Any document to be filed under seal shall be filed in compliance with procedures established by the Clerk of Court and approved by the Executive Committee. All attorneys and unrepresented parties with an electronic filing account, shall file sealed documents pursuant to LR 26.2 and should do so electronically by way of the Court’s electronic case management system.  Except where pursuant to court order a restricted or sealed document as defined by LR26.2 is not filed electronically

(A) by an attorney or by an unrepresented party with an e-filing account: the paper documents shall be accepted by the Clerk of Court.  The Clerk of Court shall file those paper documents in the appropriate case, but those documents are to be filed as unsealed and publicly available. 

(B) by an unrepresented party without an e-filing account: the paper documents shall be accepted by the Clerk of Court.  Where restricted or sealed documents are submitted under this provision, they must be accompanied by a cover sheet which shall include the following:

(1) the caption of the case, including the case number;

(2) the title "Sealed Document Pursuant to LR26.2";

(3) a statement indicating that the document is filed under seal in accordance with an order of the court and the date of that order; and

(4) the signature of the unrepresented party filing the document, the party's name and address, and the title of the document.

Any document purporting to be a sealed document as defined in LR26.2 that is not filed in compliance with such procedures shall be processed like any other document and filed as unsealed and publicly available on the Court’s electronic case management system. In such instances, where the document has been submitted in paper and does not show, on the coversheet, compliance with all four of the requirements listed above, the Clerk of Court is authorized to open the sealed envelope and remove the materials for processing as an unsealed document.

Committee Comment: Information about the procedures to file a document under seal electronically can be found on the court’s website under the “E-filing” tab.

Committee Comment on January 2019 revision:  The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that the Clerk and the Clerk’s Office staff are not responsible for paper copies of under-seal materials.

Amended April 20, 2004; November 5, 2009; May 18, 2012; April 22, 2019