SAN FRANCISCO — As trial approaches in the trade secret showdown between Waymo and Uber, the judge overseeing the case conceded there's a good chance jurors will find out the Morrison & Foerster lawyers representing Uber at trial are part of the same firm that represented the company in a transaction at the heart of the case.

Speaking at the final pretrial conference Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge William Alsup said that despite efforts to avoid identifying MoFo litigators by their firm name at trial, he thinks there's a “50-50” chance jurors will find out they are part of the same firm that handled Uber Technologies Inc.'s acquisition of Otto and commissioned a pre-deal due diligence report that will likely come up at trial.

“It could be that despite good faith by both sides and the judge, it could become obvious to the jurors that you lawyers are the same MoFo,” said Alsup to MoFo's Arturo González, one of Uber's lead lawyers on the case.

Alsup said the role of MoFo and Stroz Friedberg, the digital forensic firm hired to conduct the due diligence report, were the “Res gestae” of the case, “exhibit B, if not exhibit A.”

Uber also is represented by counsel at Susman Godfrey and Boies Schiller Flexner, with Susman's Bill Carmody acting as lead counsel.

Deal lawyers from MoFo represented Uber in its 2016 acquisition of Otto, a company founded by former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski. Waymo alleges Levandowski stole some 14,000 files relating to driverless car technology before leaving Google, and that Uber has incorporated Waymo trade secrets into its driverless car program. Alsup ruled in August that Morrison & Foerster deal lawyers might have to take the stand to explain why the law firm remained silent about possessing Levandowski's documents.

Alsup previously asked the parties to avoid mentioning the firm's name when identifying González, intellectual property partner Michael Jacobs and other MoFo members of the trial team. But at Tuesday's hearing, Alsup conceded those precautions might not be enough to keep jurors from figuring out that MoFo has worn multiple hats in its relationship with Uber.

“If it comes up, I don't want you to say, 'Oh judge, you have to exclude that because we're trial counsel, '” Alsup said. “If it turns out that Arturo and Mike Jacobs and the rest of your team have to receded into the background, that's just how it is.”

“Understood,” González said.

Alsup's discussion of the MoFo issue came during a three-plus hour hearing over potential trial evidence and witnesses. Jury selection in the case is set for Wednesday morning and trial is set to begin Monday, Feb. 5.