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GAO Slams Protestor For Protective Order Violation

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 02.05.08

For the first time ever, the GAO in PWC Logistics Servs. Co. (Jan. 11, 2008, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/310559.pdf) has dismissed a protest without reaching the merits because of violations of a protective order by the protestor. The GAO gave notice several years ago that dismissal was an option for an "abuse of the GAO process," and it found this case to warrant dismissal because, after an inadvertent disclosure by outside counsel of pleadings with significant amounts of proprietary information of the awardee, at least some of the information was circulated within the higher echelons of the company instead of being returned immediately.

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Client Alert | 2 min read | 06.15.26

Kansas Federal Court Applies “Selective Enforcement” Theory to Reject DTSA Claim

A Kansas federal court held that inconsistent enforcement of trade secret rights can defeat a claim under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). In Edelman Financial Engines, LLC v. Mariner Wealth Advisors LLC, No. 2:23-cv-02515-HLT (D. Kan. June 5, 2026), the court applied a selective enforcement theory, holding that when a company does not consistently pursue legal remedies against similarly situated former employees, that inconsistency can be affirmative evidence that it failed to protect its trade secrets. While the selective enforcement theory has appeared in academic hypothetical discussions, the decision appears to be one of the clearest judicial applications of a “selective enforcement” theory in a trade secret case....