Computer Sciences Corporation v. Tata Consultancy Services Limited et al
Filing
500
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER: 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. (Ordered by Judge Brantley Starr on 12/15/2023) (axm)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
DALLAS DIVISION
COMPUTER SCIENCES
CORPORATION,
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Plaintiff,
v.
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES
LIMITED, et al.,
Defendants.
Civil Action No. 3:19-CV-0970-X
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
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
1
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.1 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.2 The public’s right to access judicial
records is independent from—and sometimes even adverse to—the parties’ interest. 3
That’s why the judge must serve as the representative of the people and, indeed, the
First Amendment, in scrutinizing requests to seal.
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.”4
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.
1
See Binh Hoa Le v. Exeter Fin. Corp., 990 F.3d 410, 418 (5th Cir. 2021).
2
June Med. Servs. v. Phillips, 22 F.4th 512, 519 (5th Cir. 2022).
3
Id.
4
Id. at 521.
2
“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.”5 If the Court seals information,
it must give sufficient reasons to allow for appellate review. 6 Finally, “[p]ublicly
available information cannot be sealed.” 7
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
5
Id. (cleaned up).
6
Binh Hoa Le, 990 F.3d at 419.
7
June Med. Servs., 22 F.4th at 520.
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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. 8
IT IS SO ORDERED this the 15th day of December, 2023.
___________________________________
BRANTLEY STARR
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
8
June Med. Servs., 22 F.4th at 521.
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EXHIBIT A
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
DALLAS DIVISION
COMPUTER SCIENCES
CORPORATION,
§
§
§
§
§
§
§
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§
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§
Plaintiff,
v.
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES
LIMITED, et al.,
Defendants.
Civil Action No. 3:19-CV-0970-X
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
6
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 WV1801
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
7
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 V106.1.0 / 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
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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, V105.1.0
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
9
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
10
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