Nov 27 (Reuters) - A federal judge in San Francisco has

temporarily blocked a former Citigroup private banker from

using confidential information related to Citi's law firm

clients following his move to competitor Bank of Montreal ( BERZ )

.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Tuesday ordered John

Mitchell, a former managing director in Citi Global Wealth at

Work's law firm unit, to return any of the bank's records within

24 hours.

Breyer said Citi showed that Mitchell "likely

misappropriated its trade secrets in the form of confidential

client information" and "likely breached" some of his

contractual obligations to Citi.

Citibank and Citigroup Global Markets sued Mitchell and

former Global Wealth at Work law firm unit senior vice president

Benjamin Carr last week.

The San Francisco-based bankers were among 18 from Citi who

joined BMO's law firm wealth management group in a move

announced last month. BMO is not a defendant.

Citi accused Mitchell and Carr of taking or retaining the

bank's confidential and proprietary information and using it at

BMO, including clients' cash balances and the maturity dates of

savings accounts. Mitchell and Carr have denied the allegations

as "baseless speculation."

Lawyers for the two bankers did not immediately respond to

requests for comment on Wednesday. A spokesperson for Citi

declined to comment. A BMO spokesperson said "we respect the

Court's decision and will continue to defend against these

claims."

Breyer's ruling granting a temporary restraining order cited

an email Mitchell sent an unnamed Citi client earlier this month

in which he referenced the client's "high cash position."

"The court concludes that such information is a protected

trade secret," Breyer said.

Breyer denied Citi's request for a similar injunction

against Carr, finding it did not show that Carr has "used or

misappropriated any client lists, client information, or other

trade secret while at BMO."

Breyer's order against Mitchell expires Dec. 11. A hearing

in the case is set for Dec. 13.

The case is Citibank, N.A. v. Mitchell, U.S. District Court

for the Northern District of California, No. 3:24-cv-08224

For Citi: Stacy Fode and Natalie Bryans of Nukk-Freeman &

Cerra; and Leonard Weintraub of Paduano & Weintraub

For Mitchell and Carr: Paul Riehle and Tracey Salmon-Smith

of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath