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In the case of Moore v. JB Hunt Transport, Inc., No. 2024-CV-3773 (C.P. Lacka. Co. July 10, 2024 Nealon, J.), the court addressed the novel issue of a request by a Plaintiff’s attorney to seal the amount of a settlement in light to the alleged effect of that settlement on the potential settlement of companion cases.
This case arose out of a fatal motor vehicle collision. According to the Opinion, several individuals were injured during the course of the accident.
With regard to this request to seal the judicial record, the counsel for the settling Plaintiff noted that the parties had agreed that the records regarding the settlement should be sealed. The Plaintiff in this case also was requesting a sealing of the record in order to ensure that members of the public, who could potentially be jurors in the cases brought by the other injured parties, could be shielded from information regarding the settlement amount in this particular case.
At the time of the argument and hearing on the issues presented, the settling Plaintiff’s attorney also argued that the public disclosure of the amount of the settling parties’ settlement could complicate the potential resolution of the claims being asserted by other claimants as a result of the subject accident.
In this Opinion, Judge Terrence R. Nealon of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas reviewed the standard of review for a court faced with a Motion to Seal a Settlement in a personal injury matter.
Judge Nealon noted that to warrant the sealing of public judicial records reflecting the terms and the amount of a settlement, a party requesting the same must demonstrate that the interest in secrecy outweighs a well-settled presumption in favor of public access to judicial records. In order to satisfy a burden of proof in this regard, a party must establish that public access must be prohibited by the court in order to prevent “a clearly defined and serious injury.”
Judge Nealon noted that the sealing of court records is not a perfunctory judicial task that is automatically granted by the agreement of the parties or at the request of a party. Rather, a sealing of court records is instead only permitted after an informed analysis of the issues presented and approval granted the court in compliance with precedent on the issue.
Here, the court found that the Plaintiff’s stated reasons in support of the request to seal the settlement did not establish the requisite “good cause” for sealing the court record to avoid a “clearly defined and serous injury.” The court also found that the Plaintiff’s stated reasons in support of its request for a sealing of the settlement did not warrant the granting of the court-sanctioned secrecy of the parties’ settlement filings and the records of the state funded judicial system.
As such, the Plaintiff’s request to seal the judicial record was denied.
Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.
In this Opinion, Judge Terrence R. Nealon of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas reviewed the standard of review for a court faced with a Motion to Seal a Settlement in a personal injury matter.
Judge Nealon noted that to warrant the sealing of public judicial records reflecting the terms and the amount of a settlement, a party requesting the same must demonstrate that the interest in secrecy outweighs a well-settled presumption in favor of public access to judicial records. In order to satisfy a burden of proof in this regard, a party must establish that public access must be prohibited by the court in order to prevent “a clearly defined and serious injury.”
Judge Nealon noted that the sealing of court records is not a perfunctory judicial task that is automatically granted by the agreement of the parties or at the request of a party. Rather, a sealing of court records is instead only permitted after an informed analysis of the issues presented and approval granted the court in compliance with precedent on the issue.
Here, the court found that the Plaintiff’s stated reasons in support of the request to seal the settlement did not establish the requisite “good cause” for sealing the court record to avoid a “clearly defined and serous injury.” The court also found that the Plaintiff’s stated reasons in support of its request for a sealing of the settlement did not warrant the granting of the court-sanctioned secrecy of the parties’ settlement filings and the records of the state funded judicial system.
As such, the Plaintiff’s request to seal the judicial record was denied.
Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.
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