From our private database of 36,900+ case briefs...

U.S. v. Nosal

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

676 F.3d 854 (9th Cir. 2012) (en banc)

Facts

David Nosal (defendant) worked for Korn/Ferry International, a corporate executive-search firm. After leaving, Nosal convinced former colleagues to access the company’s proprietary database and send him information to start a competing business. Korn/Ferry had authorized the employees to access the database, but company policy prohibited disclosing confidential information to outsiders. Nosal was indicted on multiple charges, including aiding and abetting Korn/Ferry employees violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by exceeding their authorized access. Nosal moved to dismiss, arguing the CFAA applied to hackers who accessed data without authorization, not employees authorized to access Korn/Ferry’s computers and database. The court dismissed the CFAA charges. The government (plaintiff) appealed, arguing the statute applied to any use of information that exceeded the employees’ authorized access.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning (Kozinski, C.J.)

The holding and reasoning section includes:

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Dissent (Silverman, J.)

The dissent section is for members only and includes a summary of the dissenting judge or justice’s opinion. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 629,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.
Unlock this case brief Read our student testimonials
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.
Learn about our approach Read more about Quimbee

Here's why 629,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 36,900 briefs, keyed to 984 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Here's why 629,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
36,900 briefs - keyed to 984 casebooks
Uniform format for every case brief
Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
Top-notch customer support