P.J. Kee

P.J. Kee is a partner in the Labor & Employment Practice Group and a member of the trade secrets and fair competition team. He focuses on advising clients in disputes and potential threats concerning trade secret theft, computer fraud and abuse, unfair competition, civil conspiracies, and non-competition obligations. P.J. regularly represents clients in federal and state courts. He has been on trial teams that have not only successfully obtained and fended off injunctions relating to trade secrets, but also prevailed on the merits at trial. P.J. also litigates other complex commercial and employment matters that involve breach-of-contract claims, business torts, fraud claims, fiduciary duty actions, defamation claims, invasion-of-privacy claims, wage-and-hour disputes, Title VII claims, and appellate advocacy. When not litigating, P.J. actively counsels clients on strategies to protect their trade secrets and confidential information and on ways to avoid potential liability when hiring key personnel from a competitor. P.J. is a founder of and editor for the Trade Secret Insider, a legal blog committed to providing timely legal insights on trade secrets, non-competes, computer fraud, and data theft.

Some representative matters include:

• Kadant Johnson, Inc. v. D’Amico, No. 10-2869 (E.D. La.) (full trial victory on non-competition and trade secret claims where the plaintiff sought more than $162 million in damages and received nothing)
• Total Safety U.S., Inc. v. Rowland, No. 13-6109 (E.D. La.) (obtained preliminary injunction and contempt order requiring periodic forensic inspections for trade secret theft)
• HydroChem LLC v. Duplessis, et al., No. 14-264 (M.D. La.) (obtained injunctive relief)
• Lagniappe Logistics, Inc. v. Buras, et al. No. 2013-13979 (22nd JDC) (full trial defense victory on plaintiff’s claims for trade secret theft, unfair trade practices, and breach of fiduciary duties)
• Orion Marine Construction, Inc. v. Coyle, et al., No. 17-052 (S.D. Tex.) (obtained expanded preliminary injunction barring bidding activity based on contempt and inevitable disclosure doctrine)
• River Services Co., et al. v. Peer, et al., No. 17-2691 (E.D. La.) (obtained injunctive relief on reverse domain hijacking claims)
• ChillCo, Inc. v. Tri Mech Industrial, L.L.C., No. 17-2774 (E.D. La.) (obtained permanent consent injunction)
• Fibrebond Corp. v. Millstone Capital Advisors, LLC, et al., No. 16-1084 (C.D. Ill.) (obtained consent preliminary and permanent injunctions concerning trade secret theft)
• Total Safety U.S., Inc. v. Barton, No. 18-397 (W.D. Tex.) (obtained preliminary and permanent injunction regarding trade secrets)
• Annie Sloan Interiors, Ltd. v. Jolie Design & Décor et al., No. 17-11767 (E.D. La.) (obtained preliminary injunction concerning trademark infringement, reverse palming off, false advertising, and breach of contract)
• State of Louisiana v. Sadeghi, No. 529-944 (Orleans Parish Criminal District Court) (not guilty jury verdict on all counts)
• Axis Teknologies, LLC v. Fibrebond Corporation, et. al. United States District Court for the District of Arizona Case No. 2:18-cv-03150 (full victory on non-competition and trade secret claims where the plaintiff sought more than $30 million in damages and received nothing)

P.J. also has an active pro bono practice, which he primarily focuses on criminal defense and immigration matters involving unaccompanied minors. He was part of teams that secured Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for one client and administrative closures of removal proceedings for two other clients. He also was a member of a pro bono trial team that won a jury verdict in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York involving First Amendment violations. Before joining Jones Walker, P.J. worked as an associate in the Litigation Department at the New York office of Weil, Gotshal & Manages, where he assisted with a wide range of matters, including the NFL's Player Association labor dispute with and antitrust litigation against the NFL, as well as the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi's successful international arbitration that had hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Before joining Weil's New York office, he clerked for the Honorable Marcus Clark and the Honorable Benjamin Jones at the Louisiana Supreme Court.