Blank Rome partners Leigh Ann Buziak and Daniel R. Saeedi will lead panels at The Sedona Conference Working Group 12 Annual Meeting 2026, being held October 5 through 6, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio.

About the Meeting

The primary focus of this meeting will be dialogue to obtain member comment on current Working Group 12 (“WG12”) drafting projects and advance them to publication for public comment and what new topics should be pursued over the next year.

About the Sessions

Leigh Ann’s session, “Trade Secret Guidance for Employees Who Change Jobs,” will take place on Monday, October 5, from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m.

While resources and analyses often address the employment relationship and associated issues from the employer’s perspective, sufficient guidance for how to eliminate or mitigate trade secret risk is often lacking for employees who change jobs. This session will highlight the various stages of the hiring, retention, and departure process with a special emphasis on the employee’s perspective. The panel will also provide a checklist for employees containing straightforward descriptions of practical trade secret-related considerations that they should consider as they change jobs.

Dialogue Leaders:

  • Kate Ellis Lazarus, Partner, Kwun Bhansali Lazarus
  • Leigh Ann Buziak, Partner, Blank Rome LLP

Daniel’s first session, “International Enforcement of Trade Secrets Update,” will take place on Monday, October 6, from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m.

This session will examine strategies for international trade secret enforcement and protection, both criminal and civil. When corporate deals cross borders—meaning, they occur in more than one jurisdiction—practitioners must develop a game plan to navigate conflicting laws and regulations. In this session, you will hear from international and U.S. professionals who litigate global trade secret disputes throughout the world and who advise on trade secret investigations and enforcement across geographies.

Dialogue Leaders:

  • Jeff A. Pade, Partner, Paul Hastings LLP
  • Daniel Saeedi, Partner, Blank Rome LLP

Daniel will also speak on the “International Trade Secret Arbitration” panel on Tuesday, October 6, from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m.

This panel of experienced intellectual property (“IP”) professionals will explore the growth of international arbitration of IP disputes. While it is still the case that some types of IP disputes are litigated predominantly in national courts, the number of IP-related cases proceeding to arbitration continues to grow. Indeed, one of the noticeable trends in international arbitration in the past several years has been the growing use of arbitration to resolve IP-related disputes, especially regarding trade secrets. Among the topics to be discussed are reasons to arbitrate international IP disputes, confidentiality, arbitrability, the use of experts, damages, and the international enforcement of arbitral awards.

Dialogue Leaders:

  • Randy Kay, Partner, Jones Day
  • Daniel Saeedi, Partner, Blank Rome LLP

About the Sedona Conference

The Sedona Conference (“TSC”) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) research and educational institute dedicated to the advanced study of law and policy in the areas of antitrust law, complex litigation, intellectual property rights, and data security and privacy law. The mission of TSC is to move the law forward in a reasoned and just way through the creation and publication of nonpartisan consensus commentaries and through advanced legal education for the bench and bar.

To learn more, please visit the event webpage.