Marquis Aurbach Coffing v. Dorfman et al

Filing 49

ORDER that 48 Motion to Seal is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiff's motion to seal exhibits 2-11 is DENIED. Plaintiff's motion to seal exhibits 13 and 14 and to redact certain portions of its motion to compel is GRANTED. No later than February 5, 2016, Plaintiff shall file its motion to compel on the public docket. It may seal exhibits 13 and 14 and redact lines 1-6 on page 6. Plaintiff's prior filing shall remain under seal. Signed by Magistrate Judge Nancy J. Koppe on 2/1/16. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - MMM)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 10 MARQUIS AURBACH COFFING, P.C., 11 Plaintiff(s), 12 vs. 13 TERRY DORFMAN, et al., 14 Defendant(s). 15 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 2:15-cv-00701-JCM-NJK ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO SEAL (Docket No. 48) 16 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s renewed motion to file documents under seal that are 17 attached to its motion to compel and to redact portions of its motion to compel. Docket No. 48. 18 Plaintiff seeks to file certain documents under seal because they were designated as confidential by non- 19 parties Melaleuca, Inc., and Melaleuca of Canada, Inc. (“Melaleuca”) pursuant to the protective order 20 governing discovery in another case. Id. at 2. Attached to Plaintiff’s motion is a declaration, in which 21 Melaleuca’s counsel submits that the documents contain Melaleuca’s proprietary marketing information. 22 Docket No. 48-3 at 4. That declaration only addressees two of the twelve subject documents: those 23 labeled Bates Numbers MEL-MAC 000274 and MEL-MAC 001655, which are attached to Plaintiff’s 24 motion to compel as exhibits 13 and 14. Docket No. 48-3 at 3 (providing that “it is my understanding 25 that these two documents are the only confidential Business Report Summaries MAC is presently 26 seeking to file”). Melaleuca’s counsel argues that the disclosure of these two documents to the public, 27 other litigants, or Melaleuca’s competitors would be unduly prejudicial. Id. 28 Parties seeking to maintain the confidentiality of documents attached to a motion 1 2 “ a motion to compel must make a particularized showing of good cause. See Kamakana v. City and 3 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. 4 Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1137 (9th Cir. 2003)). The Ninth Circuit has held that there is a strong presumption 5 of public access to judicial records. See Kamakana v. City & County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 6 (9th Cir. 2006). Any sealing request must be narrowly tailored. Where documents may be redacted 7 while leaving meaningful information available to the public, the Court will allow only redaction of 8 filed documents rather than outright sealing of the documents in their entirety. See, e.g., Foltz, 331 F.3d 9 at 1137. 10 The Court has reviewed the documents and Melaleuca’s declaration and finds that good cause 11 exists to seal the two documents addressed in that declaration. With respect to the remaining 12 documents, the Court finds Melaleuca and Plaintiff have failed to make the requisite showing of good 13 cause. The motion to seal is hereby GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. See Aevoe Corp. v. AE 14 Tech Co., 2014 WL 6065812, at *2 (D. Nev. Nov. 12, 2014) (granting motion to seal confidential and 15 proprietary business information under more demanding compelling interest). 16 Accordingly, for good cause shown, 17 1. Plaintiff’s motion to seal exhibits 2-11 is DENIED. 18 2. Plaintiff’s motion to seal exhibits 13 and 14 and to redact certain portions of its motion to compel is GRANTED. 19 20 3. No later than February 5, 2016, Plaintiff shall file its motion to compel on the public docket. It may seal exhibits 13 and 14 and redact lines 1-6 on page 6. 21 22 4. Plaintiff’s prior filing shall remain under seal. 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 DATED: February 1, 2016 25 26 ______________________________________ NANCY J. KOPPE United States Magistrate Judge 27 28 2

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