McKay v. Knoerzer et al

Filing 16

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL by Hon. William Alsup denying 13 Administrative Motion to File Under Seal.(whalc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/7/2015)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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JOHN DOUGLAS MCKAY,

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Plaintiff,

No. C 15-02347 WHA

v.

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MICHAEL ANTHONY KNOERZER and
CLYDE & CO. LLP,

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ORDER DENYING
DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO
FILE UNDER SEAL

Defendants.
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Defendants moved to file under seal five of fourteen exhibits to a declaration filed in

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support of their motion to dismiss, which they claim are subject to an arbitrator’s confidentiality

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order. Defendants’ motion was not accompanied by a stipulation in support of the motion or a

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declaration explaining why no stipulation could be obtained, as required by Civil L.R. 7-11(a).

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Plaintiff avers that defendants never contacted him concerning a stipulation in connection with

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this motion. Defendants also filed all fourteen attachments, rather than just the five at issue,

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under seal on ECF and PACER, so plaintiff was unable to view any of them. Plaintiff also notes

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that defendants have not served him with copies of the attachments to this motion, although that

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is not required for e-filed motions. Additionally, defendants’ memorandum in support of their

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motion to dismiss included details and direct quotes from several of the documents sought to be

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sealed, which were not redacted in that document.

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Due to these deficiencies, plaintiff has been unable to identify or review several of the

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documents submitted in support of defendants’ motion to dismiss, some of which were

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undisputably not subject to the confidentiality order. For these reasons, defendants’ motion to

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file under seal is DENIED. Defendants shall re-file unredacted versions of any documents they

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intend to rely on in support of their motion to dismiss by JULY 9 AT NOON.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: July 7, 2015.

WILLIAM ALSUP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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