IP Law Daily, TRADEMARK—Ill. App.: Employees’ client lists were not trade secrets, (Feb 11, 2026)

By Thomas K. Lauletta, J.D.

The lists and information were not sufficiently secret that the plaintiff derived economic value from their not being generally known to others.

The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District in Chicago upheld the decision of the trial court denying Willow Insurance (Willow) a preliminary injunction to prevent two departed employees from using certain customer lists and information that it claimed were trade secrets, in their work as insurance agents on behalf of their new employer. In upholding the trial court’s denial, the appellate court concluded Willow failed to show sufficient evidence that it treated the customer list and information as secret or confidential (Willow Insurance Group, Inc. v. Bondarenko, No. 1-25-2077 (Ill. App. Feb. 9, 2026)).

The alleged trade secrets at issue were a “Black Book” of client information compiled by former employees Galina Barash, and a document entitled “Galina’s Clients” created by Willow.

Barash testified at trial that she had worked in the insurance industry for 28 years. Over this time, she built a clientele of individuals who primarily spoke Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and Bulgarian through her involvement with churches, real estate agents, and banks that served these groups. Barash kept this book at home, never bringing it to her office.

Barash sought the assistance of Bondarenko in dealing with her clients because he spoke Ukrainian, Russian, and English, and had been a lawyer for 17 years in Kiev, Ukraine. While working for Willow, the other former employee, Pavlo Bondarenko, was given a listing created by Willow entitled “Galina’s Clients.”

Willow terminated Barash’s employment on August 15, 2024. Bondarenko resigned his employment on November 22, 2024. Thereafter, both Barash and Bondarenko were hired as employees of Power Risk Management (Power). Willow thereafter received a temporary restraining order based on Willow’s allegation that defendants Barash and Bondarenko had misappropriated Willow’s trade secrets (the “Black Book,” and “Galina’s Clients” list) in violation of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act (765 ILCS 1065/1 et seq.

The appellate court upheld the district court’s refusal to grant Willow a preliminary injunction barring Power’s use of the Black Book or Galina’s Clients list. The appellate court saw as most significant that the owner of First Midwest (which was purchased by Willow on April 1, 2023), never treated these items as trade secrets or confidential. Further, no evidence was presented that Barash was restricted in her ability to keep these lists or how she could use the information on them. From this fact the appellate court stated that it suggested that Barash was free to use the lists even after her employment with Willow ended and she began work for a competitor insurance agency.

Accordingly, the appellate court upheld the district court’s denial of Willow’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

The Case is No. 1-25-2077.

Judge: Sullivan, W.

Attorneys: (Schain, Banks, Kenny, Schartz Ltd.) for Willow Insurance Group, Inc. (Gordan, Rees, Scully, Mansukhani LLP) for Pavlo Bondarenko.

Companies: Willow Insurance Group, Inc.

Cases: Trademark IllinoisNews