[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.