One “exception” to the American rule is the “tort of another” doctrine. Under this doctrine, “[a] person who through the tort of another has been required to act in the protection of his interests by bringing or defending an action against a third person is entitled to recover compensation for the reasonably necessary loss of time, attorney’s fees, and other expenditures thereby suffered or incurred.” Prentice v. North Am. Title Guaranty Corp., Alameda Division, 59 Cal.2d 618, 620 (1963).

Discerning the line between providing too much information in a trade secrets identification (and therefore potentially publicly revealing some of the proprietary information) and disclosing too little information (thereby risking dismissal or the need to amend a trade secrets disclosure) is more art than science