Public Records + FOIA Law

Protecting Your Confidential Information and Making Strategic Records Requests

The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and its state and local counterparts are best known for ensuring public access to government records. But for businesses, contractors, and regulated entities, public records laws cut both ways: The same statutes that open government data to the public can also expose confidential business information to competitors and the media — unless you know how to protect it.

Troutman Pepper Locke’s team of experienced litigators and compliance professionals — many of them former government officials with firsthand knowledge of how agencies process, review, and release records — advise clients on all aspects of public records law across the U.S. We help clients both shield sensitive information from unwanted disclosure and use FOIA strategically to obtain competitive intelligence and government data.

What We Do

Comprehensive Public Records Counsel — Protection, Strategy, and Litigation

Public records laws are highly procedural, and the consequences of missteps — whether failing to assert the right exemption at the right time or missing a window to challenge an agency’s disclosure decision — can be irreversible. Troutman Pepper Locke’s public records lawyers provide proactive counsel before records requests are filed — the most effective protection. We help clients draft contractual provisions that govern how their information is handled, designated, and protected within government systems, building a defensible record from the outset rather than scrambling to assert exemptions after the fact. When disputes become inevitable, we represent clients through every stage of litigation, from agency proceedings to reverse FOIA actions.

Representative Matters

• Landmark FOIA lawsuit — victory for 1.7 million veterans at the U.S. Supreme Court: In Rudisill v. McDonough, Troutman represented a decorated U.S. Army veteran and FBI special agent in a pro bono FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA had denied him and more than 1.7 million post-9/11 veterans billions of dollars in educational benefits they were owed under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. After nearly nine years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in our client’s favor, requiring the VA to disclose the full scope of records related to its benefits denials and restoring access to benefits for veterans nationwide.
• Trade secret protection: When a third party sought to obtain a biotech client’s proprietary records through Florida’s public records law, we successfully blocked disclosure by asserting applicable exemptions and demonstrating that the records qualified as trade secrets under Florida law. The matter required coordinating with both the agency and state counsel before any litigation was necessary.
• AG opinion in data center matter: We obtained a favorable state AG opinion protecting a data center client’s confidential commercial information from public disclosure. By proactively engaging with the AG in the process, we secured protection for the client’s records without the cost, publicity, and uncertainty of litigation.
• Competitive intelligence — federal FOIA strategy to reduce data collection: We drafted and filed FOIA requests on behalf of an industry-leading software company seeking information on competitors’ data dissemination agreements with multiple states. The intelligence gathered informed the client’s strategy to renegotiate its own government data agreements, resulting in meaningful reductions in data collection costs.
• Multistate confidential information protection: We have represented companies in proceedings under multiple state public records laws, including the Texas Public Information Act, the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, the North Carolina Public Records Law, the Georgia Open Records Act, the California Public Records Act, the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act, the Massachusetts Public Records Law, the Florida Sunshine Act, and various other state open records regimes. Matters have involved direct agency submissions, AG opinions, trade secret designations, and administrative and court challenges.
• California trade secret negotiation: On behalf of a scientific company, we negotiated trade secret protections for proprietary information submitted to a California state regulatory agency. The negotiation established protocols governing how the agency would handle the client’s data and what procedures would apply if a future public records request sought that information.
• Other matters:
• Advised a leading railroad on public records matters in Virginia and North Carolina.
• Represented hospitality/food service companies in FOIA requests to obtain competitive intelligence, as well as efforts to protect confidential information from disclosure.