Local Access, LLC v. Peerless Network, Inc.

Filing 961

ORDER granting 959 Defendant Peerless Network, Inc.'s Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Under Seal Its Motion to Strike. Signed by Magistrate Judge Embry J. Kidd on 4/21/2023. (RMN)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION
LOCAL ACCESS, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 6:17-cv-236-WWB-EJK

PEERLESS NETWORK, INC.,
Defendant.
ORDER
This cause comes before the Court on Defendant Peerless Network, Inc.’s
Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Under Seal Its Motion to Strike (the “Motion”)
(Doc. 959), filed April 18, 2023. Upon consideration, the Motion is due to be granted.
Local Rule 1.11(c) requires the following for filing a document under seal, if it
is not authorized by a statute, rule, or order:
[The Motion] (1) must include in the title “Motion for
Leave to File Under Seal”; (2) must describe the item
proposed for sealing; (3) must state the reasons . . . filing the
item is necessary, . . . sealing the item is necessary, and . . .
partial sealing, redaction, or means other than sealing are
unavailable or unsatisfactory; (4) must propose a duration
of the seal; (5) must state the name, mailing address, email
address, and telephone number of the person authorized to
retrieve a sealed, tangible item; (6) must include a legal
memorandum supporting the seal; but (7) must not include
the item proposed for sealing.
Peerless has complied with the Local Rule; thus, the Court must now determine
whether there is good cause for the seal and whether the proposed duration is
appropriate.

While the Eleventh Circuit recognizes a “presumptive common law right to
inspect and copy judicial records,” United States v. Rosenthal, 763 F.2d 1291, 1292–93
(11th Cir. 1985), a party may overcome the public’s right to access by demonstrating
good cause. Romero v. Drummond Co., Inc., 480 F.3d 1234, 1246 (11th Cir. 2007); see
also Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598 (1978) (“It is uncontested,
however, that the right to inspect and copy judicial records is not absolute. Every court
has supervisory power over its own records and files, and access has been denied where
court files might have become a vehicle for improper purposes.”).
If good cause is shown, the court must balance the interest in obtaining access
to the information against the interest in keeping the information confidential. See
Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 263 F.3d 1304, 1309 (11th Cir. 2001).
Factors a court may consider are:
[W]hether allowing access would impair court functions or
harm legitimate privacy interests, the degree of and
likelihood of injury if made public, the reliability of the
information, whether there will be an opportunity to
respond to the information, whether the information
concerns public officials or public concerns, and the
availability of a less onerous alternative to sealing the
documents.
Romero, 480 F.3d at 1246.
Peerless seeks to file an unredacted version of its Motion to Strike Local
Access’s affirmative defenses to Peerless’s counterclaim. (Doc. 958.) In the Motion to
Strike, Peerless seeks to seal those portions where it references the parts of Local
Access’s Answer and Affirmative Defenses to Counterclaim that Local Access has

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designated as Confidential. The Court has previously authorized Local Access to file
an unredacted version of its Answer and Affirmative Defenses under seal. (Doc. 950.)
Therefore, the Court’s previous good cause finding extends to the current Motion. (Id.)
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:
1. Defendant Peerless Network, Inc.’s Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Under
Seal Its Motion to Strike (Doc. 959) is GRANTED.
2. Peerless is DIRECTED to file the Motion approved for sealing through
CM/ECF on or before April 26, 2023. 1 The seal shall remain in place until
resolution of this matter, including any appeals.
DONE and ORDERED in Orlando, Florida on April 21, 2023.

1

Effective November 7, 2022, lawyers are required to use CM/ECF to file a sealed
document. Additional information and instructions can be found at
https://www.flmd.uscourts.gov/cmecf.

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