (Nationwide), Trade Secret Litigation, IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals (2024)
Leading Lawyer, Intellectual property: Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters), The Legal 500 US (2022–2024)
Recommended, Intellectual property: Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters), The Legal 500 US (2020, 2021)
Recognized, Thriving in Their 40s, Los Angeles Business Journal (2020)
Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, Los Angeles (2019, 2020, 2022–2025)
Recognized, Southern California (business litigation), Super Lawyers (2011–2023)
Top 20 California Lawyers Under 40, Daily Journal (2011)
Rising Star, Southern California Super Lawyers (2005–2010)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Intellectual Property, Law360 (2019)
Member, Litigation Department of the Year–Intellectual Property, The American Lawyer (2019)
Recipient, State Bar of California’s Wiley M. Manuel Award
Recipient, Anti-Defamation League’s Daniel R. Ginsberg Leadership Award
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Intellectual Property and Litigation Sections, Los Angeles County Bar Association
Member, Century City Bar Association
Member, Steering Committee, Sedona Conference, Working Group 12 on Trade Secrets
Community Service
Former Member of the National Commission, the National Legal Affairs Committee, and the National Civil Rights Committee, Anti-Defamation League
Former Chair, Board of Directors, Pacific Southwest Region, Anti-Defamation League
Former Member, Board of Directors, Los Angeles County Bar Foundation
Former Member, Associates Advisory Board, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Law School Involvement and Recognitions
Winner, Best Moot Court Oral Argument (1997)
Winner, First Place Brief, David E. Snodgrass Moot Court Competition (1997)
Member, Moot Court Board (1998–1999)
Participant, National Moot Court Competition
Participant, National Appellate Advocacy Moot Court Competition
Coach, Lefkowitz Unfair Trademark Moot Court Competition
Recipient, American Jurisprudence Awards for Trial Advocacy I and Moot Court Oral Argument
Recipient, CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for Trial Advocacy I and Judicial Administration/Federal Courts