Free Motion for Miscellaneous Relief - District Court of California - California

Case 3:07-cv-06198-MHP

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HOWARD RICE NEMEROVSKI CANADY FALK & RASKIN

GILBERT R. SEROTA (No. 75305) Email: [email protected] MARK A. SHEFT (No. 183732) Email: [email protected] MICHAEL L. GALLO (No. 220552) Email: [email protected] HOWARD RICE NEMEROVSKI CANADY FALK & RABKIN A Professional Corporation Three Embarcadero Center, 7th Floor San Francisco, California 94111-4024 Telephone: 415/434-1600 Facsimile- 415/217-5910 Attorneys for Plaintiffs THOMAS WEISEL PARTNERS LLC and THOMAS WEISEL INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE LIMITED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

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THOMAS WEISEL PARTNERS LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and THOMAS WEISEL INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE LIMITED, an Indian company, Plaintiffs,

No. C-07-6198 MHP Action Filed: December 6, 2007 MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE REQUEST TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO L.R. 795; DECLARATION OF MICHAEL L. GALLO Date: Time:
Place: Judge:

BNP PARIBAS, a French corporation, BNP PARIBAS SECURITIES (ASIA) LIMITED, a Hong Kong company, and PRAVEEN CHAKRAVARTY, an individual, Defendants.

August 18, 2008 2:00p.m.
Courtroom 15 Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel

MISC. ADMIN. REQ. TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL C-07-6198 MHP

Case 3:07-cv-06198-MHP

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HOWARD RICE NENIEROVSKI CANADY FALK RABKIN

INTRODUCTION

Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 79-5, Plaintiffs Thomas Weisel Partners LLC and Thomas Weisel International Private Limited ("Plaintiffs") bring this Miscellaneous Administrative Request ("MAR") to File Documents Under Seal pursuant to Local Rule 79-5 to protect Plaintiffs' [Sealed] Consolidated Opposition To Defendants' Motions To Dismiss Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint ("Opposition) and supporting declarations, which contain information designated as "Confidential" or "Highly ConfidentialAttorneys' Eyes Only" under the Stipulated Protective Order entered by the Court on May 22, 2008 (Docket No. 39).
STATEMENT OF FACTS

This is an action for misappropriation of trade secrets and employee raiding brought by Plaintiffs and Defendants BNP Paribas, BNP Paribas (Asia) Limited and Praveen Chakravarty. Defendants have filed two broadly similar motions to dismiss Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint on jurisdictional and forum non conveniens grounds. Plaintiffs' are filing their consolidated opposition to those motions concurrently with this MAR. This MAR seeks the Court's leave to file under seal (1) declaration exhibits consisting of documents that the parties have designated confidential and or attorneys' eyes only, (2) portions of a declaration by a Thomas Weisel Partners LLC employee discussing confidential business information; and (3) portions of the opposition brief that referred to those confidential documents and confidential information.
ARGUMENT

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The Court has the inherent power to seal its records to prevent them from becoming a vehicle for an improper purpose.
Hagestad v. Tragesser,

49 F.3d 1430, 1433-34 (9th Cir.

1995). This includes the power to issue a narrowly tailored order sealing records which contain information which is "privileged or protectable as a trade secret or otherwise entitled to protection under the law." L.R. 79-5(a).
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Case 3:07-cv-06198-MHP

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HOWARD RICE NEMEROVSKI
) FA El .'1 & R.ABKIN

Further, the Stipulated Protective Order entered in this action states that: Any party or third party who wishes to file CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS under seal with the Court must first move the Court to enter an order authorizing the sealing of the particular document or portion thereof. (Docket No. 39, Stipulated Protective Order 1E12) The Stipulated Protective Order definition of "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS" includes "trade secrets as defined under California Civil Code §3426.1(d) and applicable case law." Id. ¶2. Plaintiffs seek leave to file the following documents under seal: Intercompany Services Agreement: Plaintiffs' [Sealed] Exhibit C to the Declaration of Karanveer Dhillon is a copy of the Intercompany Services Agreement between TWP LLC and TWIPL. Plaintiffs have designated this document as confidential, and seek to file it under seal, because it contained confidential information about the relationship between TWP LLC and TWIPL--including operational details and transfer pricing arrangements-- that Plaintiffs consider a trade secret. Defendant BNP Paribas (Asia) Limited's Supplemental Interrogatory Responses: In

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discovery, Plaintiffs asked Defendant BNP Paribas (Asia) Limited ("BNPP Asia") to provide information about its operational structure, customer base and revenues as they related to California investors. BNPP Asia designated its responses to Plaintiffs' interrogatories "Highly Confidential--Attorney's Eyes Only." These interrogatory responses are Plaintiffs' [Sealed] Exhibit D to the Declaration of Michael L. Gallo in support of Plaintiffs' Opposition. Plaintiffs are respecting BNPP Asia's designation by filing the responses provisionally under seal. Portions of the Declaration of Don Mahon In Support Of Plaintiffs' Opposition To Defendants' Motions To Dismiss The First Amended Complaint: Mr. Mahon's declaration contains a discussion of Thomas Weisel Partners LLC's commission rates that Thomas Weisel Partners considers to be confidential business information that would harm its competitive position if it were widely disseminated. The redactions to the unsealed version of Mr. Mahon's declaration are narrowly tailored to protect this confidential information.
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HOWARD RICE NENIEROVSKI CANADY FALK & RABK1N ""--"--

Portions Of Plaintiffs' Opposition Brief: In order to protect the confidential information contained in the documents described above, Plaintiffs also seek leave to file under seal those portions of their opposition brief that cite and/or discuss those documents. These redacted portions are narrowly tailored to protect the information in question.

CONCLUSION For all of the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court grant its MAR to File Documents Under Seal in its entirety. DATED: July cl , 2008. Respectfully, GILBERT R. SEROTA MARK A. SHEFT MICHAEL L. GALLO HOWARD RICE NEMEROVSKI CANADY FALK & RABKIN A Professional Corporation By: Attorneys for Plaintiffs THOMAS WEISEL PARTNERS LLC and THOMAS WEISEL INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE LIMITED

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HOWARD RICE NEMEKCVSKI CANADY FALK 1 & RABIUN

DECLARATION OF MICHAEL L. GALLO I, Michael L. Gallo, declare: 1. I am an attorney admitted to practice before the Bar of the State of California. I am an associate with the law firm of Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin, A Professional Corporation, counsel to Plaintiffs Thomas Weisel Partners LLC ("TWP LLC") and Thomas Weisel International Private Limited ("TWIPL") in this action. I make this Declaration upon personal knowledge and, if called upon to testify, could and would testify competently hereto. 2. I have reviewed the attached Miscellaneous Administrative Request ("MAR").

Based on the statements in the MAR concerning Plaintiffs' [Sealed] Consolidated Opposition To Defendants' Motions To Dismiss Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint, Exhibit D to the Michael L. Gallo Declaration In Support Of Plaintiffs' Opposition and Exhibit C to the Karanveer Dhillon Declaration In Support Of Plaintiffs' Opposition, Plaintiffs seek to file under seal documents that contain or refer to information that has been designated by the parties as either "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential -- Attorneys' Eyes Only" pursuant to the Stipulated Protective Order entered by the Court on May 22, 2008 (Docket No. 39). 3. Based on my knowledge of Plaintiffs' practices, the statements in the MAR

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concerning the nature of the information contained in (1) the Intercompany Services Agreement (Exhibit C to the Karanveer Dhillon Declaration In Support Of Plaintiffs' Opposition); and (2) the redacted portions of the Declaration of Don Mahon In Support Of Plaintiffs' Opposition To Defendants' Motions To Dismiss The First Amended Complaint: are true and correct. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 911'..day of July 2008 at San Francisco, C

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MICHAEL L. GALLO
MISC. ADMIN. REQ. TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL C-07-6198 MHP

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