Iovino v. AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. ( 2024 )

1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 5 CARMEN IOVINO, 6 Case No. 2:22-cv-01974-APG-NJK Plaintiff, 7 Order v. 8 [Docket No. 181] AMTRUST FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC., 9 et al., 10 Defendant(s). 11 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to seal exhibits filed in conjunction with his 12 motion to compel. Docket No. 181. Defendants did not file a response. See Docket. 13 Plaintiff submits that these exhibits “may be subject to the stipulated protective order,” that 14 they have “been deemed confidential,” and he “believes these records are deemed confidential by 15 Defendants due to proprietary reasons regarding their financial status, and that such information 16 constitutes a source of business information that may harm Defendants’ competitive standing.” 17 Docket No. 181 at 2. 18 The Ninth Circuit has held that there is a presumption of public access to judicial files and 19 records, and that parties seeking to maintain the confidentiality of documents attached to 20 nondispositive motions must show good cause exists to overcome the presumption of public 21 access. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006). 22 Parties seeking to maintain the secrecy of documents attached to dispositive motions must show 23 compelling reasons sufficient to overcome the presumption of public access. Id. at 1180. All 24 motions to seal must address the applicable standard and explain why that standard has been 25 met. The fact that a court has entered a blanket protective order and that a party has designated a 26 document as confidential pursuant to that protective order does not, standing alone, establish 27 sufficient grounds to seal a filed document. See Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 28 1} 1122, 1133 (9th Cir. 2003); see also Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int’l Ins. Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th 2|| Cir. 1992); see also Docket No. 31 at 3-4. 3 If the sole ground for a motion to seal is that the opposing party (or non-party) has designated a document as confidential, the designator must file (within seven days of the filing of 5] the motion to seal) either (1) a declaration establishing sufficient justification for sealing each 6|| document at issue or (2) a notice of withdrawal of the designation(s) and consent to unsealing. If 7| neither filing is made, the Court may order the document(s) unsealed without further notice. 8 As such, Defendants are ORDERED to file a response by December 3, 2024. If 9| Defendants fail to file a response fully addressing the applicable standards, the Court may order 10] the subject materials unsealed. 1] IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 Dated: November 26, 2024 13 7 eo x Nancy J. Keppé, \ 14 United States Magistrate Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28