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State Higher Ed Entities Face Arm-of-the-State Test

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 06.25.12

In US ex rel. Oberg v. Ky. Higher Educ., the Fourth Circuit considered whether corporate entities created by several states to provide higher education financing (and accused of making false claims to DOE) are "persons" subject to FCA liability. The court stated that "the critical inquiry is whether [the entities] are truly subject to sufficient state control to render them a part of the state, and not a 'person,'" and instructed that Eleventh Amendment "arm-of-the-state" analysis applies to determine if they are subject to liability.


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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....