Order entered January 11, 2019
In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
No. 05-19-00030-CV
IN RE TOYOTA MOTOR SALES, U.S.A., INC. AND
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION, Relators
Original Proceeding from the 134th Judicial District Court
Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. DC-16-15296
ORDER
Before Justices Brown, Schenck, and Reichek
Before the Court is relators’ motion for leave to submit documents for in camera
inspection. In this original proceeding, relators complain of the trial court’s post-judgment order
denying in part relators’ motion for protective orders. Relators maintain that the following
documents include relators’ proprietary and confidential information, trade secrets, or
information subject to the attorney-client privilege and the attorney work product privilege:
March 22, 2018 deposition transcript of Toyota Sales (via corporate
representative Lance Lewis);
March 23, 2018 deposition transcript of Toyota Motor (via corporate
representative Motoki Shibata);
April 25, 2018 deposition transcript of Toyota Motor Engineering &
Manufacturing, North America, Inc. (via corporate representative Adam
Karibian);
May 9, 2018 deposition transcript of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. via
corporate representative Kevin Ro);
September 1, 2005 internal TMS Legal Department memorandum from Mr.
Dimitrios Biller, Toyota Motor Sales Managing Legal Counsel, to Eric
Taira, Assistant General Counsel of Toyota Motor Sales; and
November 2, 2006 emails between Biller and employees of the Toyota
Motor Sales and Toyota Motor Corporation Legal Departments and
between Biller and Kei Kimata, an employee of the Toyota Motor
Corporation Legal Department.
The central issue in this proceeding is whether the trial court abused its discretion by
refusing to enforce a protective order as to the above documents. In order to decide that issue,
this Court must review the documents at issue. Accordingly, we GRANT relators’ motion for
leave to submit documents for in camera inspection. See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.10 (the appellate
court to “grant any just relief pending the court’s action on the petition” in an original
proceeding). We DIRECT the Clerk of this Court to file under seal in paper form the documents
tendered to the Court for in camera inspection. TEX. R. APP. P. 9.2(c)(3) (“Documents filed
under seal, subject to a motion to seal, or to which access is otherwise restricted by law or court
order must not be electronically filed.”). These documents shall remain under seal until further
order of this Court.
/s/ ADA BROWN
JUSTICE