mmorton@be-law.com
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Admitted to bar: 1998, New York and 2000, California; United States District Court, Northern, Central, Eastern, and Southern Districts of California and Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; United States Court of Appeal, Ninth Circuit.

Education: Yale Law School (J.D., 1997; Editor, Yale Law Journal); University of California at Berkeley (B.A., Highest Distinction in General Scholarship, Highest Honors in Political Science, Phi Beta Kappa, 1994).

Member: State Bar of California; State Bar of New York; American Bar Association, Litigation, Science and Technology, and Communications sections; Santa Clara County Bar Association, Member of Executive Committee of Board of Trustees, Past Chair of High Technology and Business Litigation sections; Electronic Frontier Foundation Cyberlaw salon; Chair of the Board of Schola Cantorum, a local non-profit.

SCCBA Officer: Ms. Morton has been elected as Secretary of the Santa Clara County Bar Association for 2010. 

Co-Author: “Don’t Let Confidential Information Walk Out the Door,” The Bottom Line, Vol. 30, No. 5, an official publication of the State Bar of California Law Practice Management and Technology Section;  "Drafting and Challenging Section 2019.210 Statements in Trade Secret Litigation," Northern California Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL) Report, Vol. 15, No. 2.  Ms. Morton is also a contributing author for the ABA Section of Litigation Copyright, Trademark and Trade Dress Litigation Model Jury Instructions.

Experience: Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Morton was an associate in the Palo Alto office of Squire Sanders & Dempsey from 2002-2004. Previously, Ms. Morton was associated with the law firms of Fenwick & West in Palo Alto and Cahill Gordon & Reindel in New York.

Ms. Morton’s areas of practice are intellectual property and business litigation. She has handled a variety of cases in state and federal courts. Ms. Morton has represented technology companies in copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, and computer fraud litigation. She previously represented one of the leading file sharing companies in its dispute with the recording industry. Ms. Morton also has represented companies in securities, First Amendment, and commercial disputes. She is a frequent speaker on electronic discovery, document management, and litigation strategy, and has authored several articles on electronic discovery and document management issues.

In May 2009, Ms. Morton was the first chair in a $10 million dollar jury trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court  (DVS v. Sun, et al.).  After a two week trial, Ms. Morton and the Bergeson trial team successfully obtained a nonsuit verdict for their client, defendant C2 Microsystems, Inc.

Ms. Morton currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Schola Cantorum, a local community chorus. She also serves as the co-chair of the UC-Berkeley class of 1994 reunion committee.

Representative Cases: Verigy US Inc. vs. Romi Mayder., No. C07 04330, United States District Court, Northern District of California.  As lead trial counsel, obtained a temporary restraining order (2007 WL 2429652), preliminary injunction (2008 WL 564634), and contempt citation for violation of temporary restraining order (2008 WL 2128145) against a former employee who started a competing company using Verigy technology; case settled on the eve of trial and Verigy obtained the IP at issue.

Rita Medical Systems, Inc. v. Resect Medical, Inc., No. C-05-03291 (WHA), United States District Court, Northern District of California (assignment of patent, trade secrets, false association).  Defeated motion for preliminary injunction (2006 WL 2038328), obtained summary adjudication of several claims, including misappropriation of trade secrets and false association (2007 WL 161049), and obtained case dispositive rulings on motions in limine, including exclusion of plaintiff’s damages expert, exclusion of major portions of plaintiff’s technical expert’s report, and exclusion of plaintiff’s entire lost profits damages theory; case settled on the eve of trial.

TRS Consultants, Inc. v. Rick Shi, et al., No. C-04-02171 JSW, United States District Court, Northern District of California (copyright/trade secrets).  Obtained a temporary restraining order against an employee who started a competing company, taking with him the company’s source code, client lists, business proposals, and other confidential and proprietary information, and improperly soliciting and hiring two former employees of his prior employer; case settled on extremely favorable terms, including the issuance of a stipulated injunction.

Knowledgeplex, Inc. vs. Placebase, Inc., No. C08 04267 JF (RS), United States District Court, Northern District of California (Copyright Infringement/Breach of Contract/Trademark Infringement).

Variphy, Inc, Danny Tran, and Layne Hoo vs. Clarus Systems, Inc., AAA No. 74 160 00662 06 DECR (misappropriation of trade secrets).

Sandisk Corporation v. LSI Corporation, Case No. C-09-02737 WHA, Northern District of California (patent).

Gator.com Corporation v. L.L. Bean, Inc., 398 F. 3d 1125 (9th Cir. 2005) (Internet jurisdiction).

Mediatek Inc. v. Oak Technology, Inc., Case No. C-97 21126 RMW, Northern District of California (patent).

Chou Chin Industrial, Ltd. v. WavePlus Technology, Ltd., No. 1-04-CV-016873, Santa Clara County Superior Court; No. HO28604, Sixth Appellate District (contract case, successfully represented WavePlus on appeal on a personal jurisdiction issue).

Zhone Technologies, Inc. v. Jivish Interactive, No. 1-04-CV-030883, Santa Clara County Superior Court (obtained TRO and preliminary injunction against a letter of credit).

Oki America, Inc., et al. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Case No. C 04—3171 (CRB), Northern District of California (patent).