Protecting Your Customer List From Poaching

Aside from the goods or services that it provides, a company's most valuable asset is arguably its customer or client information. Client lists and information, however, are invariably vulnerable to "poaching" by current employees who are considering a move to a competitor or striking out on their own. Therefore, companies should treat their client information just as they treat their product designs and proprietary methods – as a trade secret. Unlike with other tools of enforcement, such as non compete and non solicitation covenants (whose enforcement is generally state specific and often unlawful), virtually every state will enable a company to protect trade secrets and confidential information, if the company has undertaken the necessary prerequisites to enforcement.