Uhlig LLC v. Corelogic, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedApril 19, 2024
Docket2:21-cv-02543
StatusUnknown

This text of Uhlig LLC v. Corelogic, Inc. (Uhlig LLC v. Corelogic, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Uhlig LLC v. Corelogic, Inc., (D. Kan. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS

UHLIG LLC,

Plaintiff/Counter Defendant, Case No. 21-2543-DDC

v.

CORELOGIC, INC., et al.,

Defendants/Counter Claimants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

The parties have filed motions for summary judgment. Doc. 283; Doc. 288. Each side has responded. Doc. 309; Doc. 311. And each side has replied. Doc. 325; Doc. 327. Now, the parties have filed six motions seeking to seal certain summary judgment exhibits or seeking permission to redact certain summary judgment documents. Doc. 300; Doc. 301; Doc. 319; Doc. 321; Doc. 332; Doc. 333. The court grants all three motions of defendants CoreLogic, Inc. and CoreLogic Solutions, LLC. The court grants in parts and denies in part plaintiff Uhlig LLC’s three motions. The court explains these decisions, below, starting with the governing legal standard. I. Legal Standard The Supreme Court recognizes the “general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S 589, 597 (1978) (citations omitted). But this right is not absolute. Id. at 598. As a result, “there is a ‘strong presumption in favor of public access[.]’” United States v. Pickard, 733 F.3d 1297, 1302 (10th Cir. 2013) (quoting Mann v. Boatright, 477 F.3d 1140, 1149 (10th Cir. 2007)). This “strong presumption” increases when the information subject to a request to seal or redact provides the basis for a court’s decision on the merits of the litigation. Id. A party may rebut the presumed access to judicial records by demonstrating that “‘countervailing interests heavily outweigh the public interests in access.’” Mann, 477 F.3d at 1149 (quoting Rushford v. New Yorker Mag., Inc., 846 F.2d 249, 253 (4th Cir. 1988)). The party

seeking to deny public access must shoulder the burden to establish a sufficiently significant interest that outweighs the presumed access. Id. The party seeking to deny public access also must comply with our local rule. D. Kan. Rule 5.4.2(c) requires a “Proponent” who “seeks to maintain any portion of the document under seal” to file a “motion to seal or redact in the public record.” The Proponent must include in that motion a “description of the specific portions” which is “narrowly tailored to the asserted confidentiality interest.” D. Kan. Rule 5.4.2(c)(1). The Proponent also must identify the “confidentiality interest to be protected” and the potential “injury that would result in the absence of restricting public access[.]” Id. at 5.4.2(c)(2)–(3). Finally, the Proponent must explain “why

restricting public access will adequately protect the confidentiality interest in question” and indicate whether “the motion is opposed or unopposed[.]” Id. at 5.4.2(c)(4)–(5). The Proponent requesting redactions “must separately email the document to chambers with its proposed redactions highlighted in yellow.” Id. at 5.4.2(c). With this legal standard and procedure in mind, the court next analyzes the parties’ requests to redact and seal. II. Analysis Currently pending before the court are six motions seeking to redact or seal summary judgment briefs and exhibits. The court addresses the six motions in order—from oldest to newest—below. A. Defendants’ Motion to Redact and Seal Exhibits to Parties’ Opening Summary Judgment Briefs (Doc. 300) The court starts with defendants CoreLogic, Inc. and CoreLogic Solutions, LLC’s Motion to Seal (Doc. 300), which addresses the opening summary judgment briefs and the exhibits to those briefs. The court notes at the outset that plaintiff doesn’t oppose the motion. Doc. 300 at 1. Defendants first request permission to file a redacted copy of CoreLogic Exhibit 31 (Doc. 291-1) because the exhibit contains sensitive data that could damage defendants’ relationship with a mortgage lending underwriter. Defendants assert that disclosure could harm their business interests. And, according to defendants, the information discussed in CoreLogic Exhibit 31 “is of limited relevance to an outsider understanding the substantive issues in this

case[.]” Doc. 300 at 3. The court concludes that defendants have shown a compelling confidentiality interest and, after reviewing defendants’ proposed redactions, grants defendants’ request. Next, defendants ask to seal CoreLogic Exhibit 61 (Doc. 292-1) and CoreLogic Exhibit 64 (Doc. 292-4). These conventionally filed spreadsheets contain historical transaction data— customer information, costs, expense, and profits. Doc. 300 at 4. Defendants assert that this information contains valuable information about its current customers. Id. at 4–5. The court agrees. The privacy interests in the information outweigh the presumption of public access. See Melnick v. Tamko Bldg. Prods., LLC, No. 19-CV-2630, 2023 WL 5574188, at *3 (D. Kan. Aug.

29, 2023) (concluding exhibit with historical information should remain sealed because it “may still provide valuable information about [party’s] current and ongoing efforts to improve on its products”). And the court agrees with defendants that redacting such a large exhibit would create serious inefficiencies. The court thus grants the request to seal these exhibits. Defendants also ask the court to maintain CoreLogic Exhibit 65 (Doc. 292-5) under seal. This is another conventionally filed spreadsheet. Defendants assert that this spreadsheet contains historical internal accounting information that could harm defendants’ market position if made public. Doc. 300 at 5–6. The court grants the sealing request for the same reasons that it granted the request for CoreLogic Exhibit 61 (Doc. 292-1) and Exhibit 64 (Doc. 292-4).

Next, defendants ask to keep CoreLogic Exhibit 106 (Doc. 293-16) under seal. CoreLogic Exhibit 106 consists of a supplemental expert report that, according to defendants, “contains a highly detailed technical analysis of CoreLogic’s internal databases and systems.” Doc. 300 at 6. Defendants assert this information “is of the utmost importance to CoreLogic’s business and is considered highly sensitive and proprietary information[.]” Id. Defendants also assert that the parts of this expert report that matter for summary judgment purposes are discussed in other, public exhibits. Id. The court agrees. CoreLogic Exhibit 106 contains confidential trade secret data and defendants’ continuing business interests in this material outweigh the public interest in access. The court thus grants defendants’ request to seal Exhibit

106 (Doc. 293-16). Last, defendants seek to maintain Uhlig Exhibit 48 (Doc. 286-7) under seal. Uhlig Exhibit 48 is the expert report of defendants’ damages expert. Defendants assert that this document uses highly confidential financial information—i.e., information such as defendants’ revenues and profits—that, if made public, could harm their market position. Doc. 300 at 7. Defendants assert that the only part of the report that matters for summary judgment is the value of defendants’ orders from plaintiff—a total amount that is in the public record. Id. The court agrees that disclosure of this information to the public may disadvantage defendants’ business interests unfairly. The court thus concludes that defendants have advanced a private interest, sufficient to overcome the strong presumption favoring public access. It thus grants defendants’ request to seal Uhlig Exhibit 48 (Doc. 286-7). In sum, the court grants defendants’ Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Under Seal Exhibits to CoreLogic’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Uhlig’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 300).

B.

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