eSupplement to the 36th Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals

Session 1: Outsmarting the Smartphone: Crucial Evidence Could Be In Your Back Pocket - In the digital era, smartphones are not just communication devices; they've become repositories of vast amounts of personal and professional data ranging from texts and emails to photos and location history providing a comprehensive digital footprint of a user's life. Examine how we use smartphones, how they work, what data is stored on the phone, proper evidence handling methods, and mobile device forensic examinations and much more. 

Session 2: Practical Tips for Submitting a Public Information Act Ruling Request - Take an in depth look at the requirements of section 552.301 of the Government Code. Look at common pitfalls when submitting a ruling request and representative samples. Review some hypotheticals to help get your ruling request right.   

Session 3: Ensuring Operational Resilience - How quickly can your organization recover from a cyberattack? This panel examines legal and strategic approaches to maintaining operational resilience, especially in the face of disruptions to critical infrastructure or third-party vendors. Topics include incident response, third-party due diligence, and legal counsel’s role in minimizing downtime and ensuring continuity across complex systems.  

Session 4: Trade Secret Misappropriation: The Case for Damages - Whether in addition to or in lieu of injunctive relief, theft of trade secret cases offer a variety of theories for potentially significant monetary recovery. Gain insight to these theories, how they shape a case from pleading to discovery to final proof, the distinctions between loss recovery and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and considerations associated with proof of causation. For theft of trade secret cases involving a covenant not to compete, the impact of Section 15. 51(c) and how to navigate it is also addressed.