for seven years bartell worked as an independent contractor for axi line precision a division of hick/

1. The appeals court held that Bartell could be found to have taken trade secrets from Hicklin, if any of Hicklin’s trade-secrets are found in Bartell’s products. Why did Hicklin not have Bartell sign a trade secret agreement? Would that have mattered?
2. If Bartell did all of the engineering work for Hicklin, then could he still be liable for theft of trade secret?