Bioscience Advisors, Inc. v. SEC, No. 21-00866, 2022 WL 377405 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 8, 2022) (Gilliam, Jr., J.)

Bioscience Advisors, Inc. v. SEC, No. 21-00866, 2022 WL 377405 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 8, 2022) (Gilliam, Jr., J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning SEC filings submitted with confidential treatment requests   

Disposition:  Granting in part and denying in part defendants' motion to dismiss

• Litigation Considerations, Jurisdiction:  "Defendants seek dismissal of Plaintiff's claim because Plaintiff does not describe any of its FOIA requests 'with sufficient detail for Defendants to determine with confidence which requests are being challenged.'"  "Construed as a claim under FOIA, Plaintiff's fourth cause of action fails to state a claim for relief."  "The Complaint details one FOIA denial in support of Plaintiff's claim: 'Plaintiff was provided with amendments to contracts wherein the amendments were subject to confidentiality orders coterminous with the original contract, but Plaintiff was denied access to the original contracts.'"  "Outside of this single example, Plaintiff does not identify – let alone with sufficiently specific detail – any requests purportedly denied in violation of FOIA."  "Plaintiff counters that '[t]he sheer numerosity of accumulating FOIA violations here makes listing every violative act in a pleading impracticable.'"  "But Plaintiff's numerosity argument fails to meet Defendants' specificity concerns."  "Accordingly, the Court grants Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiff's [FOIA] claim."