SCOTX Preserves 30-Year-Old Trade Secrets Rule

In a case closely observed by First Amendment advocates, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a San Antonio trial court erred when it agreed to seal from public scrutiny exhibits that had been subject to trade secret protections but were revealed in open court.

Their unanimously concurred judgment in HouseCanary v. Title Source, in effect, keeps in play a 30-year-old procedural rule that presumes court records are open to the public — a matter of considerable concern to public interest and media groups when the court first agreed to review the case.