United States of America v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America et al

Filing 37

ORDER that the parties shall comply with the requirements of LR 10-5(b), the Ninth Circuit's decision in Kamakana, 447 F.3d 1172, and the procedures outlined in this Order with respect to any documents filed under seal. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carl W. Hoffman on 6/27/2013. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SLD)

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1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 6 7 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, for the use and ) benefit on behalf of GREGG CHAMBERS & ) 8 SONS, LLC, ) ) 9 Plaintiff, ) ) 10 vs. ) ) 11 TRAVELERS CASUALTY & SURETY ) COMPANY OF AMERICA, et al., ) 12 ) Defendants. ) 13 ) 14 Case No. 2:13-cv-00400-JCM-CWH ORDER This matter came before the Court on the parties’ Stipulated Protective Order (#35), filed on 15 June 26, 2013. The Court approved that Protective Order to facilitate discovery in this case. This 16 order reminds counsel that there is a presumption of public access to judicial files and records. A 17 party seeking to file a confidential document under seal must file a motion to seal and must comply 18 with the Ninth Circuit’s directives in Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172 (9th 19 Cir. 2006). Additionally, this order modifies the parties’ stipulated protective order with respect to 20 any documents filed or submitted with any dispositive motions filed in this case, and with respect to 21 any documents the parties seek to maintain as confidential for purposes of identification in the joint 22 pretrial order. 23 The Court has adopted electronic filing procedures, and with a few exceptions not applicable 24 here, the Clerk of the Court no longer maintains paper records. Special Order 109 requires the Clerk 25 of the Court to maintain the official files for all cases filed on or after November 7, 2005, in 26 electronic form. The electronic record constitutes the official record of the court. Attorneys must 27 file documents under seal using the Court’s electronic filing procedures. See LR 10-5(b). That rule 28 provides: Unless otherwise permitted by statute, rule or prior Court order, papers filed 1 2 3 4 5 with the Court under seal shall be accompanied by a motion for leave to file those documents under seal, and shall be filed in accordance with the Court’s electronic filing procedures. If papers are filed under seal pursuant to prior Court order, the papers shall bear the following notation on the first page, directly under the case number: “FILED UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO COURT ORDER DATED __________.” All papers filed under seal will remain sealed until such time as the Court may deny the motion to seal or enter an order to unseal them, or the documents are unsealed pursuant to Local Rule. 6 Id. Documents filed under seal are not accessible to the public. 7 The Court has approved the parties’ blanket protective order to facilitate their discovery 8 exchanges. But the parties have not shown, and the Court has not found, that any specific 9 documents are secret or confidential. The parties have not provided specific facts supported by 10 declarations or concrete examples to establish that a protective order is required to protect any 11 specific trade secret or other confidential information pursuant to Rule 26(c) or that disclosure would 12 cause an identifiable and significant harm. The Ninth Circuit has held that there is a presumption of 13 public access to judicial files and records and that parties seeking to maintain the confidentiality of 14 documents attached to nondispositive motions must show good cause exists to overcome the 15 presumption of public access. See Kamakana 447 F.3d at 1179. Parties seeking to maintain the 16 secrecy of documents attached to dispositive motions must show compelling reasons sufficient to 17 overcome the presumption of public access. Id. at 1180. 18 Based on the foregoing and good cause appearing therefore, 19 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties shall comply with the requirements of LR 10- 20 5(b), the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Kamakana, 447 F.3d 1172, and the procedures outlined above, 21 with respect to any documents filed under seal. 22 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that in regard to discovery and other non-dispositive 23 motions, only those portions of the motion, response or reply pleadings which contain specific 24 reference to the contents of confidential documents or information, and the exhibits which contain 25 such confidential information, shall be filed under seal. The remainder of the pleading and other 26 exhibits, which do not contain confidential information, shall be filed as publicly accessible 27 documents unless otherwise specifically ordered by the court. 28 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no documents filed with the court as attachments to a 2 1 summary judgment or other dispositive motion, or documents which are identified in the joint 2 pretrial order, may be filed under seal unless the proponent seeking protected status of the 3 document(s) establishes “compelling reasons” to rebut the presumption of public access. 4 Any party seeking to seal attachments to a motion for summary judgment or other dispositive 5 motion filed with the court, or documents which are identified in the joint pretrial order, shall submit 6 a separate memorandum of points and authorities which presents articulable facts identifying the 7 interests favoring continuing the secrecy of the attachments, and shows that these specific interests 8 outweigh the public’s interests in disclosure sufficient to overcome the presumption of public access 9 to dispositive pleadings and attachments. 10 Any application to seal documents attached to a motion for summary judgment or other 11 dispositive motion, or documents identified in the joint pretrial order, shall be served on opposing 12 counsel together with the documents proposed to be filed under seal. Opposing counsel shall have 13 fourteen (14) days from service of any application to seal documents attached to a motion for 14 summary judgment or other dispositive motion, or documents identified in the joint pretrial order, in 15 which to file a response. 16 DATED this 27th day of June, 2013. 17 18 19 ______________________________________ C.W. Hoffman, Jr. United States Magistrate Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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