Practice Focus
Walter Judge practices law in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine where he represents businesses in patent, copyright, trademark, trade secrets and Internet litigation, as well as software and computer disputes, employer-employee disputes, franchise/dealer disputes and false advertising and consumer fraud claims. In his product liability practice, he has defended automobiles, food products, toy and recreation equipment , construction materials, and consumer goods. Walter represents insurance companies in coverage disputes. He has conducted trials and appeals in both state and federal court, as well as mediations and arbitrations.
Significant Matters
In 1994, Walter, working with senior litigation partner Robert Rachlin, went to federal court and obtained the largest verdict in Vermont Federal Court history for his client, a small Vermont software design company, against a large California-based software maker that had hired away his client’s chief software designer and incorporated the client’s software trade secrets into a competing product. More recently, Walter went to federal court and stopped a client’s former employee and that former employee’s new employer, a European-based competitor of Walter’s client, from using the client’s trade secrets. The lawsuit resulted in damages paid to Walter’s client and an injunction against the employee from competing and against the competitor from releasing competing products. Walter has worked on numerous other matters defending his clients’ intellectual property rights against infringement.
Professional Activities
Walter is adjunct professor at Vermont Law School, where he teaches the trade secrets section in an introduction to intellectual property course. He serves as an advisory member of the Tri-State Defense Lawyers Association, a professional organization for defense counsel practicing in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, and an affiliate organization of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), whose membership includes more than 20,000 attorneys committed to the defense of civil litigation claims. Walter is a past Vermont representative to DRI.
Walter recently joined the International Association of Defense Counsel. Established in 1920, the IADC serves approximately 2500 invitation-only, peer-reviewed member attorneys with advanced skills and practice representing corporations and insurers in defense law.
Community Involvement
Walter is a 1997 graduate of the Leadership Champlain program, a training and development program for future community leaders in Vermont. He is on the board of the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education, a non-profit advocacy group that promotes the teaching of the arts in Vermont schools and the continuing education of art teachers, and the Concord Academy (Mass.) Alumni Council. Active in local affairs in his town of Charlotte, Vermont, Walter is also an officer of his neighborhood association.
Publications/Presentations
Contributing Editor, Trade Secrets: A State-By-State Survey, ABA Section on Labor and Employment Law
Contributing Editor, Covenants Not to Compete: A State-By-State Survey, ABA Section on Labor and Employment Law
Contributing Editor, Employee Duty of Loyalty: A State-By-State Survey, ABA Section on Labor and Employment Law
Contributing Editor, Tortious Interference in the Employment Context: A State-By-State Survey, ABA Section on Labor and Employment Law
Contributor, State Trademark and Unfair Competition Law, International Trademark Association
Contributor, Lex Mundi Intellectual Property World Desk Reference (Kluwer)
Contributor, Products Liability Law: A State-by-State Compendium (2004) (Defense Research Institute)
Contributor, Products Liability: The Duty to Warn: A State-by-State Compendium (2007) (Defense Research Institute)
Intellectual Property Editor, The Business Suit (commercial litigation journal of the Defense Research Institute)
Co-Author, The Economic Loss Rule, For The Defense, March, 2003 (Defense Research Institute)
Walter has authored numerous papers and given several presentations and lectures on Vermont legal topics including insurance coverage law, tort law, etc.
Reported Cases
Underwood v. Risman, 414 Mass. 96, 605 N.E.2d 832 (Mass. 1993) (lead paint/landlord-tenant/consumer protection)
Vermont Microsystems, Inc. v. Autodesk, Inc., 88 F.3d 142 (2d Cir. 1996) (trade secrets/computer software)
White v. Quechee Lakes Landowners Association, Inc., 170 Vt. 25, 742 A.2d 734 (Vermont 1999) (indemnification/product liability)
McKinnon v. F.H. Morgan & Co., Inc., 170 Vt. 422, 750 A.2d 1026 (Vermont 2000) (choice-of-law/product liability)
Smith & Croyle, LLC v. Ridgewood Power Corporation, 111 F.Supp.2d 77 (D. Mass. 2000) (contract/fraud/consumer protection)
Macia v. Microsoft Corporation, et al., 152 F.Supp.2d 535 (D. Vt. 2001) (trademark infringement)
Languages
German
Print Page