Litigation Team Secures Decisive Victory for Boston Children’s Hospital

On Sept. 12, a team of Ropes & Gray attorneys secured a decisive victory for Boston Children’s Hospital in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in a dispute regarding stolen data that contained potentially valuable research on cutting-edge anti-obesity drugs. The hospital brought suit against a former employee who had removed a work-issued laptop from the hospital, copied the data and research from the laptop, and then deleted thousands of files before returning the laptop to the hospital.

Ropes & Gray filed a complaint in United States District Court on behalf Boston Children’s Hospital seeking the return of the copied data to the hospital. After discovery, Ropes & Gray filed a motion for summary judgment on behalf of Boston Children’s Hospital. The former employee brought a cross motion for summary judgment. Judge Denise Casper granted Boston Children’s Hospital’s motion for summary judgment and denied the former employee’s cross-motion outright. Ultimately, Ropes & Gray helped Boston Children’s Hospital secure the return of potentially valuable research data, while also establishing the hospital’s right to protect its access to data that it funds and supports.