Litigation

Technology companies turn to Sidley when their most significant disputes threaten their business, products, or reputation. We represent industry leaders in high-stakes litigation involving AI, e-commerce, cloud computing, data centers, telecommunications, and other sectors.

From the moment our technology clients find themselves facing a legal dispute, our lawyers are focused not just on the next deadline, but also on the optimal path to achieving a favorable resolution that is in the best interest of our clients and their business imperatives. We aim to resolve matters at the appropriate time to achieve our clients' goals, working closely with their in-house teams to identify and manage risk while advancing their broader business objectives.

When disputes cannot be resolved short of litigation, we attack the case with a results-oriented approach designed to win. Our combination of first-chair trial skills with deep interdisciplinary and cross-border experience on the business, regulatory, and legal issues underlying the litigation allows us to implement a tailored, strategic path to success. Where appropriate, we team up with our award-winning appellate practice so that the results we achieve stand up on appeal.

Our litigation and trial skills — which prioritize client collaboration, agility, and creative legal analysis — are particularly adept at addressing today's rapidly shifting business landscape. The group's track record of achieving favorable resolutions through arbitrations, pretrial motions, bench and jury trials, and appeals has made us a destination of choice for technology clients' most demanding and important disputes.

Technology-related disputes require lawyers who understand the language and business of the technology sector and translate key technical details into winning legal arguments. Our lawyers have the breadth and depth of experience required to understand our clients' language and exploit opposing parties' obfuscations.

Our representative technology litigation experience includes:

• AI and emerging technology disputes;
• Data privacy and cybersecurity litigation;
• Commercial contract and licensing disputes;
• Consumer and commercial class actions;
• Cross-border commercial and regulatory litigation;
• Telecommunications and data center disputes; and
• Appeals in precedent-setting technology cases.

Whether defending a bet-the-company class action, resolving a complex commercial dispute, or litigating issues that shape the future of technology, Sidley delivers practical advice, strategic advocacy, and trial-ready representation that technology companies trust when the stakes are highest.

Learn more about our Commercial Litigation and Disputes practice.

For technology companies, intellectual property is often their most valuable asset. Sidley helps clients protect and defend their innovations through sophisticated IP litigation, combining first-chair trial experience with deep technical knowledge and a strategic, business-focused approach to solve their IP needs.

Sidley’s IP Litigation team brings:

• Elite Trial Capabilities: Sidley has a nationally recognized IP Litigation practice with approximately 50 lawyers, including a deep bench of Chambers-ranked first-chair trial lawyers and a trial-ready team. We represent technology companies ranging from Fortune 500 leaders to emerging innovators in high-stakes patent, trade secret, copyright, trademark, and unfair competition disputes.
• Deep Technology Experience: Our lawyers have advanced technical backgrounds and extensive experience litigating disputes involving software, semiconductors, telecommunications, consumer electronics, networking and Wi-Fi protocols, renewable energy, smartphones, automotive systems, artificial intelligence, and other cutting-edge technologies.
• Experience Across Key IP Forums: We regularly handle matters in the leading IP venues, including in Texas, California, and Delaware, as well as the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Federal Circuit, and in the U.K. Our team has extensive experience in standard essential patent (SEP) and Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) disputes and has secured victories for plaintiffs and defendants in landmark cases involving complex technologies.

Learn more about our IP Litigation practice.

As technology continues to transform industries, companies face increasingly complex product liability and mass tort risks. At Sidley, we help clients navigate these evolving challenges with confidence, drawing on decades of experience representing the world's leading companies in high-stakes litigation and risk management.

Sidley’s Product Liability team brings to clients:

• Deep Experience in High-Stakes Litigation: Sidley has represented leading companies in some of the most significant product liability and mass tort matters of the past century. As product liability law has evolved from traditional consumer products to AI-enabled technologies, connected devices, and digital platforms, our lawyers have remained at the forefront of defending clients against emerging litigation risks involving novel theories of product liability.
• Forward-Looking Risk Management: Our lawyers are recognized thought leaders in the rapidly evolving technology landscape. We help clients identify, assess, and mitigate current and future product liability exposures associated with advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, algorithms, connected devices, and digital platforms. Our experience spans risks involving personal injury, wrongful death, consumer protection, and unfair and deceptive trade practice claims, providing strategic guidance from product development and pre-litigation counseling through trial, alternative dispute resolution, and appeal.
• Broad Industry Experience: Sidley advises companies across the full spectrum of the technology sector, including:
  • digital health and medtech;
  • e-commerce and consumer electronics;
  • digital media, social media, and virtual gaming;
  • software, robotics, and AI-enabled products; and
  • emerging technologies, including autonomous vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles, and augmented reality.
• End-to-End Litigation and Regulatory Insight: Sidley combines deep litigation experience with a multidisciplinary understanding of the regulatory and commercial issues shaping the technology industry. Working across practices, we help clients proactively manage product risks, respond effectively to evolving legal standards, and defend complex claims throughout every stage of the dispute life cycle.

Learn more about our Product Liability and Mass Torts practice.

At every stage of growth — from emerging companies raising capital to mature public companies pursuing strategic transactions — companies face increasing scrutiny from shareholders, regulators, the plaintiffs’ bar, and the market. Sidley’s best-in-class bench of Securities and Shareholder litigators regularly partners with technology companies to manage high-stakes securities and shareholder disputes with experienced trial lawyers and to provide strategic counsel, while applying our deep understanding of the legal and business issues affecting the technology industry.

Sidley’s Securities and Shareholder Litigation team brings:

• Leadership in High-Stakes Securities Litigation: Sidley handles many of the nation’s highest-profile securities, shareholder, and corporate governance disputes, representing public companies, boards, and special committees in precedent-setting litigation involving securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, fiduciary duty claims, M&A and corporate governance litigation, arbitrations, and other complex disputes.
• Experience in Landmark Corporate Governance Matters: Our lawyers have successfully defended clients in some of the country’s most closely watched shareholder litigation, including matters that have shaped corporate governance and fiduciary duty law, while advising clients through disputes arising from transformative business events.
• Experience Advising on Risk Concerning Securities, Shareholder, and Governance Issues: Our lawyers routinely provide diligence and other risk-related support to clients engaging in mergers, acquisitions, capital markets, and other transactions.
• Integrated Regulatory and Litigation Insight: Our Chambers-ranked Securities litigators work seamlessly with Sidley’s leading M&A, Public Company, Shareholder Activism, Government Enforcement, and Industry teams to deliver coordinated, business-focused strategies. We are also trusted counsel to every major D&O insurer and broker.

Learn more about our Securities and Shareholder Litigation practice.

Technology companies operate in one of the world’s most dynamic and heavily scrutinized regulatory environments. From cybersecurity incidents and data privacy concerns to AI, sanctions, whistleblower allegations, and government investigations, today’s legal and business risks require counsel with deep industry knowledge, government credibility, and global reach. Sidley’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice helps technology companies navigate their most significant investigations, enforcement actions, and compliance challenges worldwide.

• Technology-Focused Investigations Experience: Our lawyers understand the regulatory, commercial, and reputational pressures unique to the technology sector. We have handled more than 400 internal and government-facing investigations for technology clients involving data exfiltration, antitrust, sanctions, data privacy, kickbacks, cybersecurity, whistleblower claims, among others. Our clients have included some of the world's largest and most prominent technology companies, including social media platforms, e-commerce leaders, telecommunications providers, fintech companies, artificial intelligence companies, semiconductors manufacturers, and consumer electronics companies.
• Global Investigations Leadership: Sidley is ranked among the top three firms globally for cross-border investigations and litigation by Global Investigations Review 2025. With more than 130 white collar lawyers across 18 offices worldwide and investigations experience in more than 140 countries, we mobilize quickly, able to deploy seamlessly integrated teams across borders and practices to manage even the most sensitive, high-profile matters. Our international offices have significant experience in technology-related investigations and compliance, with particular strength in the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
• Deep Regulatory Agency Insight: Over the course of their careers, our White Collar lawyers have built relationships of mutual respect with the agencies that most frequently investigate technology companies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Our team features prominent practitioners and former senior officials from enforcement agencies and regulators in the United States and around the world. This firsthand government experience enables us to anticipate enforcement priorities, engage effectively with regulators, and guide clients through every stage of an investigation, from initial response and voluntary disclosures to negotiated resolutions and trial.
• Comprehensive Service Coverage: Sidley represents technology companies and their executives across the full spectrum of corporate compliance, defense, and enforcement matters, including:
  • internal investigations;
  • investigations by the DOJ, SEC, FTC, FCC, state attorneys general, and other oversight bodies and international agencies;
  • compliance counseling and program design;
  • grand jury investigations;
  • parallel criminal and civil proceedings;
  • cross-border and multi-jurisdictional investigations;
  • voluntary disclosure issues;
  • trials and other hearings;
  • congressional investigations; and
  • complaints involving sexual harassment and other employment-related allegations.

Learn more about our White Collar Defense and Investigations practice.