Local Rule LCR 5: SERVING AND FILING PLEADINGS AND OTHER PAPERS
W.D. Wash. — Civil rule
LCR 5
SERVING AND FILING PLEADINGS AND OTHER PAPERS
(a) Reserved
(b) Reserved
(c) Reserved
(d) Electronic Filing and Signing
Unless otherwise specifically ordered by the court or directed by the clerk, all counsel are required to electronically file documents through the court's electronic filing system and to comply with the electronic filing procedures for the district. Unrepresented parties may, but are not required to, electronically file documents. The court's Electronic Filing Procedures for Civil and Criminal Cases can be found on the court's website at www.wawd.uscourts.gov.
Rule 26 initial disclosures and discovery requests and responses must not be filed unless they are used in the proceedings or the court orders filing. Nor should expert witness reports be filed unless ordered by the court or unless a report is being submitted for use in the proceedings.
(e) Reserved
(f) Proof of Service
No certificate of service is required when a paper is served on a represented party by filing it with the ECF system, or on an unrepresented party that has signed up to participate in the ECF system. Whenever proof of service is required or permitted it shall be made by a certificate or acknowledgment of service on the document itself. Parties should not file a separate proof of service document unless it is necessary. Failure to make the proof of service required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(1)(B) does not affect the validity of the service, and the court may at any time allow the proof of service to be amended or supplied unless it clearly appears that to do so would result in material prejudice to any party.
(g) Sealing and Redacting of Court Records
There is a strong presumption of public access to the court's files. This rule applies in all instances where a party seeks to overcome the policy and the presumption by filing a document under seal.
(1) A party must explore all alternatives to filing a document under seal.
(A) If the party seeks to file the document under seal because another party has designated it as confidential during discovery, the filing party and the designating party must meet and confer to determine whether the designating party will withdraw the confidential designation or will agree to redact the document so that sealing is unnecessary.
(B) Parties must protect sensitive information by redacting sensitive information (including, but not limited to, the mandatory redactions of LCR 5.2) that the court does not need to consider. A party who cannot avoid filing a document under seal must comply with the remainder of this rule.
(2) A party may file a document under seal in only two circumstances:
(A) If a statute, rule, or prior court order expressly authorizes the party to file the document under seal; or
(B) If the party files a motion or stipulated motion to seal the document before or at the same time the party files the sealed document. Filing a motion or stipulated motion to seal permits the party to file the document under seal without prior court approval pending the court's ruling on the motion to seal. The document will be kept under seal until the court determines whether it should remain sealed.
A party filing a document under seal shall prominently mark its first page with the phrase "FILED UNDER SEAL."
(3) A motion to seal a document, even if it is a stipulated motion, must include the following:
(A) A certification that the party has met and conferred with all other parties in an attempt to reach agreement on the need to file the document under seal, to minimize the amount of material filed under seal, and to explore redaction and other alternatives to filing under seal; this certification must list the date, manner, and participants of the conference;
(B) 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 the relief sought;
ii. the injury that will result if the relief sought is not granted; and
iii. why a less restrictive alternative to the relief sought is not sufficient
Evidentiary support from declarations must be provided where necessary.
Where parties have entered a litigation agreement or stipulated protective order (see LCR 26(c)(2)) governing the exchange in discovery of documents that a party deems confidential, a party wishing to file a confidential document it obtained from another party in discovery may file a motion to seal but need not satisfy subpart (3)(B) above. Instead, the party who designated the document confidential must satisfy subpart (3)(B) in its response to the motion to seal or in a stipulated motion.
(4) A party must minimize the number of documents it files under seal and the length of each document it files under seal. Where the document to be sealed is an exhibit to a document filed electronically, an otherwise blank page reading "EXHIBIT __ FILED UNDER SEAL" shall replace the exhibit in the document filed without sealing, and the exhibit to be filed under seal shall be filed as a separate sealed docket entry. Where the document to be sealed is a declaration, the declaration shall be filed as a separate sealed docket entry.
(5) Only in rare circumstances should a party file a motion, opposition, or reply under seal. A party who cannot avoid including confidential information in a motion, opposition, or reply must follow this procedure:
(A) The party shall redact the confidential information from the motion, opposition, or reply and publicly file the redacted motion, opposition, or reply; and
(B) The party shall file the unredacted motion, opposition, or reply under seal, accompanied by a motion or stipulated motion to seal the unredacted motion, opposition, or reply in compliance with part (3) above.
(6) When the court denies a motion to seal, the clerk will unseal the document unless (1) the court orders otherwise, or (2) the party who is relying on the sealed document requests in the motion to seal or response that, if the motion to seal is denied, the court withdraw the document from the record rather than unseal it. If a document is withdrawn on this basis, the parties shall not refer to it in any pleadings, motions or other filings, and the court will not consider it. For this reason, parties are encouraged to seek a ruling on motions to seal well in advance of filing underlying motions relying on those documents.
(7) When a 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.
(8) Parties may file a motion or stipulated motion requesting that the court unseal a document. A non-party seeking access to a sealed document may intervene in a case for the purpose of filing a motion to unseal the document.
(9) When a party files a paper copy of a sealed document, the party shall seal the document in an envelope marked with the case caption and the phrase "FILED UNDER SEAL." This requirement applies to pro se parties and others who are exempt from mandatory electronic filing and to parties submitting courtesy copies.