Eastern District of Texas Sealing & Redaction Procedures

Sealing requests must be made before public disclosure of confidential or proprietary information.

Requests to seal or otherwise protect certain information of a confidential and/or proprietary nature from public disclosure during a hearing or trial should be made before the public disclosure of the information.

Sealing requests must be made before public disclosure of the information at hearing or trial.

The above standing order makes clear that requests to seal or otherwise protect information from public disclosure during a hearing or trial should be made before the public disclosure of the information.

Post-disclosure sealing requests require good cause showing why not made in advance.

Requests to seal or protect information after its public disclosure at a hearing or trial are not prohibited, but must, in addition to the normal requirements, show good cause why the motion was not made in advance of the disclosure. Failing a clear showing of good cause such requests should be denied.

Sealing requests must be made before public disclosure of the information at a hearing or trial.

The above standing order makes clear that requests to seal or otherwise protect information from public disclosure during a hearing or trial should be made before the public disclosure of the information.

Sealing requests must demonstrate (a) sensitive nature with risk of harm outweighing public access, and (b) advance meet-and-confer on presentation to minimize sealing.

any such request must demonstrate: a) that the information sought to be protected is of such a sensitive nature that its disclosure creates a risk of harm that outweighs the strong presumption in favor of public access to judicial proceedings; and b) that the parties have met and conferred in advance and in good faith concerning the manner in which the sensitive information will be presented at the hearing or at trial, with the goal of minimizing the need to seal the record and the courtroom.

Standing order governs sealing of documents in civil cases before Judge Jordan

This Order is intended to ensure that the Court complies with governing law on the presumption of public access to judicial proceedings and records, and the requirements for permitting any document submitted to the Court to be filed or kept under seal.

Judicial records belong to the public and must be accessible

“Providing public access to judicial records is the duty and responsibility of the Judicial Branch.” Binh Hoa Le v. Exeter Fin. Corp., 990 F.3d 410, 417 (5th Cir. 2021) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Such records “belong to the American people; they are public, not private, documents.” Id.

Courts must be ungenerous with discretion to seal judicial records

With these principles in mind, the Fifth Circuit has instructed courts to be “ungenerous with their discretion to seal judicial records.” Id. at 418; see also June Med. Servs., L.L.C. v. Phillips, 22 F.4th 512, 519–20 (5th Cir. 2022) (explaining that the Fifth Circuit “heavily disfavor[s] sealing information placed in the judicial record”).

Parties must show compelling interests to overcome presumption of public access

When seeking to seal judicial records, parties must overcome the presumption of public access by showing that compelling countervailing interests favor nondisclosure.

Courts must balance public access rights against nondisclosure interests line-by-line

Thus, courts must “undertake a case-by-case, document-by-document, line-by-line balancing of the public’s common law right of access against the interests favoring nondisclosure.” Id. at 419 (cleaned up); see also DePuy Synthes Prods., Inc. v. Veterinary Orthopedic Implants, Inc., 990 F.3d 1364, 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2021) (“[The Federal Circuit] appl[ies] regional circuit law in determining the applicable [sealing] standard,” which is “substantially the same across circuits: the parties seeking confidentiality must present a strong justification to overcome the presumption of public access.”).

Courts must consider redaction as less drastic alternative to sealing entire documents

This balancing should include a “consideration of less drastic alternatives” to sealing entire documents. Binh Hoa Le, 990 F.3d at 420. For example, where the movant’s interests can be protected by redacting portions of a document, rather than sealing the entire document, courts generally favor redaction as a less drastic alternative.

Personal identifiers must be redacted from the witness list before filing.

Any personal identifiers must be redacted before filing

Sealed attachments alone do not justify sealing the entire filing.

The attachment of a single document or multiple documents that need to be filed under seal does not provide a basis to seal the entire filing.

Requests to seal the courtroom or record during hearings or trial must be made before public disclosure.

Requests to seal the courtroom and/or the record during a hearing or trial MUST be made before the public disclosure of the information.

Transcript redactions must follow Local Rule CV-5.2 timing requirements.

Parties seeking redaction of a transcript must comply with the timing requirements set forth in Local Rule CV-5.2.

Sealed filings must include certificate of service identifying motion to seal or specific court order authorizing sealing by docket number and provisions.

Any party who wishes to file a sealed document must comply with the requirements of Local Rule CV-5(a)(7). Pursuant to L.R. CV-5(a)(7)(B), the sealed filing must include a certificate of service by counsel that clearly identifies either (1) a corresponding motion to file under seal; or, (2) if no motion to seal has been filed, the specific order of the Court that provides the authorization to file under seal. Simply stating that a motion is being filed under seal pursuant to the Court’s Protective Order is insufficient. Parties must specifically identify the order granting authority to file under seal by Docket Number and point to the specific provisions (page or paragraph numbers) that provide for the sealing of the document in question.

Attachments requiring sealing must be filed separately with proper certificate of service; entire filing cannot be sealed based on attachments.

The attachment of a single document or multiple documents that need to be filed under seal does not provide a basis to seal the entire filing. A party seeking to attach a document or documents that contain proprietary information to be sealed must separately file those documents and include a certificate of service that complies with L.R. CV-5(a)(7).

Requests to seal courtroom/record must be made before public disclosure and demonstrate sensitive nature and good faith meet-and-confer.

Requests to seal the courtroom and/or the record during a hearing or trial MUST be made before the public disclosure of the information. In making a request to seal, the requesting party must demonstrate: (1) that the information sought to be protected is of such a sensitive nature that its disclosure creates a risk of harm that outweighs the strong presumption in favor of public access to judicial proceedings; and (2) that the parties have met and conferred in good faith concerning the manner in which the sensitive information will be presented at the hearing or at trial, with the goal of minimizing the need to seal the record and/or the courtroom.

Documents designated as 'Confidential' by producing party are Protected Documents entitled to confidential treatment.

Documents or discovery responses containing Confidential Information disclosed or produced by any party in this litigation are referred to as “Protected Documents.” Except as otherwise indicated below, all documents or discovery responses designated by the producing party as “Confidential” and which are disclosed or produced to the attorney’s for the other parties to this litigation are Protected Documents and are entitled to confidential treatment as described below.

Challenging confidential designation requires written notice and certification, with 10-day deadline to file motion.

At any time after the delivery of Protected Documents, counsel for the party or parties receiving the Protected Documents may challenge the Confidential designation of all or any portion thereof by providing written notice thereof to counsel for the party disclosing or producing the Protected Documents. If the parties are unable to agree as to whether the confidential designation of discovery material is appropriate, the party or parties receiving the Protected Documents shall certify to the Court that the parties cannot reach an agreement as to the confidential nature of all or a portion of the Protected Documents. Thereafter, the party or parties disclosing or producing the Protected Documents shall have ten (10) days from the date of certification to file a motion for protective order with regard to any Protected Documents in dispute.

Limit personal information in filings: last 4 digits of account numbers, initials for minors, year for birth dates, city/state for addresses.

for financial account numbers, use only the last four digits; for names of minor children, use only their initials; for dates of birth, use only the year; and (in criminal cases) for home addresses, use only the city and state.

All filed documents must redact personal information: SSN and financial account numbers to last four digits, minor children to initials, dates of birth to year, and in criminal cases home addresses to city and state.

The Judicial Conference of the United States has implemented policies to protect sensitive private information about parties, witnesses, and others involved in a civil, criminal, or bankruptcy case. To that end, all documents filed with the court and made available to the public, whether electronically or on paper, should limit certain information as follows: for Social Security numbers, use only the last four digits; for financial account numbers, use only the last four digits; for names of minor children, use only their initials; for dates of birth, use only the year; and (in criminal cases) for home addresses, use only the city and state.

A document qualifying for a protective order under Rule 26(c) for discovery does not determine whether it should be sealed.

ument qualifies for a protective order under Rule 26(c) for discovery says nothing about whether it should be

When an entire document is sought to be sealed, the party must specify that the entire document is to be sealed.

If an entire document is sought to be sealed, specify

When a document is sought to be sealed only partially, the party must specify the extent of the sealing.

If a document is sought to be sealed only to the extent

Redact personal identifiers from witness list before filing; include unredacted version with courtesy copies of joint pretrial order.

Any personal identifiers must be redacted before filing, but include unredacted versions of the witness list with the courtesy copies of the joint pretrial order.

If settlement terms are confidential, the motion may be filed under seal with a Certificate of Authorization to File Under Seal referencing this Standing Order.

If settlement terms are deemed “Confidential,” the Notice may be filed under seal by including a Certificate of Authorization to File Under Seal referencing this Standing Order. See Local Rule CV-5(a)(7)(A).

Post-disclosure sealing requests are allowed but must show good cause for not requesting in advance; otherwise denied.

Requests to seal or protect information after its public disclosure at a hearing or trial are not prohibited, but must, in addition to the normal requirements, show good cause why the motion was not made in advance of the disclosure. Failing a clear showing of good cause such requests should be denied.

Post-disclosure sealing/redaction requests require good cause for not filing in advance and must comply with Local Rule CV-5.2 timing.

Except for requests to redact information referenced in Fed.R.Civ.P. 5.2(a), requests to seal, redact, or otherwise protect information after its public disclosure at a hearing or trial must, in addition to the previous requirements, show good cause as to why the motion was not made in advance of the disclosure. Parties seeking redaction of a transcript must comply with the timing requirements set forth in Local Rule CV-5.2.

Exemptions from Protected Document status include published materials and government submissions.

Protected Documents shall not include (a) advertising materials, (b) materials that on their face show that they have been published to the general public, or (c) documents that have submitted to any governmental entity without request for confidential treatment.

Sealing order applies only to civil cases before Judge Jordan

This Order applies only to the filing of documents under seal in civil cases before Judge Sean D. Jordan.