Schmidt v. Moss Landing Power Company, LLC
- Yvonne Rogers
- 4:25-cv-02475
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Schmidt v. Moss Landing Power Company, Judge Kim reserved ruling on defendants’ motion to seal and ordered a narrower filing.
The defendants’ request to seal the agreement was affected; the court gave defendants until March 18, 2025, to submit a narrower request and reserved ruling in the meantime.
What happened
In Schmidt v. Moss Landing Power Company, LLC, defendants asked to seal an entire lengthy agreement attached to the notice of removal.
The court explained that judicial records generally are open to the public and that parties must seek narrower alternatives, such as redacting only truly sensitive information. It found the request to seal the entire agreement overbroad.
The court reserved ruling and ordered defendants to file an amended declaration by March 18, 2025, seeking to seal only portions that reveal confidential aspects of the agreement. Judge Sallie Kim stated that the motion would be denied in full if defendants missed the deadline.
The detailed version
- Schmidt v. Moss Landing Power Company, LLC · No. 4:25-cv-02475
- Yvonne Rogers
- Mar. 13, 2025
Background
Defendants moved to seal an entire exhibit attached to the notice of removal. The court described the exhibit as a lengthy agreement and found that defendants’ request to seal the entire agreement was overbroad.
Legal standard
The court stated that judicial records generally carry a strong presumption of public access. To overcome that presumption, the party seeking secrecy must identify compelling reasons, supported by specific factual findings, that outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure. The court also cited the Northern District of California’s rule requiring parties to consider reasonable alternatives, minimize sealed material, and avoid sealing entire documents when redaction of sensitive information would suffice.
Ruling
The court reserved ruling on defendants’ motion to seal. It ordered defendants to file, no later than March 18, 2025, an amended declaration attaching the agreement and narrowly seeking to seal only the portions that reveal confidential aspects of the agreement. The court stated that if defendants failed to file the declaration by that date, it would deny the motion to seal in full. The order was signed by United States Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.