Wright v. Progressive Northwestern Insurance Company
Filing
14
LETTER FROM THE COURT re parties' 13 Stipulated Motion for Protective Order on Documents and Information Produced in Response to Defendant's Subpoena to Produce to Wright Chiropractics, by Judge Robert S. Lasnik. The Court is declining to sign. (SWT)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE
700 STEWART STREET
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
ROBERT S. LASNIK
DISTRICT JUDGE
(206) 370-8810
May 30, 2017
Delivered Via CM/ECF
RE:
Wright v. Progressive Northwestern Ins. Co., C16-1798RSL
Stipulated Protective Order
Dear Counsel:
On May 25, 2017, the Court received your Stipulated Motion for Protective Order on
Documents and Information Produced in Response to Defendant’s Subpoena to Produce
to Wright Chiropractic, P.S. (Dkt. # 13).
Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), protective orders may be entered to protect confidential
commercial information and/or to limit the scope of specific disclosures. Such protective
orders may issue upon a showing of good cause. Although parties may agree on
confidentiality among themselves, when they request that the Court be involved, the
proposed order must be narrowly drawn, identifying both the type of information that is
to be protected and, if not obvious, the reason such protection is warranted.
The parties’ request to file confidential materials under seal raises additional concerns.
This is a public court and its business should be conducted publicly unless there is a
specific reason to keep things confidential. As stated in Local Civil Rule 5(g), “There is a
strong presumption of public access to the court’s files.”
The stipulated protective order submitted in this case is deficient in the following
respects:
The Court will not pre-authorize the filing of documents under seal
simply because the parties have designated them as “confidential” during
discovery. See Local Civil Rule 26(c)(2). If a party seeks to file documents
under seal in this case, it must obtain authorization to do so by filing a
stipulation and proposed order or a motion regarding the specific documents
at issue.
The stipulated protective order received by the Court will remain lodged in the file, but
will not be entered. The parties may resubmit a proposed order if they remedy the
deficiencies identified in this letter.
Sincerely,
A
Robert S. Lasnik
United States District Judge
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?