In re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation

101 F.R.D. 34, 10 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1300, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19601
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedFebruary 9, 1984
DocketNo. MDL-150-WPG
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 101 F.R.D. 34 (In re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation, 101 F.R.D. 34, 10 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1300, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19601 (C.D. Cal. 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

WILLIAM P. GRAY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

The present controversy in these consolidated cases pits the public interest in open court proceedings against the private interest in the confidentiality of allegedly commercially sensitive information made available to opposing litigants by court process. This tension is not uncommon in complex civil litigation. At the center of the conflict are umbrella protective orders frequently entered to facilitate discovery in large cases. See, e.g., In re Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation, 98 F.R.D. 539 (E.D.N.Y.1983); Zenith Radio Corporation v. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., 529 F.Supp. 866 (E.D.Pa.1981).

The protective order in these cases was initially entered in May 1974 by Judge Clar-ie of the District of Connecticut. I adopted it as part of Pretrial Order (“P.T.O.”) No. 2 in January 1977, four months after the consolidation of the several cases by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.1 The consolidated cases, known as MDL-150, are complex civil antitrust actions involving the oil industry. The cases fall into two distinct classes, and P.T.O. No. 2 applies to both. One group, the “State" cases, is comprised of actions brought by the attorneys-general of several states against most of the major oil companies.2 The plaintiffs charge a nationwide, indeed, a worldwide, conspiracy to create artificial shortgages and to raise the prices of retail petroleum products, the alleged effects of which are commonly known as the “oil crisis” of the mid-1970’s. The plaintiffs in the other set of cases, the State of California and the City of Long Beach, are owners of oil fields and sell their crude oil to the five defendant-integrated oil companies.3 In these actions, dubbed “Long Beach," the plaintiffs allege a conspiracy to depress the prices of crude oil in Long Beach over a period stretching from the early 1960’s to the late 1970’s.

Presently, in both the State and Long Beach cases, there are numerous pending motions by defendants, and a few by plaintiffs, for partial and entire summary judgment and judgment on the pleadings. Some of these motions were filed as early as 1979, while the briefing on other sum[37]*37mary judgment motions is not yet complete. In June 1982, the Long Beach plaintiffs filed their Statement of the Case, and in January 1983, the State plaintiffs filed their Initial Pretrial Brief.

In April 1982, this court granted the motion of Dow Jones, Inc., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, to intervene for the purpose of seeking modification of the protective order in both the Long Beach and the State eases. I declined, however, to rule on Dow Jones’ motion for declassification at that time and have so declined on four occasions since then, each time inviting the intervenor to renew its motion at the time of the formal hearings on the motions for summary judgment in the Long Beach case. More recently, California, Arizona, Florida, Oregon and Washington have moved for an order of declassification in the State cases. The State plaintiffs seek declassification4 of all summary judgment motions and memoranda-in support and in opposition (including attached exhibits and affidavits) and the plaintiffs’ Initial Pretrial Brief (including Supplements and documents cited therein) filed under seal in the State cases. Inter-venor Dow Jones asks that I lift the seal on: all summary judgment motions, memo-randa in support and in opposition in both the State and Long Beach cases (including declarations and exhibits attached thereto or referenced therein); the plaintiffs’ Pretrial Statement in the Long Beach case (including attached and referenced items, as above); and the plaintiffs’ Initial Pretrial Brief in the State cases (with all attached and referenced exhibits and declarations). Both movants contend that the public has a constitutional and common law right of access to those materials and that most of the information under seal is not worthy of protection under the terms of the protective order. The defendants, of course, argue the opposite.

Dow Jones’ most recent “continued” motion and the State plaintiffs’ motions were heard together on November 17,1983. The central question before this court — to what extent may a previously imposed protective order be lifted in order to give the public access to civil pretrial materials — has not been decided in this circuit. As is set forth below, I conclude that declassification of most of the subject documents is appropriate at this time.

II. THE PROTECTIVE ORDER IN MDL-150

On May 21, 1974, at the inception of the two cases that grew into MDL-150, Judge Clarie granted an oil company defendant’s motion for a protective order under Fed.R. Civ.P. 26(c)(7) “to prevent the imminent public exposure of ... confidential trade secrets and information of commercial significance to competitors.” This is the order that governs today. Under it, any portions of documents, depositions, or interrogatory answers may be designated “Confidential Material” by the party providing the information or by a party to whom the information relates. Confidential information may be used only for purposes of the instant litigation, and upon the termination of the litigation all such material and any copies must be returned to the party that produced it. The order provides for contemporaneous objections to the designation of something as “Confidential.” If, after receiving a notice of objection, the designating party does not agree to declassification, the objecting party may move the court for an order of declassification. A primary by-product, if not a purpose, of the order was to facilitate discovery by avoiding document-by-document battles over protection. Thus, the order contemplates that the judge infrequently will be called upon to make individual Rule 26(c)(7) determinations. Much discretion lies with the litigants regarding the quantity and nature of material filed under seal or designated “Confidential” but not filed.

[38]*38It is impossible to tell what showing was made or what standard Judge Clarie applied when he granted the motion for a protective order in 1974. In 1977, when I incorporated his order into P.T.O. No. 2, the plaintiff states apparently agreed to closure, and there was no controversy.

The discovery disputes in MDL-150 up to now have had little to do with the protective order or with the propriety of filing materials under seal. Both plaintiffs and defendants have made “Confidential” designations, although those of the latter are much more numerous. The majority of docket filings over seven years have not been sealed. However, in recent years, as the cases have progressed into the summary judgment phase, the parties, and particularly the defendants, have filed many legal memoranda — as opposed to the raw fruits of discovery — under seal. Certainly, some of these summary judgment papers incorporate business data as well as legal arguments, but as the summary judgment motions have not yet been decided, this court still is not ready to determine the extent to which that business information is innocuous, inculpatory or commercially sensitive.

III.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Milazzo v. Anthony
D. Vermont, 2024
Shetty v. SG Blocks, Inc.
E.D. New York, 2021
Leftenant v. Blackmon
D. Nevada, 2020
Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas v. City of Dallas
509 S.W.3d 247 (Texas Supreme Court, 2017)
Whistleblower 11332-13W v. Comm'r
2014 T.C. Memo. 92 (U.S. Tax Court, 2014)
United States v. Kravetz
706 F.3d 47 (First Circuit, 2013)
United States v. Sattar
471 F. Supp. 2d 380 (S.D. New York, 2006)
Anonymous v. Commissioner
127 T.C. No. 6 (U.S. Tax Court, 2006)
Anonymous v. Comm'r
127 T.C. No. 6 (U.S. Tax Court, 2006)
Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga
435 F.3d 110 (Second Circuit, 2006)
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians v. Weyerhaeuser Co.
340 F. Supp. 2d 1118 (D. Oregon, 2003)
State Ex Rel. Humphrey v. Philip Morris Inc.
606 N.W.2d 676 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2000)
Walker Systems, Inc. v. Hubbell Inc.
188 F.R.D. 428 (S.D. West Virginia, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
101 F.R.D. 34, 10 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1300, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-coordinated-pretrial-proceedings-in-petroleum-products-antitrust-cacd-1984.