McDaniel Wolff Client Obtains $222M Verdict Against Walmart in Trade Secrets Case

Posted: May 15, 2025

May 13, 2025 — A federal jury in the Eastern District of Arkansas awarded $222 million to Zest Labs Inc. of San Jose, California in a high-profile trade secrets case against retail giant Walmart Inc. of Bentonville — one of the largest jury awards in Arkansas history and likely the largest ever for a trade secret case in the state.

The unanimous verdict includes $72.7 million in compensatory damages and $150 million in punitive damages. The final judgment will include interest and attorneys’ fees.

Patrick M. Ryan of Bartko Pavia LLP of San Francisco served as lead trial counsel for Zest Labs. He was joined by a coordinated, multi-firm team including Kate Falkenstien of Blue Peak Law Group of New York as second chair and Scott P. Richardson of McDaniel Wolff PLLC of Little Rock, Arkansas, as local counsel.

An agriculture startup, Zest Labs developed the Zest Fresh Solution, an innovative technology designed to reduce food waste by using data analytics and machine learning to dynamically predict the shelf life of produce across the supply chain. In 2015, Walmart entered into a non-disclosure agreement with Zest to evaluate the technology. But according to evidence presented at trial, Walmart went from customer to competitor, misappropriating Zest’s proprietary information to secretly develop a competing product and later filed a patent based on Zest’s trade secrets. Once that patent was published, Zest’s trade secret was exposed, undermining the company’s competitive edge.

"A jury of 12 Arkansans stood up to one of the largest companies in the world and delivered a powerful message: Walmart cannot take technology from smaller innovators and get away with it," said Scott P. Richardson of McDaniel Wolff. "We are proud to have helped Zest Labs achieve justice, and we’re grateful that the jury recognized the value of Zest’s groundbreaking work and the importance of protecting it.”

Joining Ryan were Bartko Pavia attorneys Sean R. McTigue, Kenneth Richard, Natalie Felsen, Katie Allgood, Rob Bunzel, Griff Towle, Brian Smith, Adam Mitzner, Chad DeVeaux, Joe Fraresso, Andrew Ryan, Pamela Fields, Josh Jacobsen, Brianne Kalach, Jubilee Cheung and Gianna Signorille, with paralegals Chet Chou, Blanca Conway, Winni Yan and Windy Loritsch providing indispensable litigation support.

Richardson and Brittany Webb of McDaniel Wolff served as local counsel, aided by paralegals Kisha Alverson and Chandler Sullivan-Perry. H. Christopher Bartolomucci of Schaerr | Jaffe LLP and Falkenstien of Blue Peak Law Group — supported by paralegal Hannah Kim — also played critical roles in the team.