Utah Supreme Court weighs whether patient names and insurer pairings can be trade secrets

At oral argument before the Utah Supreme Court, attorneys debated whether client names and insurer pairings disclosed by departing therapists to a new employer, Feller Behavioral Health, qualify as trade secrets under the Utah Trade Secrets Act and whether any misappropriation caused recoverable damages.

The issue arose from summary-judgment rulings in litigation between Freedom Counseling, which sued after several therapists left for Feller, and Feller Behavioral Health and its owner, Dr. Feller. Michael Judd, counsel for Feller Behavioral Health, told the justices that the record shows disputed factual issues that make summary judgment inappropriate and that the evidence does not show Feller solicited or otherwise reached out to patients. "There are some decisions that need to be made here that are either disputes of fact or inferences that should be…