The following procedure applies to under-seal filings in civil cases unless otherwise
ordered by the court.
(a) Provisional Under-Seal Filings. A party may provisionally file a document that
it reasonably believes may contain confidential information under seal. The filing
party must either (i) simultaneously serve the provisionally sealed document on
other parties by means other than filing it with the court’s electronic filing system,
such as by sending it via other authorized electronic means, or (ii) move for a court
order that service on another party is not required. The document will be deemed
filed as of the date it is provisionally filed under seal so as to trigger subsequent
filing deadlines and will remain provisionally sealed until further court order. The
clerk’s office will subsequently grant access to provisionally sealed documents to
all attorneys who are eligible to have access according to the court’s Administrative
Procedures.
(b) Notice. Immediately after the provisional under-seal filing, the filing party must
file a notice of proposed sealed record. The notice must (1) identify the subject
confidential information by the ECF docket number of the provisional under-seal
filing and (2) state the extent to which the filing party seeks to maintain the
information under seal and the identities of any other parties and/or non-parties that
previously designated the information as confidential pursuant to a protective order
(“the Proponent”). The filing party must (1) serve the notice on all Proponents and
(2) provide notice to any Proponent that is a non-party to the litigation that the
Proponent should follow the procedure set forth in subsection (c) to the extent the
Proponent wants to maintain the document or portions thereof under seal. The party
that provisionally filed the document under seal has no obligation to assert the
confidentiality interests of other Proponents.
(c) Motion to Seal or Redact. A Proponent that seeks to maintain any portion of the
document under seal, or to allow the document to be filed in the public record with
redactions, must file a motion to seal or redact in the public record. The motion
must be filed within 7 days after the document is filed provisionally under seal; any
response must be filed within 3 days after service of the motion; and any reply must
be filed within 1 day after the response. The motion must include the following:
(1) a description of the specific portions of the document, without attaching the
document in question or revealing the confidential information, that the
Proponent asks the court to maintain under seal or allow to be redacted,
which must be narrowly tailored to the asserted confidentiality interest;
(2) the confidentiality interest to be protected and why such interest outweighs
the presumption of public access (stipulations between the parties or
stipulated protective orders, alone, are insufficient to justify restriction);
(3) a clearly defined and serious injury that would result in the absence of
restricting public access;
(4) why no lesser alternative is practicable or why restricting public access will
adequately protect the confidentiality interest in question;
(5) the extent to which the motion is opposed or unopposed, if known; and
(6) in cases involving a pro se incarcerated party, the extent to which the pro se
incarcerated party should be granted access to the sealed or redacted
materials.
A Proponent requesting redactions from the public record must separately email the
document to chambers with its proposed redactions highlighted in yellow.
(d) Disposition of Documents Filed Provisionally Under Seal. A Proponent that
receives the notice required by subsection (b) and does not timely file a motion to
seal or redact in accordance with subsection (c) waives its right to maintain that the
filing contains confidential information. Under those circumstances, within 2 days
after the deadline for filing a motion to file under seal or redact expires, the filing
party must notify the court that the document that was filed provisionally under seal
may be unsealed. Any court order on a motion to seal or redact will direct the party
that provisionally filed the document under seal to make the appropriate filing in
the public record.
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As amended 03/01/24, 12/1/22, 3/17/08; (formerly LR 5.4.6).
Adopted 3/17/04.
