Document exactly what confidencial information or trade secrets the former empleado or contratista accessed, copied, or used:

To qualify as a "trade secret," you must show you took reasonable steps to maintain secrecy:

• NDAs: Did the empleado/contratista sign a confidenciality or confidencialidad agreement?
• Access controls: Password protection, role-based permissions, VPN requirements, two-factor authentication
• Confidenciality markings: Documents labeled "Confidencial," "Proprietary," or "Trade Secret"
• Need-to-know policies: Restricted access to sensitive data on a business-need basis
• Exit procedures: Return-of-property checklists, exit interviews, certification of data deletion
• Empleado handbook/policies: Written policies prohibiting unauthorized copying or disclosure

If you had no protective measures, courts may find the information wasn't a protectable trade secret. Sin embargo, even minimal measures (NDAs + password protection) can suffice if the information derives real value from secrecy.

Gather forensic evidencia showing the former empleado/contratista took or used your trade secrets:

Calculate your actual losses and unjust enrichment to determine the stakes:

• Lost revenue: Clients who defected to the former empleado's new venture, using your confidencial information
• Unjust enrichment: Value the former empleado gained by using your trade secrets (e.g., faster time-to-market, lower customer acquisition costs)
• Development costs avoided: What it would have cost them to develop the information independently (e.g., years of R&D, customer relationship building)
• Competitive advantage lost: Diminished market position, eroded pricing power, loss of first-mover advantage

Leverage factors:

• Strength of forensic evidencia (smoking-gun emails, clear download logs)
• Egregious conduct (mass data theft, coordinated team departure, lying during exit interview)
• Availability of injunctive relief (can you stop ongoing use and prevent further damage?)
• Former empleado's financial resources and reputational sensitivity

Your cease-and-desist letter should accomplish multiple goals simultaneously:

1. Immediate cessation: Stop all use and disclosure of specific categories of confidencial information
2. Return and destruction: Require return of all misappropriated materials and certification of deletion from all devices
3. Disclosure of recipients: Identify everyone to whom the information was disclosed (new empleador, clients, partners)
4. Preservation of evidencia: Prohibit deletion of emails, wiping devices, or altering cloud data
5. Customer de-solicitation: Demand they cease contact with specific clients (when supported by trade secret theory, not just noncompete)
6. Create acuerdo leverage: Signal serious intent and exposure to injunctive relief and daños

Choose your tone strategically based on the relationship and desired outcome:

1. Identification of trade secrets: Be specific—"client contact information, pricing data, and proposal templates," not just "confidencial information"
2. Evidencia of misappropriation: Reference specific acts (e.g., "On [date], you downloaded 15,000 customer records to a USB drive")
3. Contractual and statutory violacións: Cite the NDA, employment agreement, and CUTSA/DTSA
4. Immediate demands:
   • Cease all use and disclosure
   • Return all materials (physical and electronic)
   • Certify deletion from personal devices and cloud storage
   • Identify all recipients of the information
   • Preserve all evidencia (no deletion or destruction)
5. Deadline: Typically 48 hours to 7 días depending on urgency
6. Consequences of non-cumplimiento: TRO/preliminary injunction, daños, exemplary daños (2× actual), abogados' fees
7. Acuerdo opening (optional): "We are willing to discuss a resolution that avoids litigio if you take immediate corrective action."

Dear [Former Empleado/Contratista]:

I represent [Company Name] in connection with your misappropriation of trade secrets and confidencial business information in violación of your Confidenciality Agreement dated [date], the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (código civil § 3426 et seq.), and the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. § 1836 et seq.).

Our investigation has revealed that, antes de your resignation on [date], you engaged in a systematic effort to misappropriate [Company]'s proprietary information, including:

• Customer contact information, purchasing history, and account details for over [X] clients;
• Confidencial pricing structures, margin data, and discount schedules;
• Proprietary proposal templates, marketing materials, and business development strategies; and
• [Other specific trade secrets].

Específicamente, our IT audit logs show that on [dates], you:

• Descargared [X] files containing customer data to a USB drive;
• Forwarded [Y] emails containing confidencial pricing information to your personal email account ([email]);
• Copied [Z] proprietary documents to your personal Dropbox account; and
• Accessed and exported the entire CRM database on [date], three days before your resignation.

You have since used this misappropriated information to solicit [Company]'s clients and compete directly against us in violación of your legal obligations.

IMMEDIATE DEMANDAS:

To avoid immediate legal action, you must comply with the following within 48 hours of receipt of this letter:

1. Cease and desist from all use, disclosure, or dissemination of [Company]'s trade secrets and confidencial information.
2. Return all confidencial materials, documents, files, and data in any form (physical, electronic, cloud-based) to [Company] at [address].
3. Certify in writing that you have:
   • Deleted all copies of confidencial information from your personal devices (computers, phones, tablets, USB drives, external hard drives);
   • Deleted all copies from personal cloud storage accounts (Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, etc.);
   • Deleted all emails containing confidencial information from personal email accounts; and
   • Not disclosed any confidencial information to third parties.
4. Identify all individuals and entities to whom you disclosed [Company]'s confidencial information, including your new empleador, clients, business partners, and investors.
5. Preserve all evidencia related to your access, use, and disclosure of [Company]'s information. Do not delete, alter, or destroy any documents, emails, text messages, or electronic files.
6. Cease all contact with the following [Company] clients: [list specific clients if appropriate and legally supportable].

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES:

If you fail to comply fully with these demands, [Company] will immediately seek:

• A Temporary Restraining Order and preliminary injunction prohibiting your use of trade secrets;
• Monetary daños for actual losses and unjust enrichment;
• Exemplary daños of up to twice the amount of actual daños under CUTSA and DTSA;
• Abogados' fees and costs for willful and malicious misappropriation; and
• All other relief available under state and federal law.

We expect your full written response and cumplimiento by [specific date and time]. Direct all communications to me at [abogado contact info].

[Optional acuerdo language:] While we are prepared to pursue all available remedies, we are willing to discuss a resolution that avoids protracted litigio if you take immediate corrective action and demonstrate buena fe.

Atentamente,

[Abogado Name]
Counsel for [Company Name]

The strongest trade secret cases are built on clear digital evidencia of theft:

Interview current empleados who may have knowledge of the former empleado's activities:

• Co-workers who observed suspicious behavior: Staying late, working on personal devices, downloading files, taking photos of screens
• Managers who had exit conversations: What did the empleado say about their plans? Did they lie about where they were going?
• IT staff: Unusual help desk tickets (password resets, access requests, demandas about locked-out USB drives)
• Clients who were contacted: Did they receive calls/emails from the former empleado using your confidencial information?

Compare your materials to the former empleado's new work product to show copying:

Create side-by-side exhibits showing the similarities. The more identical the materials, the stronger the inference of copying.

Build a chronological timeline showing premeditation:

1. 3–6 months before departure: Incorporation of new competing business, domain registration, marca registrada filings
2. Final weeks: Spike in data access and downloads, meetings with clients positioned as "farewell" but actually transition discussions
3. Final days: Mass email forwarding, CRM exports, printing of confidencial documents
4. Resignation: Short or no notice, vague about future plans or outright lies about new role
5. Post-departure: Immediate launch of competing business, client announcements, identical service offerings

This timeline shows the theft was intentional, planned, and willful—supporting claims for exemplary daños and abogados' fees.

If ongoing misappropriation is causing irreparable harm, seek immediate tribunal intervention:

What the tribunal can order:

• Immediate cessation of use of trade secrets
• Return and destruction of all misappropriated materials
• Prohibition on soliciting specific clients (if trade-secret-based, not just noncompete)
• Forensic imaging of devices to verify deletion
• In extreme cases under DTSA: ex parte seizure of devices and materials

Most trade secret cases settle before trial. Common acuerdo structures:

• Standstill agreement: Demandado agrees to stop using trade secrets; demandante agrees not to sue for past conduct; mutual release
• Negotiated license: Demandado pays royalty or lump sum to continue using information under defined constraints
• Return and destroy: Demandado certifies return/destruction of all materials; demandante releases past claims
• Client carve-out: Demandado agrees not to solicit specific clients for defined period (if legally supportable)
• Monetary payment: Lump sum to cover daños, abogado fees, and avoid admission of responsabilidad
• Non-disparagement and confidenciality: Both sides agree not to discuss the dispute publicly

Continuing violación doctrine: If misappropriation is ongoing (e.g., demandado continues to use stolen client list), the prescripción may not begin to run until the use ceases.

Before sending your carta de demanda, use this tool to assess whether it risks violating California Business & Professions Code § 16600 or SB 699. A high risk score means you should revise your approach.

I represent companies in trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and breach of fiduciary duty cases involving former empleados and contratistas. I handle matters from carta de demandas through emergency TROs and full litigio under CUTSA and DTSA.

• Forensic investigation coordination: Work with IT and forensic experts to document data theft and preserve evidencia
• Cease-and-desist carta de demandas: Aggressive, legally sound letters demanding immediate cessation, return of materials, and preservation of evidencia
• Emergency injunctive relief: File for TROs and preliminary injunctions to stop ongoing misappropriation
• Trade secret litigio: Prosecute claims under CUTSA and DTSA for daños, exemplary daños, and abogados' fees
• Acuerdo negotiation: Secure favorable standstills, licenses, or monetary acuerdos without protracted litigio
• California § 16600 cumplimiento: Ensure carta de demandas and litigio strategy comply with California's anti-noncompete laws

1. Rapid response: Time is critical in trade secret cases. I move quickly to stop ongoing harm and preserve evidencia before it's destroyed.
2. Forensic-driven strategy: I work with IT and forensic experts to build airtight evidencia of theft—download logs, email trails, side-by-side comparisons.
3. Aggressive carta de demandas: My cease-and-desist letters are detailed, evidencia-based, and designed to create immediate acuerdo pressure while preserving your right to emergency relief.
4. California law expertise: I navigate the tension between protecting your trade secrets and complying with California's strict anti-noncompete laws (§ 16600, SB 699).
5. Emergency litigio readiness: If the former empleado doesn't comply, I'm prepared to file for a TRO within 24–48 hours, with declarations, exhibits, and proposed orders ready to go.