Yellowstone County District Court, Montana Sealing & Redaction Procedures

CRITICAL

Parties, counsel, and CASA volunteers may use received discovery only for the abuse or neglect litigation in which it was disseminated.

No party, counsel, or CASA shall use discovery received other than for purposes of abuse/ neglect litigation in which the discovery was disseminated.

CRITICAL

Parties, counsel, and CASA volunteers must not publicly disseminate received discovery.

No party, counsel or CASA shall publicly disseminate discovery received.

WARNING

Discovery may be redacted only to protect a reporter’s identity or pursuant to a court order sought by a party’s application.

Discovery may be redacted only to protect the identity of reporters, or as ordered by the Court, upon application by a party.

WARNING

Except as it relates to each attorney’s own client, it is recognized that the information disseminated in discovery should be treated as confidential, private, and entitled to protection from disclosure.

Except as it relates to each attorney’s own client, it is recognized that the information disseminated in discovery should be treated as confidential, private, and entitled to protection from disclosure.

WARNING

Counsel may provide discovery to a trial witness or expert with a reasonable need for it only after the recipient acknowledges agreement to be bound by the Rule.

A copy of discovery may be provided by counsel, to any trial witness or expert witness, or any consulting expert, who reasonably has need for it. However, prior to provision, the witness, or expert witness, or consulting expert shall acknowledge his/ her agreement to be bound by this Rule.

WARNING

Counsel of record’s staff may access discovery; discovery about other persons may be shown to a client, subject to the stated exception, but may not be duplicated, electronically transmitted, or otherwise made available to that client.

Staff of counsel of record shall have access to the discovery. Except for the dissemination of discovery relating directly to each attorney’s own client or a child as to that parent, discovery relating to other persons involved in the case shall be permitted to be shown to the client but not duplicated or electronically transmitted to the client or otherwise made available to the client.