Parties Must Show Sealing is Proper When Filing Confidential Discovery Material, Mass. Federal Judge Rules

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge has instructed the parties in a reinsurance dispute that if they wish to file confidential discovery material, they must show that sealing is proper without regard to the confidential designation.

On Dec. 28, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts explained that because the public has a “presumptive” right of access to judicial documents, “only the most compelling reasons can justify non-disclosure of judicial records that come within the scope of the common-law right of access.”

Lamorak issued Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) two liability policies that were …