[lazide]

Trade secrets have a very specific definition, and a mere list of contact information that is already likely public in an unfocused way (aka contact lists) almost certainly doesn’t qualify. Neither would a list of company names, etc.

That information however IS highly valuable, especially paired with knowledge of how a company is doing sales, how it is positioning itself internally strategy wise, etc. some of those things could be trade secrets, if adequately protected, but almost no one I know would meet such a bar with how they handle it. It would be at most confidential information, and could count as a NDA violation, but would be difficult to prove unless someone was really sloppy.

[DiggyJohnson]

The idea of a client or customer list being public information is profoundly ludicrous. It’s the canonical example, as another commenter put it.

[lazide]

I never said it was public information. I saw it might be, in some cases, a collection of otherwise public information.

As to if it could be protected as a trade secret depends entirely on how it is stored, secured, what it contains, and who is given access to it.

But very unlikely. It has an actual definition [https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/trade_secret]

As to if someone could sue someone else for damages related to breach of an otherwise valid contractual obligation, then of course.

As to if such a lawsuit would be successful will of course depend on a lot of factors, including if that obligation is valid under law, if anyone can show proof it occurred (and wasn’t say someone ‘using their extensive personal connections in the industry’), etc.

But that is an expensive, time consuming, and ultimately shitty time in court with few guarantees unless someone was really sloppy.