Parrish et al v. National Football League Players Incorporated

Filing 242

MOTION to Seal Document Miscellaneous Administrative Request to File Certain Confidential Materials Under Seal Pursuant to March 31, 2008 Court Order filed by Bernard Paul Parrish, Walter Roberts, III, Herbert Anthony Adderley. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order Sealing Confidential Documents)(Hilbert, Ryan) (Filed on 4/2/2008)

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Parrish et al v. National Football League Players Incorporated Doc. 242 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T LAW PALO A L T O MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP RONALD S. KATZ (Bar No. CA 085713) E-mail: rkatz@manatt.com RYAN S. HILBERT (California Bar No. 210549) E-mail: rhilbert@manatt.com NOEL S. COHEN (California Bar No. 219645) E-mail: ncohen@manatt.com 1001 Page Mill Road, Building 2 Palo Alto, CA 94304-1006 Telephone: (650) 812-1300 Facsimile: (650) 213-0260 McKOOL SMITH, P.C. LEWIS T. LECLAIR (Bar No. CA 077136) E-mail: lleclair@mckoolsmith.com JILL ADLER NAYLOR (Bar No. CA 150783) E-mail: jnaylor@mckoolsmith.com 300 Crescent Court, Suite 1500 Dallas, TX 75201 Telephone: (214) 978-4000 Facsimile: (214) 978-4044 Attorneys for Plaintiffs UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION CIVIL ACTION NO. C07 0943 WHA BERNARD PAUL PARRISH and HERBERT ANTHONY ADDERLEY, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs vs. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION, a Virginia corporation, and NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYERS INCORPORATED d/b/a PLAYERS INC, a Virginia corporation, PLAINTIFFS' MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE REQUEST TO FILE CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO MARCH 31, 2008 COURT ORDER Defendants. MISC. REQUEST TO FILE UNDER SEAL CASE NO. C:07-0943 WHA Dockets.Justia.com 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T LAW PALO A L T O Pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Civil Local Rule 795(d), and the Court's inherent authority over its own files and records, Plaintiffs, by and through their undersigned counsel, hereby move this Court for an order permitting certain confidential documents filed by Defendants National Football League Players Association ("NFLPA") and National Football League Players Incorporated d/b/a Players Inc. ("PLAYERS INC") (collectively, "Defendants") to be filed under seal. I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On March 28, 2008, Defendants filed a Miscellaneous Administrative Motion to File Under Seal certain documents designated by Plaintiffs as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential ­ Attorneys' Eyes Only." Specifically, Defendants requested that the Court seal the following exhibits to the Declaration of David Greenspan in Support of Defendants' Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification ("Greenspan Decl."): Exhibits 1, 10, 13, 14, 16, 21-23, 26, 29, 32, 33, and 35. On March 31, this Court issued an Order asking Plaintiffs to show good cause for those documents of Plaintiffs the Defendants submitted for filing under seal. This Miscellaneous Administrative Request follows. II. ARGUMENT Whether or not a protective order is entered in any case is subject to the discretion of the court. See Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart, 467 U.S. 20, 36, 104 S. Ct. 2199, 81 L. Ed. 2d 17 (1984) (holding that Rule 26(c) confers "broad discretion on the trial court to decide when a protective order is appropriate and what degree of protection is required"). Plaintiffs are willing to remove any confidentiality objections to Exhibits 1, 10, 13, 21 and 32 such that these documents may be filed in the public domain. However, for the reasons given below, good cause exists to file Exhibits 14, 16, 22, 23, 26, 29, 33 and 35 under seal and thus Plaintiffs respectfully request that such documents be filed accordingly. 20198302.1 2 MISC. REQUEST TO FILE UNDER SEAL CASE NO. C:07-0943 WHA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T LAW PALO A L T O A. Bank Statements of the Retired Professional Football Players for Justice (Exhibits 29 and 35) Exhibit 35 to the Greenspan Declaration is the bank statements of third-party Retired Football Players for Justice ("RPFPJ"). These non-public statements show all of the deposits, withdrawals and debits transacted by RPFPJ from its inception through February 2008. Similarly, Exhibit 29 includes excerpts from the March 5, 2008 deposition of Margaret Parrish, the RPFPJ's designated 30(b)(6) witness. These excerpts are among those limited portions of the deposition transcript RPFPJ designated "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential ­ Attorneys' Eyes Only." These excerpts discuss at length and in detail the nature of most, if not all, of the transactions identified in third-party RPFPJ's confidential bank statements. "Good cause" exists for the sealing of these documents. See Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1131 n. 4(9th Cir. 2003) (finding documents "contain[ing] trade secrets, financial information, and confidential information about third parties" satisfy the "good cause" standard of Rule 26(c)). Public disclosure of these materials would reveal third-party RPFPJ's sensitive financial information and history to competing organizations. It would also reveal RPFPJ's sensitive financial information to those organizations ­ like Defendants ­ against whom RPFPJ often finds itself when fighting for retired NFL player rights. Plaintiffs respectfully request that Exhibits 29 and 35 be filed under seal. B. Private E-Mail Communications Involving Third Parties (Exhibits 14, 16, 22, 23, 26 and 33) Exhibits 14, 16, 22, 23, 26 and 33 are e-mail communications sent to and from various third party individuals, none of whom are parties and all of whom have no direct involvement in this case. For example, Exhibits 16 and 23 are e-mail communications containing the private and personal comments of a retired NFL player who is not a party to this case and who does not fall into either of Plaintiffs' two proposed classes. Similarly, Exhibits 14, 22 and 26 contain both the private and personal comments of other retired NFL players who are not parties to this case, as well as confidential information concerning the selection of third-party RPFPJ's officers and its Bylaws. Each of these e-mails is personal in nature. Moreover, the retired NFL players who 20198302.1 3 MISC. REQUEST TO FILE UNDER SEAL CASE NO. C:07-0943 WHA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T LAW PALO A L T O received and sent these e-mails had a reasonable expectation of privacy in them and could not have expected them to become public. Exhibit 33 is an e-mail sent by Bernie Parrish to a number of recipients, many of whom can be identified by their e-mail address. Public disclosure of these private, personally-controlled e-mail addresses ­ many of which are owned and used by well-known former NFL players ­ could subject those players to unwanted and harassing e-mail messages from members of the public. In addition, the retired NFL players who received this e-mail had a reasonable expectation of privacy in it and could not have expected the e-mail to become public. III. CONCLUSION For the reasons given above, Plaintiffs respectfully request that Exhibits 14, 16, 22, 23, 26, 29, 33 and 35 be filed under seal. Dated: April 2, 2008 MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP By: /s/ Ryan S. Hilbert Ronald S. Katz (SBN 085713) Ryan S. Hilbert (SBN 210549) Noel S. Cohen (SBN 219645) MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP 1001 Page Mill Road, Building 2 Palo Alto, CA 94304-1006 Telephone: (650) 812-1300 Facsimile: (650) 213-0260 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Lewis T. LeClair, Esq. Jill Adler, Esq. McKOOL SMITH, P.C. 300 Crescent Court Suite 1500 Dallas, TX 75201 214-978-4984 214-978-4044 (fax) 20198302.1 4 MISC. REQUEST TO FILE UNDER SEAL CASE NO. C:07-0943 WHA

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