In re Document Techs. Litig.

282 F. Supp. 3d 743
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 23, 2017
Docket17–cv–2405; 17–cv–3433; 17–cv–3917
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 282 F. Supp. 3d 743 (In re Document Techs. Litig.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Document Techs. Litig., 282 F. Supp. 3d 743 (S.D. Ill. 2017).

Opinion

JED S. RAKOFF, U.S.D.J.

*745Earlier this year, plaintiffs Document Technologies, Inc., Epiq Systems, Inc., and Epiq eDiscovery Solutions, Inc. (collectively, "DTI") moved this Court for a preliminary injunction enjoining defendants Steve West, John Parker, Seth Kreger, and Mark Hosford (collectively, the "Employee Defendants") from, inter alia, "using any of DTI's confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information," or "continuing to improperly interfere with DTI's contracts *746and business relationships." ECF No. 5. DTI alleged that the Employee Defendants conspired with DTI's competitor, defendant LDiscovery, LLC ("LDiscovery"), to misappropriate DTI's trade secrets and solicit DTI's customers in violation of their employment agreements and state and federal law.

On May 30, May 31, and June 1, 2017, the Court held a three-day evidentiary hearing to determine whether plaintiffs were entitled to injunctive relief, and, on the basis of the evidence presented at that hearing the Court denied plaintiffs' motion in its entirety. ECF Nos. 70, 74. In the course of so doing, the Court concluded that certain allegedly confidential information was not confidential as a matter of law. See Opinion dated July 5, 2017 ("July 5 Opinion") at 13, 19-20, 29, ECF No. 74.

DTI now seeks to redact from the hearing transcripts 120 portions of testimony relating to (1) "business strategies, market share, and financials," (2) "internal business operations and processes," and (3) "the identities of and nature of the work performed for customers." Plaintiffs' Motion For Redaction of Confidential Hearing Transcript ("Pl. Mem.") 3, ECF No. 99; see also id. Ex. 1A-C (highlighting the portions of the transcript that DTI seeks to redact); Defendant LDiscovery, LLC's Memorandum in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Redaction ("Def. Mem."), Ex. 1 (listing each portion that DTI seeks to redact), ECF No. 102.1 Defendants oppose plaintiffs' motion. See ECF Nos. 101, 102. Upon due consideration, the Court hereby denies plaintiffs' motion in its entirety.

DISCUSSION

"The common law right of public access to judicial documents is firmly rooted in our nation's history." Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119 (2d Cir. 2006). "In order to be designated a judicial document," an item " 'must be relevant to the performance of the judicial function and useful in the judicial process.' " Id. (quoting United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir. 1995) (" Amodeo II")). Once a court has determined that documents are judicial documents and that, therefore, a common law presumption of access attaches, "it must determine the weight of that presumption." Id. The weight depends on "the role of the material at issue in the exercise of Article III judicial power and the resultant value of such information to those monitoring the federal courts." Id. (quoting Amodeo II, 71 F.3d at 1049 ). "Finally, after determining the weight of the presumption of access, the court must 'balance competing considerations against it.' " Id. at 120 (quoting Amodeo II, 71 F.3d at 1050 ). Those competing considerations include "the privacy interests of those resisting disclosure." Id.

It is also "well established that the public and the press have a 'qualified First Amendment right to ... access certain judicial documents.' " Id. (quoting Hartford Courant Co. v. Pellegrino, 380 F.3d 83, 91 (2d Cir. 2004) ). There are two approaches used to determine whether First Amendment protection applies. Under the "experience and logic" approach, courts must consider "both whether the documents 'have historically been open to the press and general public' and whether 'public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question.' " Id. (quoting Hartford Courant, 380 F.3d at 91 ). On the other *747approach, courts consider "the extent to which the judicial documents are 'derived from or [are] a necessary corollary of the capacity to attend the relevant proceedings.' " Id. (quoting Hartford Courant, 380 F.3d at 93 ).

A court's conclusion, however, "that a qualified First Amendment right of access to certain judicial documents exists does not end the inquiry." Id. Documents may nonetheless be sealed or redacted " 'if specific, on the record findings are made demonstrating that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest.' " Id. (quoting In re New York Times Co., 828 F.2d 110, 116 (2d Cir. 1987) ).

In their briefs, plaintiffs cite Lugosch for the proposition that "[d]ocuments may be sealed if specific, on the record findings are made demonstrating that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest," thereby appearing to accept that First Amendment protections apply in the instant case. See Pl. Mem. 2; Plaintiffs' Reply in Support of Their Motion for Redaction of Confidential Hearing Transcripts ("Pl.

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282 F. Supp. 3d 743, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-document-techs-litig-ilsd-2017.