Golden Bear Insurance Company v. Evanston Insurance Company

• Court: District Court, D. Nevada
• Decided: March 29, 2021
• Docket: 2:20-cv-00027
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA

3 * * *

4 GOLDEN BEAR INSURANCE Case No. 2:20-cv-00027-RFB-EJY COMPANY, a California corporation, 5 Plaintiff, ORDER 6 v. 7 EVANSTON INSURANCE COMPANY, an 8 Illinois corporation; and STARSTONE SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, a 9 New Jersey corporation,

10 Defendant.

11 AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIM 12 13 Pending before the Court is Golden Bear Insurance Company’s Motion for Leave to file 14 Under Seal Exhibits 14 through 17 to Index of Exhibits in Support of its Motion for Summary 15 Judgment Against Defendants, or, Alternatively, Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (the 16 “Motion to Seal”). ECF No. 53. No response to the Motion to Seal was filed. 17 As the party seeking to seal a judicial record, Plaintiff must meet their burden of overcoming 18 the strong presumption in favor of access and public policies favoring disclosure. Kamakana v. City 19 and Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir. 2006) (holding that those who seek to 20 maintain the secrecy of documents attached to dispositive motions must meet the high threshold of 21 showing that “compelling reasons” support secrecy). When determining whether a compelling 22 reason exists to seal documents, courts weigh factors such as the public interest in understanding the 23 judicial process and whether the information could result in improper use including the release of 24 trade secrets. Id. at 1179. 25 The mere fact that the production of records may lead to a party’s embarrassment, 26 incrimination, or exposure to further litigation will not alone compel the court to seal its 27 records. Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1136 (9th Cir. 2003). Compelling 1 for improper purposes, including use of records to gratify private spite, promote public scandal, 2 disseminate libelous statements, or circulate trade secrets. Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, 435 U.S. 3 589, 598 (1978). 4 Here, the Court finds good cause to seal Exhibits 14 through 17 in Support of Golden Bear’s 5 Motion for Summary Judgment. These documents are subject to confidentiality and represent 6 confidential information the disclosure of which would be harmful to the parties and to non-parties 7 to the present litigation. 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Golden Bear Insurance Company’s Motion 9 for Leave to file Under Seal Exhibits 14 through 17 to Index of Exhibits in Support of its Motion for 10 Summary Judgment Against Defendants, or, Alternatively, Motion for Partial Summary Judgment 11 (ECF No. 53) is GRANTED. 12 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Exhibits 14 through 17 listed on the Index of Exhibits, 13 shall remain sealed. 14 15 Dated this 29th day of March, 2021. 16 17

18 ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH 19 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27