`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
`ALEXANDRIA DIVISION
`
`
`
`v.
`
`RAI STRATEGIC HOLDINGS, INC. and
`R.J. REYNOLDS VAPOR COMPANY,
`
`Plaintiffs and Counterclaim Defendants,
`
`
`
`ALTRIA CLIENT SERVICES LLC; PHILIP
`MORRIS USA INC.; and PHILIP MORRIS
`PRODUCTS S.A.,
`
`Defendants and Counterclaim Plaintiffs.
`
`Case No. 1:20-cv-00393-LO-TCB
`
`
`[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING REYNOLDS’S MOTION TO SEAL
`
`This matter is before the Court on the motion filed by RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc. and
`
`R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company (collectively, “Reynolds”) to file under seal Reynolds’s
`
`Memorandum in Support of Its Motion to Exclude Certain Expert Opinions of Joseph C.
`
`McAlexander; and accompanying Exhibits 1–3 to Reynolds’s Memorandum pursuant to Federal
`
`Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(d) and Local Civil Rule 5(C).
`
`Before this Court may seal documents, it must: “(1) provide public notice of the request to
`
`seal and allow interested parties a reasonable opportunity to object, (2) consider less drastic
`
`alternatives to sealing the documents, and (3) provide specific reasons and factual findings
`
`supporting its decision to seal the documents and for rejecting the alternatives.” Ashcraft v.
`
`Conoco, Inc., 218 F.3d 282, 288 (4th Cir. 2000) (internal citations omitted). Upon consideration
`
`of Reynolds’s motion to seal and its memorandum in support thereof, the Court hereby FINDS as
`
`follows:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00393-LO-TCB Document 882-1 Filed 01/21/22 Page 2 of 4 PageID# 23576
`
`1.
`
`The public has received notice of the request to seal and has had reasonable
`
`opportunity to object. Reynolds’s sealing motion was publicly docketed in accordance with Local
`
`Civil Rule 5. PM/Altria has had an opportunity to respond. The “public has had ample opportunity
`
`to object” to Reynolds’s motion and, because “the Court has received no objections,” the first
`
`requirement under Ashcraft, 218 F.3d at 302, has been satisfied. GTSI Corp. v. Wildflower Int’l,
`
`Inc., No. 1:09-cv-123-JCC, 2009 WL 1248114, at *9 (E.D. Va. Apr. 30, 2009); U.S. ex rel. Carter
`
`v. Halliburton Co., No. 1:10-cv-864-JCC/TCB, 2011 WL 2077799, at *3 (E.D. Va. May 24, 2011)
`
`(“[T]he parties provided public notice of the request to seal that allowed interested parties a
`
`reasonable opportunity to object—nearly two weeks.”).
`
`2.
`
`Reynolds seeks to seal and redact from the public record only information
`
`designated by the parties as confidential. Reynolds has filed publicly a redacted version of their
`
`Memorandum in Support of Its Motion to Exclude Certain Expert Opinions of Joseph C.
`
`McAlexander; and accompanying Exhibits 1 and 3 to Reynolds’s Memorandum, in addition to a
`
`sealed version, and have redacted only those limited portions it seeks to seal. This selective and
`
`narrow protection of confidential material constitutes the least drastic method of shielding the
`
`information at issue. Adams v. Object Innovation, Inc., No. 3:11-cv-272-REP-DWD, 2011 WL
`
`7042224, at *4 (E.D. Va. Dec. 5, 2011) (The “proposal to redact only the proprietary and
`
`confidential information, rather than seal the entirety of his declaration, constitutes the least drastic
`
`method of shielding the information at issue.”). The public has no legitimate interest in
`
`information that is confidential to Reynolds or PM/Altria. The information that Reynolds seeks to
`
`seal includes confidential, proprietary, and competitively sensitive business information of
`
`Reynolds, PM/Altria, and/or third parties, each of which could face harm if such information were
`
`to be released publicly. Specifically, the sensitive information that Reynolds moves for leave to
`
`
`
`-2-
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00393-LO-TCB Document 882-1 Filed 01/21/22 Page 3 of 4 PageID# 23577
`
`file under seal and to redact from the public version relates to and discusses confidential
`
`information of Reynolds and of PM/Altria relating to federal regulatory proceedings for approval
`
`of tobacco products, the commercialization of the technologies at issues and relationship with
`
`third-party suppliers, marketing strategies for the use of the products at issue, and expert reports
`
`and deposition testimony regarding confidential business information.
`
`3.
`
`There is support for filing Reynolds’s Memorandum in Support of Its Motion to
`
`Exclude Certain Expert Opinions of Joseph C. McAlexander; and accompanying Exhibits 1–3 to
`
`Reynolds’s Memorandum under seal. Reynolds’s Memorandum in Support of Its Motion to
`
`Exclude Certain Expert Opinions of Joseph C. McAlexander; and accompanying Exhibits 1–3 to
`
`Reynolds’s Memorandum contain material that falls within the scope of the stipulated protective
`
`order. Placing these materials under seal is proper because the public’s interest in access is
`
`outweighed by a party’s interest in “preserving confidentiality” of the limited amount of
`
`confidential information that is “normally unavailable to the public.” Flexible Benefits Council v.
`
`Feltman, No. 1:08-cv-00371-JCC, 2008 WL 4924711, at *1 (E.D. Va. Nov. 13, 2008); U.S. ex rel.
`
`Carter, 2011 WL 2077799, at *3.
`
`Therefore, based on the findings above, for good cause shown, it is hereby
`
`ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED, and Reynolds is granted leave to file a
`
`REDACTED version of Reynolds’s Memorandum in Support of Its Motion to Exclude Certain
`
`Expert Opinions of Joseph C. McAlexander; and accompanying Exhibits 1 and 3 to Reynolds’s
`
`Memorandum.
`
`And to file UNDER SEAL an un-redacted version of Reynolds’s Memorandum in Support
`
`of Its Motion to Exclude Certain Expert Opinions of Joseph C. McAlexander; and accompanying
`
`Exhibits 1–3 to Reynolds’s Memorandum.
`
`
`
`-3-
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00393-LO-TCB Document 882-1 Filed 01/21/22 Page 4 of 4 PageID# 23578
`
`And FURTHER ORDERED that the un-redacted version of Reynolds’s Memorandum in
`
`Support of Its Motion to Exclude Certain Expert Opinions of Joseph C. McAlexander; and
`
`accompanying Exhibits 1–3 to Reynolds’s Memorandum shall remain SEALED until further
`
`order of the Court.
`
`
`
`ENTERED this _____ day of _________________, 2022.
`
`Alexandria, Virginia
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`__________________________________________
`
`THERESA CARROLL BUCHANAN
`
`UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
`
`
`
`
`
`-4-
`
`
`
`