(a) This Local Rule shall not apply to actions or matters for which sealing is required
by statute (e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 3509(d), 26 U.S.C. § 6103 or Fed. R. Cr. P. 6(e)), to personal
identifiers that are required to be redacted under Local Rule 49.1, or to other filings governed by
Court policy. Nor shall this Local Rule apply to sealing of (i) investigative process during an
ongoing criminal investigation or (ii) other criminal case documents of any kind before a
charging document (e.g., a complaint, indictment or information) has been filed publicly against
all defendants. The Court, the Clerk, and the United States Attorney's Office may continue to
follow existing procedures for sealing of the categories of documents listed above.
(b) A party seeking to have a document, a portion of a document, a party or an entire
case sealed bears the burden of filing an application setting forth the reason(s) that the referenced
material should be sealed under the governing legal standard. See Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of
Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119-27 (2d Cir. 2006). The application shall be filed publicly. The
party shall attach to the application or file separately a redacted version of any document that is
to contain the sealed material (unless the party seeks to seal the entire document). When the
party seeks to seal an entire document, the party shall attach or file that document with a blank
page marked appropriately (e.g., as "Sealed Affidavit" or "Sealed Exhibit Number ___") for each
requested sealed document. The application shall also attach a proposed order (which shall not
be filed under seal unless the Court deems doing so to be appropriate) containing specific
findings justifying the sealing under the governing legal standard for the assigned judge's
approval, and including an "ORDERED" paragraph stating the referenced material to be sealed.
All material sought to be sealed shall be submitted to the Court, for its in camera consideration,
via MFT on the court’s website, and shall be served on all counsel for the affected parties. In the
rare case that counsel believe that compelling interests (qualifying as the countervailing factors
or higher values discussed in Lugosch) warrant an application to seal that is not filed publicly,
and/or is filed ex parte, counsel shall submit a written letter request to the assigned judge's email
address listed in Section 8.2 of General Order 22, explaining why counsel believe that the
procedures set forth in this rule cannot be followed.
(c) Upon the assigned judge's approval of the sealing order, the sealing order shall be
filed on the public docket (unless the Court deems sealing all or a portion of it to be appropriate),
and the redacted or sealed document shall be filed as directed by the Court. A document, a
portion of a document, a party or an entire case may be sealed when the case is initiated, or at
various stages of the proceeding. The Court may on its own motion enter an order directing that a
document, a portion of a document, a party or an entire case be sealed.
(d) Once the Court seals a document, a portion of a document, a party or an entire
case, the material shall remain under seal for the duration of the sealing order or until a
subsequent order is entered directing that the sealed material be unsealed. A party or third-party
seeking unsealing must do so by motion on notice.
(e) Should an application to seal be denied, the documents sought to be sealed will be
treated as withdrawn and will not be considered by the Court. Any documents submitted in non-
electronic format will be returned to the party advancing the request. The requesting party shall
retain all submitted documents for a period of not less than sixty days after all dates for appellate
review have expired.
