Jacam Chemical Company 2013, LLC v. Shepard

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA Jacam Chemical Company 2013, LLC, ) ) ORDER Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) ) Arthur H. Shepard Jr., and ) Case No. 1:19-cv-093 Geo Chemicals, LLC, ) ) Defendants. ) ______________________________________________________________________________ In its order dated December 14, 2021, the Court denied a request by Plaintiff Jacam Chemical Company 2013, LLC (“Jacam”), to file Doc. No. 148-15 (exhibit 13) under seal and directed Jacam to file a proposed redacted version of exhibit 13 for the Court’s review. Jacam filed a proposed redacted version of exhibit 13 on December 17, 2021. See Doc. No. 194. Defendant Geo Chemicals, LLC’s (“Geo”) filed a response on December 20, 2021. See Doc. No. 195. Having reviewed the proposed redacted version of exhibit 13, the Court finds it contains references to confidential, proprietary information including pricing data, trade secrets, chemical formulas, sales data, and customer information. The Court approves of the proposed redacted versions of exhibit 13 which appears to designed to conceal only that information which is confidential. See Webster Groves Sch. Dist. v. Pulitzer Publ’g Co., 898 F.2d 1371, 1376 (8th Cir. 1990) (the decision to file a document under seal is a matter left to the discretion of the court); In re Search Warrant for Secretarial Area Outside Office of Gunn, 855 F.23d 569, 574 (8th Cir. 1988); In re Sealed Documents, Standing Order (D.N.D. Sept. 30, 2011). The Court directs the parties to file the approved redacted version of exhibit 13 in support of their respective motions. An unredacted version is already on file for the use of the Court and the parties. See Doc. No. 148-15. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated this 22nd day of December, 2021. /s/ Daniel L. Hovland Daniel L. Hovland, District Judge United States District Court