Syntel Sterling Best Shores Mauritius Limited v. The Trizetto Group, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedApril 20, 2021
Docket1:15-cv-00211
StatusUnknown

This text of Syntel Sterling Best Shores Mauritius Limited v. The Trizetto Group, Inc. (Syntel Sterling Best Shores Mauritius Limited v. The Trizetto Group, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Syntel Sterling Best Shores Mauritius Limited v. The Trizetto Group, Inc., (S.D.N.Y. 2021).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -------------------------------------------------------------X : SYNTEL STERLING BEST SHORES : MAURITIUS LIMITED, et al., : : 15 Civ. 211 (LGS) Plaintiffs/Counterclaim-Defendants, : : ORDER -against- : : THE TRIZETTO GROUP., et al., : : Defendants/Counterclaim-Plaintiffs. : ------------------------------------------------------------ X

LORNA G. SCHOFIELD, District Judge: WHEREAS, the parties have filed several motions to seal in connection with their (1) pre-trial motions in limine (“MIL”) (Dkt. Nos. 686, 726, 780, 805, 848, 854, 889), (2) a filing made during trial (Dkt. No. 917), (3) trial exhibits (Dkt. No. 936) and (4) post-trial motions (Dkt. No. 962). For the reasons below, the motions to seal are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part without prejudice to renewal. WHEREAS, Syntel seeks to seal and/or redact information regarding its clients, including proprietary marketing and business information, details relating to its hiring and personnel decisions, customer identification information and specific project information, and business emails that include information regarding its clients, as well as other proprietary marketing and business information. TriZetto seeks to seal and/or redact information regarding its trade secrets, technical documentation, current and prospective financial data regarding certain customer projects, information regarding its project proposals to potential customers, including technical, staffing, and financial information relating to specific Facets software projects, its contracts with its customers and business partners, its financial information used as part of its expert’s damages analysis, and information related to business practices, policies strategy and risk assessments. WHEREAS, “[t]he common law right of public access to judicial documents is firmly rooted in our nation’s history,” and is not absolute. Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435

F.3d 110, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks omitted). To determine whether to seal or redact a document, courts in this Circuit apply a three-part test and (i) determine whether the documents in question are “judicial documents;” (ii) assess the weight of the common law presumption of access to the materials; and (iii) balance competing considerations against the presumption of access. See id. at 119-20. “[T]he decision as to access is one best left to the sound discretion of the trial court, a discretion to be exercised in light of the relevant facts and circumstances of the particular case.” Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns., Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 599 (1978). WHEREAS, in addition to the common law right of access, it is well established that the public and the press have a “qualified First Amendment right . . . to access certain judicial

documents.” Lugosch, 435 F.3d at 120. The common law presumption is different from the protections afforded by the First Amendment. See Newsday LLC v. County of Nassau, 730 F.3d 156, 165 (2d Cir. 2013) (“Because of these differences between the common law right and the First Amendment right, it is necessary to keep the two standards conceptually distinct.”); Lugosch, 435 F.3d at 124 (“[T]he common law does not afford as much substantive protection to the interests of the press and the public as does the First Amendment. . . .”). First Amendment protections apply to documents (1) that “have historically been open to the press and general public” and where “public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question” or (2) that “are derived from or [are] a necessary corollary of the capacity to attend the relevant proceedings.” Lugosch, 435 F.3d at 120 (quotation marks omitted). Under the more rigorous First Amendment framework, sealing “may be justified only with specific, on-the-record findings that [it] is necessary to preserve higher values and only if the sealing order is narrowly tailored to achieve that aim.” Brown v. Maxwell, 929 F.3d 41, 47

(2d Cir. 2019) (quotation marks omitted). WHEREAS, documents may be sealed if “‘countervailing factors’ in the common law framework or ‘higher values’ in the First Amendment framework so demand.” Lugosch, 435 F.3d at 124. The parties do not dispute that the documents at issue are “judicial documents,” for which there is a common law presumption of access. Thus, the remaining issues are (1) the weight of presumption of access -- including whether the strong First Amendment protection is applicable --- and (2) whether the redaction and sealing requests are narrowly tailored to serve the relevant interests overcoming that presumption. Neither party in its applications to seal has explicitly applied the more rigorous First Amendment framework. With respect to the documents for which First Amendment protection applies, the Court need not analyze whether

“higher values” overcome the First Amendment protection, as the parties have failed to make a sufficient showing to overcome the common law presumption of access. WHEREAS, the Court’s rulings on the applications are presented below and governed by the following principles. First, with respect to the common law analysis, “the weight to be given the presumption of access must be governed by 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. at 119. “[T]he presumption of public access in filings submitted in connection with discovery disputes or motions in limine is generally somewhat lower than the presumption applied to material introduced at trial, or in connection with dispositive motions such as motions for dismissal or summary judgment.” Brown, 929 F.3d at 50. Materials submitted in connection with non-dispositive motions are subject to a substantial presumption of public access. See id. at 53. Documentary exhibits and trial testimony are strongly presumed to be public, since they are a direct part of the process of adjudication. See United States v.

Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1049 (2d Cir. 1995) (“the public has an ‘especially strong’ right of access to evidence introduced in trials.”). Second, the “mere fact that document was marked ‘confidential’ during discovery does not establish that sealing is required.” See Lugosch, 435 F.3d at 126; Republic of Turkey v. Christie’s Inc., 425 F. Supp. 3d 204, 221 (S.D.N.Y. 2019) (quoting Aioi Nissay Dowa Ins. Co. v. ProSight Specialty Mgmt. Co., Inc., 2012 WL 3583176, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 21, 2012)) (“the mere existence of a confidentiality agreement covering judicial documents is insufficient to overcome the First Amendment presumption of access.”). To the extent a party’s justification for sealing is based on a confidentiality order, the party has not met its burden. Third, for many of the parties’ justifications asserting that disclosure of certain business

information would result in competitive harm, it is unclear based on the provided reasoning and review of the relevant documents why disclosure would be harmful, including that the information in some documents is stale. Negative publicity is insufficient “as a basis for overcoming the strong presumption of public access to [the allegedly prejudicial] items.” Centauri Shipping Ltd. v. W. Bulk Carriers KS, 528 F. Supp. 2d 197, 205 (S.D.N.Y. 2007); see also Lugosch, 435 F.3d at 123 n. 5 (quoting Brown & Williamson Tobacco v.

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Related

Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc.
435 U.S. 589 (Supreme Court, 1978)
United States v. Amodeo
71 F.3d 1044 (Second Circuit, 1995)
Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga
435 F.3d 110 (Second Circuit, 2006)
Centauri Shipping Ltd. v. Western Bulk Carriers KS
528 F. Supp. 2d 197 (S.D. New York, 2007)
Lytle v. JPMORGAN CHASE
810 F. Supp. 2d 616 (S.D. New York, 2011)
Brown v. Maxwell Dershowitz v. Giuffre
929 F.3d 41 (Second Circuit, 2019)
Next Caller Inc. v. Martire
368 F. Supp. 3d 663 (S.D. Illinois, 2019)
Newsday LLC v. County of Nassau
730 F.3d 156 (Second Circuit, 2013)

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Syntel Sterling Best Shores Mauritius Limited v. The Trizetto Group, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/syntel-sterling-best-shores-mauritius-limited-v-the-trizetto-group-inc-nysd-2021.