In re Nexus 6P Products Liability Litigation
Filing
198
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE IN PART 193 PLAINTIFFS' ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO SEAL. Signed by Judge Beth Labson Freeman on 4/22/2019.(blflc2S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 4/22/2019)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SAN JOSE DIVISION
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IN RE NEXUS 6P PRODUCTS
LIABILITY LITIGATION
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND
DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE IN
PART PLAINTIFFS’
ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO
SEAL
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
Case No. 17-cv-02185-BLF
[Re: ECF 194]
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Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ motion to file under seal portions of their motion for
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preliminary approval of class action settlement. Mot., ECF 194. For the reasons stated below, the
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motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE IN PART.
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I.
LEGAL STANDARD
“Historically, courts have recognized a ‘general right to inspect and copy public records
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and documents, including judicial records and documents.’” Kamakana v. City & Cty. Of
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Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435
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U.S. 589, 597 & n. 7 (1978)). Accordingly, when considering a sealing request, “a ‘strong
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presumption in favor of access’ is the starting point.” Id. (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto.
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Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). Parties seeking to seal judicial records relating to
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motions that are “more than tangentially related to the underlying cause of action” bear the burden
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of overcoming the presumption with “compelling reasons” that outweigh the general history of
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access and the public policies favoring disclosure. Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d
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1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016); Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178–79.
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However, “while protecting the public’s interest in access to the courts, we must remain
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mindful of the parties’ right to access those same courts upon terms which will not unduly harm
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their competitive interest.” Apple Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co., Ltd., 727 F.3d 1214, 1228–29 (Fed.
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Cir. 2013). Records attached to motions that are “not related, or only tangentially related, to the
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merits of a case” therefore are not subject to the strong presumption of access. Ctr. for Auto
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Safety, 809 F.3d at 1099; see also Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (“[T]he public has less of a need
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for access to court records attached only to non-dispositive motions because those documents are
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often unrelated, or only tangentially related, to the underlying cause of action.”). Parties moving
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to seal the documents attached to such motions must meet the lower “good cause” standard of
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Rule 26(c). Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (internal quotations and citations omitted). This
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standard requires a “particularized showing,” id., that “specific prejudice or harm will result” if the
information is disclosed. Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206,
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). “Broad allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by
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specific examples of articulated reasoning” will not suffice. Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int’l Ins. Co.,
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966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th Cir. 1992). A protective order sealing the documents during discovery
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may reflect the court’s previous determination that good cause exists to keep the documents
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sealed, see Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179–80, but a blanket protective order that allows the parties
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to designate confidential documents does not provide sufficient judicial scrutiny to determine
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whether each particular document should remain sealed. See Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(A) (“Reference
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to a stipulation or protective order that allows a party to designate certain documents as
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confidential is not sufficient to establish that a document, or portions thereof, are sealable.”).
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In addition to making particularized showings of good cause, parties moving to seal
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documents must comply with the procedures established by Civ. L.R. 79-5. Pursuant to Civ. L.R.
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79-5(b), a sealing order is appropriate only upon a request that establishes the document is
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“sealable,” or “privileged or protectable as a trade secret or otherwise entitled to protection under
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the law.” “The request must be narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material, and
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must conform with Civil L.R. 79-5(d).” Civ. L.R. 79-5(b). In part, Civ. L.R. 79-5(d) requires the
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submitting party to attach a “proposed order that is narrowly tailored to seal only the sealable
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material” which “lists in table format each document or portion thereof that is sought to be
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sealed,” Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(b), and an “unredacted version of the document” that indicates “by
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highlighting or other clear method, the portions of the document that have been omitted from the
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redacted version.” Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(d). “Within 4 days of the filing of the Administrative
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Motion to File Under Seal, the Designating Party must file a declaration as required by subsection
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79-5(d)(1)(A) establishing that all of the designated material is sealable.” Civ. L.R. 79-5(e)(1).
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II.
DISCUSSION
The Court has reviewed Plaintiffs’ sealing motion and the declaration of Adam E. Polk in
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support thereof. Because the sealing motion relates to materials filed with Plaintiffs’ motion for
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preliminary approval of a class action settlement, which is more than tangentially related to the
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merits of the case, the instant motion is resolved under the compelling reasons standard. Philliben
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v. Uber Techs., Inc., No. 14-CV-05615-JST, 2016 WL 9185000, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 15, 2016);
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Kiersey v. eBay, Inc., No. 12-CV-01200-JST, 2013 WL 5609318, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 11, 2013)
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(“[A] motion seeking the Court’s preliminary approval of the settlement of the case may be
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effectively dispositive.”).
Plaintiffs seek to file two categories of information in their preliminary approval motion
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and related documents: (1) information in the parties’ supplemental settlement agreement
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specifying the number of requests for exclusion sufficient to trigger withdrawal rights under the
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Settlement Agreement, see Mot. at 1–2; and (2) information concerning Nexus 6P smartphone
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sales and estimated damages, Mot. at 1, the sealing of which Defendants support, see ECF 195,
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196.
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As to the first category of information, the Court grants the motion because “[t]here are
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compelling reasons to keep this information confidential, in order to prevent third parties from
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utilizing it for the improper purpose of obstructing the settlement and obtaining higher payouts.”
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Thomas v. Magnachip Semiconductor Corp., No. 14-CV-01160-JST, 2016 WL 3879193, at *7
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(N.D. Cal. July 18, 2016); accord In re Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Litig., No. 15-MD-02617-LHK,
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2017 WL 9614789, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 25, 2017). As such, the request to seal the highlighted
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portion of Exhibit B to the Joint Declaration of Daniel C. Girard and Benjamin F. Johns, ECF 193-
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8, is GRANTED.
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As to the second category information, the Court denies the motion without prejudice. As
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an initial matter, Defendants (the designating parties) seek to seal only certain portions of the
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requested information, such that no party seeks to seal the remaining portions of the requested
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information. But more importantly, as to all of the information, the Court is concerned that if the
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requested financial information is sealed, such sealing could hinder class members’ ability to
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effectively analyze the value of the settlement, and thus to decide whether to object or opt out. If
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the class members are not privy to the potential total value of the action and the percentage of this
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value achieved by the settlement agreement, they could be without information critical to making
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an informed decision as to whether to participate in the agreement. As such, the request to seal
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portions of Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary
Approval and the Joint Declaration of Daniel C. Girard and Benjamin F. Johns is DENIED
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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WITHOUT PREJUDICE to Defendants filing a joint motion to seal citing relevant case law
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indicating why sealing is appropriate given the Court’s above concerns.
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III.
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ORDER
As discussed above, the motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART
WITHOUT PREJUDICE as follows:
ECF
No.
193-4
Document to be
Sealed:
Plaintiffs’
Memorandum of
Law in Support of
Plaintiffs’ Motion
for Preliminary
Approval
193-6
Joint Declaration of
Daniel C. Girard and
Benjamin F. Johns
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193-8
Portions to be Sealed
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Exhibit B to Joint
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Declaration of
Daniel C. Girard and
Benjamin F. Johns
Page 5, Lines 21, 24, 28
Page 6, Lines 2-4, 15-17
Page 16, Lines 2-3
Page 18, Line 5
Page 19, Lines 2-3
Page 22, Lines 21-22
Page 7, Lines 6, 8, 12,
14-16, 27-28
Page 8, Line 1
Page 2, Line 2
Result
DENIED
WITHOUT
PREJUDICE
DENIED
WITHOUT
PREJUDICE
GRANTED
Plaintiffs must file unredacted versions of their preliminary approval motion and the
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Girard/Johns Declaration into the public record no earlier than 4 days and no later than 10 days
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from the filing of this order. If Defendants file a motion to seal before Plaintiffs file the
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unredacted documents, Plaintiffs shall not file such documents absent further order of the Court.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: April 22, 2019
______________________________________
BETH LABSON FREEMAN
United States District Judge
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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