Opinion
Civil Action 3:19-CV-0970-X
12-18-2023
COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION, Plaintiff, v. TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
BRANTLEY STARR, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Before the Court are Plaintiff Computer Sciences Corporation's (“CSC”) request to seal certain trial exhibits (Doc. 433) and Third-Parties Transamerica Corporation and Money Services, Inc.'s (collectively, “Transamerica”) motion for leave to file under seal (Doc. 467). The Court has analyzed the proposed sealed documents line-by-line and page-by-page, weighing the public's right of access against the interests favoring nondisclosure. After careful consideration, the Court GRANTS CSC's request to seal certain trial exhibits and Transamerica's motion. The Court will seal the admitted trial exhibits listed in Exhibit A.
I. Background
Before trial, CSC requested that certain trial exhibits remain under seal and filed a declaration in support of that request. (Doc. 433). The declaration provided a detailed explanation for why each trial exhibit should be permanently sealed. Transamerica also filed a motion for leave to file under seal requesting that certain additional trial exhibits remain under seal. (Doc. 467). The Court provisionally sealed the documents during the duration of trial and informed the parties that it would revisit whether the documents should permanently remain under seal following trial.
II. Legal Standard
The Court takes very seriously its duty to protect the public's access to judicial records.Transparency in judicial proceedings is a fundamental element of the rule of law-so fundamental that sealing and unsealing orders are immediately appealable under the collateral-order doctrine. The public's right to access judicial records is independent from-and sometimes even adverse to-the parties' interest.That's why the judge must serve as the representative of the people and, indeed, the First Amendment, in scrutinizing requests to seal.
See Binh Hoa Le v. Exeter Fin. Corp., 990 F.3d 410, 418 (5th Cir. 2021).
June Med. Servs. v. Phillips, 22 F.4th 512, 519 (5th Cir. 2022).
Id.
Litigants may very well have a legitimate interest in confidential discovery secured by a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). However, “[t]hat a document qualifies for a protective order under Rule 26(c) for discovery says nothing about whether it should be sealed once it is placed in the judicial record.”Here, the parties conducted discovery under a Rule 26(c) protective order and marked various documents “confidential.” But to seal documents on the judicial record involves a much more demanding standard.
Id. at 521.
“To decide whether something should be sealed, the court must undertake a document-by-document, line-by-line balancing of the public's common law right of access against the interests favoring nondisclosure.”If the Court seals information, it must give sufficient reasons to allow for appellate review. Finally, “[p]ublicly available information cannot be sealed.”
Id. (cleaned up).
Binh Hoa Le, 990 F.3d at 419.
June Med. Servs., 22 F.4th at 520.
III. Analysis
CSC's sealing affidavit and Transamerica's motion meet the heightened sealing standard. In the affidavit and motion, CSC and Transamerica were precise about what they wanted to seal: specific trial exhibits, attached hereto as Exhibit A. Next, CSC and Transamerica did their part to explain why the risk of disclosure outweighs the public's right to know because these exhibits disclose confidential commercial information and trade secrets and would cause competitive harm to their businesses. Upon careful review, the Court concludes that CSC and Transamerica met their burden of proving that the materials should be permanently sealed. As such, the Court orders that the trial exhibits listed in Exhibit A remain under seal.
IV. Conclusion
Given that the Court finds that CSC and Transamerica met the heightened sealing standard, the Court GRANTS CSC's request to seal certain trial exhibits (Doc. 433) and Transamerica's motion (Doc. 467). The Court will maintain the admitted trial exhibits listed in Exhibit A under seal. The Court's instructions are the result of a page-by-page, line-by-line analysis. Such analysis “is not easy, but it is fundamental” to securing the public's right of access to judicial records.
June Med. Servs., 22 F.4th at 521.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
EXHIBIT A
ADMITTED TRIAL EXHIBITS PERMANENTLY UNDER SEAL
Exhibit No. Concise Description of Exhibit Witness Admitted Date Admitted PX094 First Amended and Restated Master Services Agreement Between Customer and Service Provider Blazek 11.14.2023 PX225 Transamerica Conversion Discovery Report (Integration) -BaNCS Migration Release 1.1 and Release 1.2 Frieden 11.13.2023 PX228 Email chain re Rate of Return Calculation [TLS] Taute 11.8.2023 PX319 Excel Spreadsheet - attachment to TCS-00284413 Pasupathy 11.9.2023 PX336 Email re Invitation: Reg: Conversion Discovery (Week 3 Day 1) - technical sessions (Mar 26 08:00AM CDT in Webex/4050 Digital Cong Room) Setty 11.9.2023 PX432 Discovery Phase - Transformation Discovery Kickoff Frieden 11.13.2023 PX474 CSC CyberLife Documentation, 97.01, 00.01, 01.01, 10.01 Taute 11.8.2023 PX475 Vantage WV-1801 Documentation Taute 11.8.2023 7 Exhibit No. Concise Description of Exhibit Witness Admitted Date Admitted PX476 Wealth Management Accelerator VANTAGE-ONE Technical Guide WV-1801 Taute 11.8.2023 PX477 Wealth Management Accelerator/VANTAGE-ONE Subsystems Guide WV-1801 Taute 11.8.2023 PX478 Wealth Management Accelerator/VANTAGE-ONE Common Reference Guide WV-1801 Taute 11.8.2023 PX479 CyberLife 14.01 Documentation Taute 11.8.2023 PX480 CyberLife Administration Billing and Accounting Administration Collection User Series Taute 11.8.2023 PX481 Vantage-One Release Notes Taute 11.8.2023 PX482 DXC Wealth Management Accelerator/VANTAGE-ONE System Release WV-1801 Taute 11.8.2023 PX483 DXC Wealth Management Accelerator/VANTAGE-ONE System Release WV-1701 Taute 11.8.2023 PX484 Wealth Management Accelerator System Release WM-07.1.0 Taute 11.8.2023 PX485 Wealth Management Accelerator System Release WM-08.1.0 Taute 11.8.2023 PX486 CSC Wealth Management Accelerator / Vantage-One System Release WV-09.2.0 Taute 11.8.2023 PX487 Wealth Management Accelerator System Release WM-09.1.0 Taute 11.8.2023 PX488 CSC Wealth Management Accelerator / Vantage-One System Release WV-1501 Taute 11.8.2023 PX489 CSC Wealth Management Accelerator / Vantage-One System Release WV-1201 Taute 11.8.2023 PX490 CSC Wealth Management Accelerator / Vantage-One System Release WV-1601 Taute 11.8.2023 8 Exhibit No. Concise Description of Exhibit Witness Admitted Date Admitted PX491 CSC Wealth Management Accelerator / Vantage-One System Release WV-1001 Taute 11.8.2023 PX492 Wealth Management Accelerator System Release wmA 07.2.0 Taute 11.8.2023 PX493 CSC Wealth Management Accelerator / Vantage-One System Release WV-1401 Taute 11.8.2023 PX494 DXC Wealth Management Accelerator/VANTAGE-ONE System Release WV-1901 Taute 11.8.2023 PX495 Vantage-One System Release V1-06.1.0 / VS-06.1.0 Taute 11.8.2023 PX496 CSC Wealth Management Accelerator / Vantage-One System Release WV-1101 Taute 11.8.2023 PX497 CyberLife 06.01 - 17.01 Documentation Taute 11.8.2023 PX498 Host Technical Data Taute 11.8.2023 PX499 Demonstration Taute 11.8.2023 PX500 Detailed Updates Taute 11.8.2023 PX501 System Problem Reports Taute 11.8.2023 PX502 Enhancement Descriptions Taute 11.8.2023 PX503 CyberLife 1001 Technical Information Taute 11.8.2023 PX505 Wealth Management Accelerator/ VANTAGE-ONE, Annuities Business Rules Guide, WV-1401 Taute 11.8.2023 PX506 CyberLife Reference Documentation Enhancement and Improvement History 8402-1801 Taute 11.8.2023 PX507 Vantage-One Table Guide Taute 11.8.2023 PX508 CyberLife Reference Documentation Functions 1801 Taute 11.8.2023 PX509 CyberLife Enterprise System: CyberDOC Reference Library, 10.01 (error as sent to Tata) Taute 11.8.2023 9 Exhibit No. Concise Description of Exhibit Witness Admitted Date Admitted PX510 CyberLife Enterprise System Functions, Enterprise Collection Business Series Taute 11.8.2023 PX511 Manual - CyberLife Enterprise System - Functions Taute 11.8.2023 PX514 Cyberlife Enterprise System -Policy Record 00-49 Segments -Enterprise Collections Data Series Taute 11.8.2023 PX515 Cyberlife Enterprise System -Policy Record 50-99 Segments -Enterprise Collections Data Series Taute 11.8.2023 PX517 Traditional Life Table Guide, V1-05.1.0 Taute 11.8.2023 PX519 CyberLife Enterprise System: Web Components Transactions Taute 11.8.2023 PX520 CSC Wealth Management Accelerator Vantage-One Annuities Business Rules Guilde WV-1401 Taute 11/8/2023 PX521 Vantage-One Technical Guide V-1 Database & Tables 15.0 Setty 11.9.2023 PX523 Cyberlife Enterprise System - Web Component Transactions -Enterprise Collection System Series Taute 11.8.2023 PX524 Cyberlife Enterprise System - Web Component Transactions -Enterprise Collection System Series Taute 11.8.2023 PX525 Cyberlife Enterprise System - Web Component Transactions -Enterprise Collection System Series Taute 11.8.2023 PX526 CyberLife 10.01 Documentation: Cyberlife Web Components Source Installation Guide Taute 11.8.2023 PX527 CyberLife 10.01 Documentation: Cyberlife Web Components Security Setup Guide Taute 11.8.2023 10 Exhibit No. Concise Description of Exhibit Witness Admitted Date Admitted PX529 CyberLife 10.01 Documentation: Cyberlife Web Components Installation Guide Taute 11.8.2023 PX530 CyberLife 10.01 Documentation: Web Components Installation Taute 11.8.2023 PX531 CyberLife 10.01 Documentation: Cyberlife Enterprise System 1001 Release Documentation Taute 11.8.2023 PX534 CSC Source Code - CSC Taute 11.8.2023 PX549 Cyberlife Overview - CSFL Wisely 11.14.2023 PX550 Cyberlife Overview - CUSTSCV Wisely 11.9.2023 PX551 Vantage-P65 Frieden 11.13.2023 PX552 Vantage-P75 Frieden 11.13.2023 DX0447 Service Agreement No. 75 (Project Chess - Due Diligence) Verghese 11.15.2023 DX0645 Project Chess Transamerica TPA Strategy Program Canfield 11.14.2023 DX0651 Project Chess Diligenta Site Visit Canfield 11.14.2023 DX0653 Transamerica - DXC Proposal - Solution Evaluation Service Provider Results -Summary Canfield 11.14.2023