TCJL Files Amicus in Toyota Case

TCJL has filed an amicus curiae brief in a case pending at the Texas Supreme Court that threatens to undermine protective orders that guard a business’s sensitive confidential commercial information, including information identifying  and disclosing details about their data base infrastructure. The case, In re Toyota Motor Sales (No. 19-0845), arose from a Dallas trial court’s decision to allow disclosure of Toyota’s data on the basis that it was not a “trade secret,” despite the fact that the protective order also covered “confidential commercial information.”

TCJL’s brief argues that not only does the decision open up businesses to hostile actors and cyber criminals, but it also harms the Texas business climate. Our brief further requests the Texas Supreme Court to initiate rulemaking in this area to bring predictability to this area of  law. We also urge the Court to promulgate rules to obviate the need for the Court to decide discovery disputes such as this one on a case-by-case basis in the context of the extraordinary remedy of mandamus.

[Read full amicus brief]