Orthopaedic Hospital v. DJO Global, Inc. ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ORTHOPAEDIC HOSPITAL d/b/a Case No.: 19-CV-970 JLS (AHG) Orthopaedic Institute For Children, 12 ORDER DENYING MOTIONS TO Plaintiff, 13 FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL v. 14 (ECF Nos. 85, 86, 111, 113, 116) DJO GLOBAL, INC. and 15 DJO FINANCE LLC, 16 Defendants. 17 18 19 Presently before the Court are Plaintiff’s (ECF Nos. 85, 86,1 113, 116) and 20 Defendants’ (ECF No. 111) Motions to File Documents Under Seal. These Motions were 21 filed in connection with Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Defendants’ 22 Motion for Summary Judgment. Having carefully considered the Motions, the proposed 23 documents, and the relevant law, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s Motions and DENIES 24 Defendants’ Motion. 25 /// 26 /// 27 28 1 LEGAL STANDARD 2 “[T]he courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public 3 records and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Nixon v. Warner 4 Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978). “Unless a particular court record is one 5 ‘traditionally kept secret,’ a ‘strong presumption in favor of access’ is the starting point.” 6 Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (citing Foltz v. 7 State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). “The presumption 8 of access is ‘based on the need for federal courts, although independent—indeed, 9 particularly because they are independent—to have a measure of accountability and for the 10 public to have confidence in the administration of justice.’” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler 11 Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 2016) (quoting United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 12 1044, 1048 (2d Cir. 1995)). 13 A party seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of overcoming the strong 14 presumption of access. Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1135. The showing required to meet this burden 15 depends upon whether the documents to be sealed relate to a motion that is “more than 16 tangentially related to the merits of the case.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1102. When 17 the underlying motion is more than tangentially related to the merits, the “compelling 18 reasons” standard applies. Id. at 1096–98. When the underlying motion does not surpass 19 the tangential relevance threshold, the “good cause” standard applies. Id. 20 “In general, ‘compelling reasons’ sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in 21 disclosure and justify sealing court records exists when such ‘court files might have 22 become a vehicle for improper purposes,’ such as the use of records to gratify private spite, 23 promote public scandal, circulate libelous statements, or release trade secrets.” Kamakana, 24 447 F.3d at 1179 (quoting Nixon, 435 U.S. at 598). However, “[t]he mere fact that the 25 production of records may lead to a litigant’s embarrassment, incrimination, or exposure 26 to further litigation will not, without more, compel the court to seal its records.” Id. (citing 27 Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1136). The decision to seal documents is “one best left to the sound 28 1 discretion of the trial court” upon consideration of “the relevant facts and circumstances of 2 the particular case.” Nixon, 435 U.S. at 599. 3 ANALYSIS 4 I. Plaintiff’s Motions 5 Plaintiff seeks to file the following documents under seal: 6 • Exhibits B–M, Q, S, V–W, Z, EE–JJ, SS–VV, XX–ZZ, AAA–CCC, HHH, 7 MMM, OOO, VVV–ZZZ, AAAA, and CCCC–DDDD; 8 • Portions of Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment of Infringement; 9 • Plaintiff’s Statement of Material Facts in Support of its Motion for Partial 10 Summary Judgment of Infringement; 11 • Portions of Plaintiff’s Reply in Support of its Motion for Partial Summary 12 Judgment of Infringement; and 13 • Portions of Plaintiff’s Opposition to Defendants’ Cross Motion for Summary 14 Judgment. 15 Given the strong presumption in favor of access to court records, a party seeking to 16 file materials under seal in support of a dispositive motion, such as a motion for summary 17 judgment, must articulate compelling reasons to maintain their confidentiality. See Foltz, 18 331 F.3d at 1136. Under the compelling reasons standard, “the party seeking protection 19 bears the burden of showing specific prejudice or harm will result if no [protection] is 20 granted.” Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002). That 21 the documents sought to be filed under seal are subject to a protective order, without more, 22 does not satisfy the compelling reasons standard. Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1136. Further, “[t]he 23 mere fact that the production of records may lead to a litigant’s embarrassment, 24 incrimination, or exposure to further litigation will not, without more, compel the court to 25 seal its records.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (citing Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1136). 26 Here, the only reason given by Plaintiff to seal these documents is that Defendants, 27 Plaintiff, or a third party designated the documents as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 28 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” under the Protective Order (ECF No. 43) entered in this 1 case. (See, e.g., ECF No. 85 at 6.) A review of the Exhibits reveals that they primarily 2 consist of declarations, interrogatory responses, transcripts of various depositions, and 3 miscellaneous business documents. Plaintiff correctly states that “[t]his Court and others 4 have sealed documents containing business confidential information,” (id.); however, 5 sealing is only appropriate in conjunction with a dispositive motion after an appropriate 6 showing has been made that satisfies the compelling reasons standard. Without a specific 7 showing, it is unclear to the Court what portions of these Exhibits—if any—contain 8 information that would cause specific prejudice or harm if they are not filed under seal. 9 Because Plaintiff has failed to meet its burden of establishing “compelling reasons” 10 sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest, the Court DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE 11 Plaintiff’s Motions to File Documents Under Seal. (ECF Nos. 85, 86, 113, 116). 12 II. Defendants’ Motion 13 Defendants seek to file the following documents under seal: 14 • Exhibits 1–3, 5–6, 8–11, 15–23, 27–33, and 35–36; 15 • Portions of Defendants’ Cross Motion for Summary Judgment; 16 • Portions of Defendants’ Statement of Material Facts in Support of Their Cross 17 Motion for Summary Judgment; and 18 • Portions of Defendants’ Opposition to OH’s Motion for Partial Summary 19 Judgment. 20 Defendants contends these documents should be filed under seal because either 21 Plaintiff or Defendants have designated the documents as highly confidential under the 22 Protective Order (ECF No. 43) entered in this case. (ECF No. 111 at 1–4.) For the same 23 reasons articulated above, see supra Section I, the Court finds Defendants have failed to 24 meet their burden of establishing “compelling reasons” sufficient to outweigh the public’s 25 interest. The Court therefore DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Defendants’ Motion 26 (ECF No. 111). 27 The Parties should consider which information meets the standard necessary for 28 sealing and make a specific showing supported by declarations of individuals with 1 || knowledge of the documents as well as the reasons for sealing. The Court is not inclined 2 ||to seal any documents in their entirety, unless the Moving Parties make the requisite 3 || showing to seal every portion of the document. 4 CONCLUSION 5 In light of the foregoing, the Court: 6 1. DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Pilaintiff’s Motions to Seal (ECF Nos. 7 || 85, 86, 113, 116); and 8 2. DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Defendants’ Motion to Seal (ECF No. 9 |} 111). 10 Within seven days of the electronic docketing of this Order, the Parties SHALL 11 || FILE renewed motions to seal that meet the “compelling reasons” standard OR the Parties 12 || SHALL FILE full, unredacted copies of the documents previously lodged under seal at 13 || ECF Nos. 87, 112, 114, and 117. 14 IT IS SO ORDERED 15 Dated: December 4, 2020 . tt 16 jen Janis L. Sammartino 7 United States District Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28