Due diligence providers for law firm hiring resolve trade secrets dispute

Summary

Summary Related documents Baretz+Brunelle filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in court

Company sought declaratory judgment in action against Decipher

(Reuters) – Legal marketing and advisory company Baretz+Brunelle LLC has dropped its trade secrets lawsuit against competitor Decipher Investigative Intelligence, according to Manhattan federal court records.

Baretz+Brunelle filed a notice on Monday voluntarily dismissing the case, which centered on information that Decipher said was used by its co-founder, Howard Rosenberg, who joined rival Baretz+Brunelle, to create a lawyer job candidate evaluation tool for law firm hires.

Baretz+Brunelle asked the court in a May complaint to declare it has not improperly used trade secrets from Decipher, after it launched the competitive offering headed by Rosenberg.

The Monday filing did not include terms of the dispute’s resolution.

David Slarskey, a lawyer for Baretz+Brunelle and Rosenberg, said Monday in an emailed statement the parties have “resolved the issues between them in a manner wholly acceptable to both” and have “agreed not to comment further on this matter.”

Charles Kramer of Riezman Berger, a lawyer for Decipher, said in a separate emailed statement that the matter was “resolved in a manner wholly acceptable to Decipher.”

A Baretz+Brunelle managing director didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A Decipher spokesperson referred comment to Kramer.

In its May complaint, Baretz+Brunelle said Decipher sent the company and Rosenberg cease-and-desist letters in March citing improper use of its trade secrets and confidential information, and threatened litigation.

Baretz+Brunelle said it hired Rosenberg in February to build its new talent intelligence and analytics practice, which includes a lawyer job candidate evaluation tool to provide due diligence for law firms looking to hire lawyers from competitors. The practice launched in May, the same day the company filed the lawsuit.

Decipher had created its own product in 2015 to evaluate law firm hires, the complaint said.

Baretz+Brunelle said in the complaint that due diligence and background investigation for hiring is a “widely understood concept” and Decipher publicly outlines its methods, so there are no trade secrets to protect. Baretz+Brunelle sought declaratory judgment from the court.

Rosenberg gave all Decipher-related materials in his possession back to the company after he departed in September 2019, and had a non-compete restriction that expired in September 2021, the complaint said.

The case is Baretz+Brunelle LLC v. KSL Global Market Research LLC, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 22-cv-04202

For Baretz+Brunelle and Rosenberg: David Slarskey and Richard Weingarten of Slarskey

For Decipher: Charles Kramer of Riezman Berger

Due diligence providers for law firm hires spar over trade secret claims

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.