Local Rule LR Civ P 26.05: Protective Orders and Sealed Documents

LR Civ P 26.05. Protective Orders and Sealed Documents.

(a) Protective Orders: If a party, or parties jointly, seek entry of a protective order to shield information from dissemination, the movant or movants must demonstrate with specificity that (1) the information qualifies for protection under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), and (2) good cause exists for restricting dissemination of the information on the ground that harm would result from disclosure.

(b) Sealed Documents:

(1) General. The rule requiring public inspection of Court documents is necessary to allow interested parties to judge the Court's work product in the cases assigned to it. The rule may be abrogated only in exceptional circumstances.

(2) Submission. Unless otherwise authorized by law, a motion to seal shall be filed electronically pursuant to LR Gen P 6.01 and the Court's Administrative Procedures for Electronic Case Filing, shall include the proposed document to be filed under seal as an attachment to the motion, and shall be accompanied by a memorandum of law which contains:

(A) the reasons why sealing is necessary, including the reasons why alternatives to sealing, such as redaction, are inadequate;

(B) the requested duration of the proposed seal; and

(C) a discussion of the propriety of sealing, giving due regard to the parameters of the common law and First Amendment rights of access, as interpreted by the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.