Employers Reinsurance Corporation v. Ordway Indemnity, Ltd.

Filing 42

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by the Honorable U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte on 9/1/2009. (ls, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/1/2009)

September 1, 2009

Honorable Elizabeth D. Laporte U.S. Magistrate Judge

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Northern District of California

Civil Local Rules
79-5. Filing Documents Under Seal. (a) Specific Court Order Required. No document may be filed under seal, i.e., closed to inspection by the public, except pursuant to a Court order that authorizes the sealing of the particular document, or portions thereof. A sealing order may issue only upon a request that establishes that the document, or portions thereof, is privileged or protectable as a trade secret or otherwise entitled to protection under the law, [hereinafter referred to as "sealable."] The request must be narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material, and must conform with Civil L.R. 79-5(b) or (c). A stipulation, or a blanket protective order that allows a party to designate documents as sealable, will not suffice to allow the filing of documents under seal. Ordinarily, more than one copy of a particular document should not be submitted for filing under seal in a case.
Commentary As a public forum, the Court has a policy of providing to the public full access to papers filed in the Office of the Clerk. The Court recognizes that, in some cases, the Court must consider confidential information. In other cases, law or regulation requires a document to be filed under seal, e.g., a False Claims Act complaint. This rule governs requests to file under seal documents or things, whether pleadings, memoranda, declarations, documentary evidence or other evidence. Proposed protective orders, in which parties establish a procedure for designating and exchanging confidential information, must incorporate the procedures set forth in this rule if, in the course of proceedings in the case, a party proposes to submit sealable information to the Judge. This rule is designed to ensure that the assigned Judge receives in chambers a confidential copy of the unredacted and complete document, annotated to identify which portions are sealable, that a separate unredacted and sealed copy is maintained for appellate review, and that a public copy is filed and available for public review that has the minimum redactions necessary to protect sealable information.

(b) Request to File Entire Document Under Seal. Counsel seeking to file an entire document under seal must:

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(1) File and serve an Administrative Motion to File Under Seal, in conformance with Civil L.R. 7-11, accompanied by a declaration establishing that the entire document is sealable; (2) Lodge with the Clerk and serve a proposed order sealing the document; (3) Lodge with the Clerk and serve the entire document, contained in an 8 ½- inch by 11-inch sealed envelope or other suitable sealed container, with a cover sheet affixed to the envelope or container, setting out the information required by Civil L.R. 3-4(a) and (b) and prominently displaying the notation: "DOCUMENT SUBMITTED UNDER SEAL"; (4) Lodge with the Clerk for delivery to the Judge's chambers a second copy of the entire document, in an identical labeled envelope or container. (c) Request to File a Portion of a Document Under Seal. If only a portion of a document is sealable, counsel seeking to file that portion of the document under seal must: (1) File and serve an Administrative Motion to File Under Seal, in conformance with Civil L.R. 7-11, accompanied by a declaration establishing that a portion of the document is sealable; (2) Lodge with the Clerk and serve a proposed order that is narrowly tailored to seal only the portion of the document which is claimed to be sealable; (3) Lodge with the Clerk and serve the entire document, contained in an 8 ½- inch by 11-inch sealed envelope or other suitable sealed container, with a cover sheet affixed to the envelope or container, setting out the information required by Civil L.R. 3-4(a) and (b) and prominently displaying the notation: "DOCUMENT SUBMITTED UNDER SEAL." The sealable portions of the document must be identified by notations or highlighting within the text; (4) Lodge with the Clerk for delivery to the Judge's chambers a second copy of the entire document, in an identical labeled envelope or container, with the sealable portions identified;

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(5) Lodge with the Clerk and serve a redacted version of the document that can be filed in the public record if the Court grants the sealing order.
Commentary The Clerk shall stamp the sealed envelope or container containing the lodged document, and any redacted version, as received on the date submitted. Upon receipt of an order to file the lodged document under seal, the Clerk shall filestamp the sealed envelope or container containing the document, the document, and any redacted version of the document as of the date it was originally lodged with the Court, rather than as of the date that the Court approved its filing under seal. Away from public view, the Clerk shall remove the item from the envelope, place a dated file-stamp on the original document, enter it on the docket, and place the document in a sealed folder which shall be maintained in a secure location at the courthouse of the assigned Judge or at the national Archives and Records Administration or other Court-designated depository. The Clerk will file any redacted version of the document in the public record.

(d) Filing a Document Designated Confidential by Another Party. If a party wishes to file a document that has been designated confidential by another party pursuant to a protective order, or if a party wishes to refer in a memorandum or other filing to information so designated by another party, the submitting party must file and serve an Administrative Motion for a sealing order and lodge the document, memorandum or other filing in accordance with this rule. If only a portion of the document, memorandum or other filing is sealable, the submitting party must also lodge with the Court a redacted version of the document, memorandum or other filing to be placed in the public record if the Court approves the requested sealing order. Within five days thereafter, the designating party must file with the Court and serve a declaration establishing that the designated information is sealable, and must lodge and serve a narrowly tailored proposed sealing order, or must withdraw the designation of confidentiality. If the designating party does not file its responsive declaration as required by this subsection, the document or proposed filing will be made part of the public record. (e) Request Denied. If a request to file under seal is denied in part or in full, neither the lodged document nor any proposed redacted version will be filed. The Clerk will notify the submitting party, hold the lodged document for three days for the submitting party to retrieve it, and thereafter, if it is not retrieved, dispose of it. If the request is denied in full, the submitting party may retain the document and not make it part of the record in the case, or, within 3 days, re-submit the document for filing in the public record. If the request is denied in part and granted in part, the party may resubmit the document in a manner that conforms to the Court's order and this rule.

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(f) Effect of Seal. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any document filed under seal shall be kept from public inspection, including inspection by attorneys and parties to the action, during the pendency of the case. Any document filed under seal in a civil case shall be open to public inspection without further action by the Court 10 years from the date the case is closed. However, a party that submitted documents that the Court placed under seal in a case may, upon showing good cause at the conclusion of the case, seek an order that would continue the seal until a specific date beyond the 10 years provided by this rule. Nothing in this rule is intended to affect the normal records destruction policy of the United States Courts. The chambers copy of sealed documents will be disposed of in accordance with the assigned Judge's discretion. Ordinarily these copies will be recycled, not shredded, unless special arrangements are made.

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