Case 1:20-cv-00393-LO-TCB Document 662-1 Filed 05/26/21 Page 1 of 4 PageID# 14955
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
`ALEXANDRIA DIVISION
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`RAI STRATEGIC HOLDINGS, INC. and
`R.J. REYNOLDS VAPOR COMPANY,
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`Plaintiffs and Counterclaim
`Defendants,
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`v.
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`ALTRIA CLIENT SERVICES LLC; PHILIP
`MORRIS USA INC.; and PHILIP MORRIS
`PRODUCTS S.A.
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`Defendants and Counterclaim
`Plaintiffs.
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`Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-393-LO-TCB
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`[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING COUNTERCLAIM
`DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO SEAL
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`This matter is before the Court on the motions filed by Counterclaim Defendants RAI
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`Strategic Holdings, Inc., and R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company (collectively, “Counterclaim
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`Defendants”) to file their Opposition to Counterclaim Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Deposition
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`Dates and accompanying exhibits A-M under seal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
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`5.2(d) and Local Civil Rule 5(C). (Dkt. 622.) Because the documents that Counterclaim
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`Defendants seek to seal contain confidential, proprietary, and competitively sensitive business
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`information of Counterclaim Defendants, Counterclaim Plaintiffs Altria Client Services LLC
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`(“ACS”), Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”), and Philip Morris Products S.A. (“PMP”)
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`(collectively, “PMP/Altria”) and/or third parties, PMP/Altria filed a memorandum in support of
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`Counterclaim Defendants’ sealing request.
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`Before this Court may seal documents, it must: “(1) provide public notice of the request to
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`seal and allow interested parties a reasonable opportunity to object, (2) consider less drastic
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`alternatives to sealing the documents, and (3) provide specific reasons and factual findings
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`supporting its decision to seal the documents and for rejecting the alternatives.” Ashcraft v.
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`Conoco, Inc., 218 F.3d 282, 288 (4th Cir. 2000) (internal citations omitted). Upon consideration
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`of Counterclaim Defendants’ motion to seal and their memorandum in support thereof, the Court
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`hereby FINDS as follows:
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`1.
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`The public has received notice of the request to seal and has had reasonable
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`opportunity to object. Counterclaim Defendants’ sealing motion was publicly docketed in
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`accordance with Local Civil Rule 5. PMP/Altria has filed a memorandum in support of sealing.
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`The “public has had ample opportunity to object” to Counterclaim Defendants’ motion and, since
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`“the Court has received no objections,” the first requirement under Ashcraft, 218 F.3d at 302, has
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`been satisfied. GTSI Corp. v. Wildflower Int’l, Inc., No. 1:09-cv-123-JCC, 2009 WL 1248114, at
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`*9 (E.D. Va. Apr. 30, 2009); U.S. ex rel Carter v. Halliburton Co., No. 1:10-cv-864-JCC/TCB,
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`2011 WL 2077799, at *3 (E.D. Va. May 24, 2011) (“[T]he parties provided public notice of the
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`request to seal that allowed interested parties a reasonable opportunity to object—nearly two
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`weeks.”).
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`2.
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`Counterclaim Defendants seek to seal and redact from the public record only
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`information designated by the parties as confidential. Counterclaim Defendants have filed publicly
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`a redacted version of their Opposition to Counterclaim Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Deposition
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`Dates, (Dkt. 631), in addition to a sealed version, and have redacted only those limited portions it
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`seeks to seal. This selective and narrow protection of confidential material constitutes the least
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`drastic method of shielding the information at issue. Adams v. Object Innovation, Inc., No. 3:11-
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`cv-272-REP-DWS, 2011 WL 7042224, at *4 (E.D. Va. Dec. 5, 2011) (The “proposal to redact
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`only the proprietary and confidential information, rather than seal the entirety of his declaration,
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`constitutes the least drastic method of shielding the information at issue”). The public has no
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`legitimate interest in information that is confidential to PMP/Altria and Counterclaim Defendants.
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`Id. at *4. The information that Counterclaim Defendants seek to seal includes confidential,
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`proprietary, and competitively sensitive business information of PMP/Altria and/or third parties,
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`each of which could face harm if such information were to be released publicly. Specifically, the
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`sensitive information that Counterclaim Defendants move for leave to file under seal, and to redact
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`from a publicly filed version, includes materials from PMP/Altria and/or third parties, such as
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`confidential business information falling under the protective order.
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`3.
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`There is support for filing portions of Counterclaim Defendants’ Opposition to
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`Counterclaim Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Deposition Dates and accompanying Exhibits A-M
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`under seal, with a publicly filed version of the same containing strictly limited redactions.
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`Counterclaim Defendants’ Opposition to Counterclaim Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Deposition
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`Dates and accompanying Exhibits A-M contain material that falls within the scope of the stipulated
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`protective order. Placing these materials under seal is proper because the public’s interest in access
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`is outweighed by a party’s interest in “preserving confidentiality” of the limited amount of
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`confidential information that is “normally unavailable to the public.” Flexible Benefits Council v.
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`Feltman, No. 1:08-cv-00371-JCC, 2008 WL 4924711, at *1 (E.D. Va. Nov. 13, 2008); U.S. ex rel.
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`Carter, 2011 WL 2077799, at *3.
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`Therefore, based on the findings above, for good cause shown, it is hereby
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`ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED, and Counterclaim Defendants are granted
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`leave to file a REDACTED version of their Opposition to Counterclaim Plaintiffs’ Motion to
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`Compel Deposition Dates.
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`And to file UNDER SEAL an un-redacted version of their Opposition to Counterclaim
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`Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Deposition Dates and accompanying Exhibits A-M.
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`And FURTHER ORDERED that the un-redacted version of Opposition to Counterclaim
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`Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Deposition Dates and accompanying Exhibits A-M shall remain
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`SEALED until further order of the Court.
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`ENTERED this ____ day of __________, 2021.
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`Alexandria, Virginia
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`___________________________________
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