The opinion
DOCUMENT
ZELLE.- ELECTRONICALLY FILEI
DOC #:
555 12TH STREET SUITE 1230 DATE FILED:__ 9/29/2024
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 94607
(415) 693-0700 MAIN (415) 693-0770 FAX (415) 633-1916
September 20, 2024
Via ECF
The Honorable Margaret M. Garnett
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse
40 Foley Square, Room 2102
New York, NY 10007
Re: — World Association of Icehockey Players Unions North America
Division, et al. v. National Hockey League, et al.,
No. 24-cv-01066 (MMG)
Dear Judge Garnett:
Pursuant to Rule I(D)(3)(11)-(i1) of Your Honor’s Individual Rules and Practices, Plaintiffs
submit this letter motion requesting that the Court permit Plaintiffs to provisionally file under seal
and redacted on the public docket: (1) portions of their memorandum in support of their Motion
for Preliminary Injunction; (2) portions of the Declaration of Tanner Gould in support of Plaintiffs’
Motion for Preliminary Injunction; (3) Exhibit 1 to the Declaration of Tanner Gould in support of
Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction; (4) portions of the Declaration of Coral Gould in
support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction; and (5) certain exhibits to the Declaration
of Jeffrey I. Shinder in support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The redacted
memorandum, redacted declarations, and the sealed exhibits have been contemporaneously filed
on ECF under seal as “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” and electronically related to this letter motion.
The proposed sealed exhibits consist of: (1) a document from Tanner Gould’s records that
contains a confidentiality provision preventing disclosure of its contents and (2) documents the
Major Junior Defendants! produced to Plaintiffs designated as “Highly Confidential Outside
Attorneys’ Eyes Only. The proposed redactions to Plaintiffs’ memorandum and to the declarations
seek to protect material that is quoted or paraphrased from those exhibits.
“Although ‘[t]he common law right of public access to judicial documents is firmly rooted
in our nation’s history,’ this right is not absolute, and courts ‘must balance competing
considerations against’ the presumption of access.” Order (June 26, 2024) (ECF 142) (quoting
' The “Major Junior Defendants” are the Canadian Hockey League (“CHL”), Dan MacKenzie, the Western Hockey
League (“WHL”) and all of the clubs that play in the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League (“OHL”) and all of the clubs
that play in the OHL, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (“QMJHL”) and all of the clubs that play in the
QMJHL.
ATLANTA | BOSTON | DALLAS | FT. LAUDERDALE | LONDON | MINNEAPOLIS
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September 20, 2024
Page 2
Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2006)). “Courts commonly
find that documents that contain trade secrets, confidential research and development information,
marketing plans, revenue information, pricing information, and the like satisfy the sealing
standard.” Kewazinga Corp. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 1:18-CV-4500-GHW, 2021 WL 1222122, at
*3 (S.D.N_Y. Mar. 31, 2021) (quoting Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 2019 WL
2918026, at *2 (N.D.N.Y. June 18, 2019)).
The parties have agreed to treat all discovery produced prior to entry of a protective order
in this matter as Highly Confidential on a provisional basis. The parties are actively negotiating
the terms of a proposed protective order to submit to the Court in short order. The Court previously
approved provisionally sealing similar documents pending entry of the protective order. Order
(Sept. 10, 2024) (ECF 185).
On September 19, 2024, counsel for the Plaintiffs and the Major Junior Defendants
conferred regarding this sealing motion. The parties agreed to provisionally submit the documents
under seal and/or redacted in accordance with their assigned confidentiality designations, pending
entry of a protective order governing the use of confidential information in this litigation. The
parties similarly agreed that, given the confidentiality provision found in Exhibit 1 to the Gould
declaration, that exhibit should be provisionally submitted under seal and related content redacted,
pending entry of the protective order.
Accordingly, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court grant this letter motion to file
under seal and redacted on the public docket: (1) the designated portions of the Plaintiffs’
memorandum in support of their motion for preliminary injunction; (2) the designated portions of
the Declaration of Tanner Gould; (3) Exhibit 1 to the Declaration of Tanner Gould; (4) the
designated portions of the Declaration of Coral Gould; and (5) Exhibits 3 to 7 of the Shinder
Declaration.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Judith A. Zahid
Judith A. Zahid
cc: All counsel of record (via ECF)
to file the specified documents in redacted form and under seal is provisionally GRANTED. Within sev
of the entry of a protective order, if any party seeks to continue the redactions or sealing of some or all of the
documents, the party seeking to do so must provide the Court, by letter-motion, with the basis for continuin
or sealing as to each of the requested documents.
by October 15, 2024, the parties are directed to file a proposed protective order or a joint status letter
the status of the proposed protective order. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate Dkt. No. 189.
Date AES RR