Local Rule 79-5: Filing Documents Under Seal in Civil Cases

79-5. Filing Documents Under Seal in Civil Cases

(a) Right of Access. The public has a right of access to the Court's files. This local rule applies in all instances where a party seeks to conceal information from the public by filing a document, or portions of a document, under seal. A party must explore all reasonable alternatives to filing documents under seal, minimize the number of documents filed under seal, and avoid wherever possible sealing entire documents (as opposed to merely redacting the truly sensitive information in a document).

(b) Necessity of Filing a Motion to Seal. A party must file a motion to seal a document at the same time that the party submits the document. Filing a motion to seal permits the party to provisionally file the document under seal, pending the Court's ruling on the motion to seal. A party need not file a motion to seal if a federal statute or a prior court order in the same case expressly authorizes the party to file certain documents (or portions of documents) under seal.

(c) Contents of Motion to Seal. Reference to a stipulation or protective order that allows a party to designate certain documents as confidential is not sufficient to establish that a document, or portions thereof, are sealable. A motion to seal a party's own document (as opposed to a document designated as confidential by another party, as discussed in subsection (f)) must be filed as an Administrative Motion to File Under Seal in conformance with Civil L.R. 7-11. This requirement applies even if the motion is joined by the opposing party. The motion must include the following: (1) a specific statement of the applicable legal standard and the reasons for keeping a document under seal, including an explanation of: (i) the legitimate private or public interests that warrant sealing; (ii) the injury that will result if sealing is denied; and (iii) why a less restrictive alternative to sealing is not sufficient; (2) evidentiary support from declarations where necessary; and (3) a proposed order that is narrowly tailored to seal only the sealable material, and which lists in table format each document or portion thereof that is sought to be sealed.

(d) Procedure for Filing Declarations or Exhibits. Where the document to be sealed is a declaration or an exhibit to a document filed electronically, an otherwise blank page reading "EXHIBIT FILED UNDER SEAL" shall replace the exhibit in the document filed on the public docket, and the exhibit to be filed under seal shall be filed separately as an attachment to the Administrative Motion to File Under Seal.

(e) Procedure for Filing Pleadings and Briefs. Only in rare circumstances should a party seek to file portions of a pleading or brief under seal. For redacted pleadings and briefs, the following procedure applies: (1) the party shall redact the confidential information from the pleading or brief filed on the public docket; and (2) the party shall file the unredacted pleading or brief under seal, as an attachment to an Administrative Motion to File Under Seal. The unredacted version must include the phrase "FILED UNDER SEAL" prominently marked on the first page and must highlight the portions for which sealing is sought.

Motions to seal entire pleadings or briefs are strongly disfavored and will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances.

(f) Motion to Consider Whether Another Party's Material Should be Sealed. For any document a party ("Filing Party") seeks to seal because that document has been designated as confidential by another party or non-party (the "Designating Party"), the Filing Party must, instead of filing an Administrative Motion to File Under Seal, file an Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Another Party's Material Should Be Sealed. (1) This motion must identify each document or portions thereof for which sealing is sought, but the Filing Party need not satisfy the showing required in subsection (c)(1) above. (2) In the event the Designating Party is not an ECF user in the case, the Filing Party must serve the motion on the Designating Party the same day the motion is filed. (3) Within 7 days of the motion's filing, the Designating Party must file a statement and/or declaration as described in subsection (c)(1). A failure to file a statement or declaration may result in the unsealing of the provisionally sealed document without further notice to the Designating Party. (4) If any party wishes to file a response, it must do so no later than 4 days after the Designating Party files its statement and/or declaration. Responses may not exceed 5 pages absent leave of the Court. (5) In the event a single document contains various portions that more than one party bears the burden of showing is sealable, the filing party must file separate motions pursuant to 79-5(c) and 79-5(f) as appropriate. Each party must then satisfy its own burden with respect to that portion of the document that it seeks to seal. (6) Additionally, overly broad requests to seal may result in the denial of the motion.

(g) Effect and Duration of Court's Ruling on Motion to Seal. (1) When the Court grants a motion to seal or otherwise permits a document to remain under seal, the document will remain under seal until further order of the Court. (2) When the Court denies a motion to seal, it will determine whether to consider the information sought for sealing and require its public filing, permit its withdrawal without considering the information, or order any other disposition it deems proper. (3) Parties or non-parties may, at any time, file a motion requesting that the Court unseal a document. If a motion to unseal is filed more than 3 years after the case is closed, there will be a strong presumption that the document will be unsealed.

(h) Manual Filing of Sealed Documents. When a pro se party who is not an e-filer wishes to manually file a document under seal, the pro se party shall place the document and the Administrative Motion to File Under Seal in a sealed envelope, marked with the case caption and the phrase "FILED UNDER SEAL."