Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

01/23/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/23/2026 13:05

Pegasystems Secures Another Victory as VA Supreme Court Upholds Rejection of Record Judgment

  • Software company Pegasystems secured a major win on January 8 when the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a 2024 decision vacating a record $2 billion trade secrets judgment and ordered a new trial. American Lawyer recognized the win in its Litigators of the Week column.
  • The court sided with Pegasystems on four separate errors, finding the original verdict was invalid due to jury instruction and evidentiary errors and that a new trial was needed. The ruling means that Pegasystems can on retrial introduce key evidence that was previously excluded, including information about Pegasystems's own software and how widely Appian's purported trade secrets were shared.
  • The decision sets important legal precedent in Virginia business litigation, clarifying that trade secret plaintiffs bear the burden of proving that any damages stem directly from alleged misappropriation.
  • In 2024, our team prevailed before the Court of Appeals, earning Orrick's Josh Rosenkranz, Eric Shumsky and Chris Cariello recognition as Litigators of the Week by American Lawyer - a result that also contributed to Josh being selected as American Lawyer's 2025 Litigator of the Year for an unprecedented third time.
  • In addition to Josh, Eric and Chris, the Orrick team includes Cesar Lopez-Morales, Jonas Wang and Samantha Leff. Monica Monday and Mike Finney of Gentry Locke are co-counsel.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP published this content on January 23, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on January 23, 2026 at 19:05 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]