Spears et al v. Washington Mutual, Inc. et al

Filing 430

ORDER re: sealing motions 385 389 390 402 406 409 410 416 . Signed by Judge Ronald M Whyte on 9/10/2014. (rmwlc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/10/2014)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

SAN JOSE DIVISION
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FELTON A. SPEARS, JR. and
SIDNEY SCHOLL, on behalf of themselves
and all others similarly situated,

ORDER ON SEALING MOTIONS
Plaintiffs,

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Case No. 5-08-CV-00868-RMW

v.
[Re Docket Nos. 385, 389, 390, 402, 406,
409, 410, 416]

FIRST AMERICAN EAPPRAISEIT
(a/k/a eAppraiseIT, LLC),
a Delaware limited liability company,
Defendant.

Before the court are 8 administrative motions to seal various documents. The primary basis

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for these sealing requests is that a non-submitting party or a non-party designated the material as

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confidential. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 79-5(d), a party must submit a declaration “establishing

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that the document sought to be filed under seal, or portions thereof, are sealable. Reference to a

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stipulation or protective order that allows a party to designate certain documents as confidential is

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not sufficient to establish that a document, or portions thereof, are sealable.” Under Civil Local Rule

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79-5(e)(1), “[w]ithin 4 days of the filing of the Administrative Motion to File Under Seal, the

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Designating Party must file a declaration as required by subsection 79-5(d)(1)(A) establishing that

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all of the designated material is sealable.” No such declarations have been filed in this case. This

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ORDER
Case No. 8-CV-00868-RMW
LM

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applies to non-parties as well, and the Local Rule requires service to the non-party of the motion to

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seal “on the same day it is filed and a proof of such service must also be filed.” Id.

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Therefore, in this case, for material designated confidential by a party, that party must

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file a declaration establishing that all of the designated material is sealable by September 16, 2014.

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For any material designated confidential by a non-party, the submitting party must serve (or re-

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serve, as the case may be), their declaration in support of the motion to seal, the materials requested

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to be sealed, and a copy of this order on the designating party, and file the proof of such service by

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September 11, 2014. The designating non-party must file any declaration establishing that all of the

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designated material is sealable by September 18, 2014.

United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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If no declarations in support of sealing are filed, the court may deny the sealing motions in

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their entirety. Most of the material designated confidential by a submitting party, as allegedly

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containing confidential business or personal information, is cited in the expert reports and other

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materials. Additionally, the current sealing requests are overbroad and do not comply with Local

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Rule 79-5(b) which requires the request to be narrowly tailored. For example, a request to seal an

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entire expert report that includes background information on a regulatory scheme is not narrowly

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tailored.

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SO ORDERED.

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Dated: September 10, 2014

_________________________________
Ronald M. Whyte
United States District Judge

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ORDER
Case No. 8-CV-00868-RMW
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