MOTION to File Documents Under Seal (With attachments) — Bofa Ca Unemployment (Dkt. 384)

Summary

The plaintiffs' motion to file documents under seal in In re Bank of America California Unemployment Benefits Litigation, Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, filed 12/02/24 as Document 384 (5 pages). Following the court's order granting in part and denying in part earlier sealing motions on the class certification papers, the parties met and conferred and agreed to remove redactions of material the court has unsealed. The plaintiffs refile their points and authorities, trial plan, the Minnucci and Regan expert reports and deposition excerpts of Michael Letson and Robert Chestnut with amended redactions. They ask to seal the remaining portions the bank designated confidential, which they say concern fraud risk, internal analysis of fraud detection and material designated by the CFPB and OCC.

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 Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB            Document 384   Filed 12/02/24   PageID.19997   Page
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 1 JOSEPH W. COTCHETT (SBN 36324)                MICHAEL RUBIN (SBN 80618)
   jcotchett@cpmlegal.com                        mrubin@altber.com
 2 BRIAN DANITZ (SBN 247403)                     STACEY M. LEYTON (SBN 203827)
 3 bdanitz@cpmlegal.com                          sleyton@altber.com
   KARIN B. SWOPE (Pro Hac Vice)                 CONNIE K. CHAN (SBN 284230)
 4 kswope@cpmlegal.com                           cchan@altber.com
 5 BLAIR V. KITTLE (SBN 336367)                  KATHERINE G. BASS (SBN 344748)
   bkittle@cpmlegal.com                          kbass@altber.com
 6 VASTI S. MONTIEL (SBN 346409)                 COLIN C. JONES (SBN 354301)
 7 vmontiel@cpmlegal.com                         cjones@altber.com
   COTCHETT, PITRE & McCARTHY, LLP ALTSHULER BERZON LLP
 8 840 Malcolm Road, Suite 200                   177 Post Street, Suite 300
 9 Burlingame, CA 94010                          San Francisco, CA 94108
   Telephone: (650) 697-6000                     Telephone: (415) 421-7151
10 Fax: (650) 697-0577                           Fax: (415) 362-8064
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   Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and the Proposed Class
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14                            UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
15                          SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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   IN RE BANK OF AMERICA                          Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB
17 CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT
   BENEFITS LITIGATION                            MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS
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                                                  UNDER SEAL
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                                                  Judge: Hon. Gonzalo P. Curiel
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                                                  Ctrm: 2D (2nd Floor)
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     This Document Relates to All Actions
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     Motion to File Documents Under Seal;
     Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB
 Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB            Document 384   Filed 12/02/24    PageID.19998     Page
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 1                      MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL
 2          Pursuant to the Court’s Order granting in part and denying in part Motions to Seal
 3 materials relating to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification (ECF 365; the “Order”),
 4 Local Rule 79.2 and Section 12.5 of the Stipulated Protective Order (ECF 82) in this case
 5 and the Court’s Civil Pretrial & Trial Procedures, Plaintiffs move to file under seal
 6 portions of (1) Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities (“P&As”) in support of
 7 Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification (“Motion”); (2) Exhibits 3, 4, 15, 17 and 157
 8 attached to the Corrected Declaration of Connie K. Chan (ECF 336-2) in support of the
 9 Motion.
10          After meeting and conferring with Defendant pursuant to the Court’s Order,
11 Plaintiffs hereby submit these documents previously filed in support of Plaintiffs’ Motion
12 with amended redactions. Those materials designated Confidential are highlighted yellow
13 and those designated Highly Confidential are highlighted green.
14 I.       LEGAL STANDARD
15          There is a strong presumption in favor of public access to court records. Nixon v.
16 Warner Commc'ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978) (“[T]he courts of this country recognize
17 a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records
18 and documents.” (cleaned up)); see also Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d
19 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (“Unless a particular court record is one ‘traditionally kept
20 secret,’ a ‘strong presumption in favor of access’ is the starting point.”). This presumption
21 in favor of access is at its strongest when the documents sought to be sealed are “more than
22 tangentially related to the merits of a case,” such as a class certification motion. Nia v. Bank
23 of Am., N.A., No. 21-cv-1799-BAS-BGS, 2024 WL 171659, at *2 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 12, 2024).
24 The party seeking to seal a court record has the burden of “articulat[ing] compelling reasons
25 [to seal a document] supported by specific factual findings . . . that outweigh the general
26 history of access and the public policies favoring disclosure, such as the public interest in
27 understanding the judicial process.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178-79 (cleaned up).
28 / /
     Motion to File Documents Under Seal;                                                        1
     Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB
 Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB            Document 384   Filed 12/02/24   PageID.19999      Page
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 1 II.      DISCUSSION
 2          In the Order, the Court directed the parties to meet and confer about the redaction of
 3 the P&As, expert reports (Exs. 1-4), trial plan (Ex. 157), and deposition excerpts (Exs. 14-
 4 20). ECF 365 at 18. Pursuant to the Order, the parties met and conferred, and agreed to
 5 remove redactions in pleadings and exhibits that referred to or quoted material the Court
 6 has unsealed (Decl. of Brian Danitz at ¶ 3-4). Accordingly, Plaintiffs are filing versions of
 7 the P&As, the trial plan, the expert reports of Jay Minnucci and Greg J. Regan, and the
 8 deposition excerpts of Michael Letson and Robert Chestnut that reflect the removed
 9 redactions and hereby seek to seal the remaining confidential portions of those documents.
10          The materials contain information the Bank designated as Confidential and/or
11 Highly Confidential, including material that reflect or analyze the risk of future fraud to
12 the Bank, pertain to internal analyses of fraud detection strategies, risk competitor
13 disadvantage to the Bank, refer to testimony by Rule 30(b)(6) witnesses that the Bank has
14 designated Confidential or Highly Confidential, and refer to materials designated “Highly
15 Confidential-Attorneys’ Eyes Only” by the Consumer Finance Protection Board (“CFPB”)
16 and Office of the Comptroller of Currency (“OCC”).
17                                           Respectfully submitted,
18 Dated: December 2, 2024                   COTCHETT, PITRE & McCARTHY, LLP
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                                             By:   /s/ Brian Danitz
20                                                 JOSEPH W. COTCHETT
21                                                 BRIAN DANITZ
                                                   KARIN B. SWOPE
22                                                 DAVID G. HOLLENBERG
23                                                 BLAIR V. KITTLE
                                                   VASTI S. MONTIEL
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                                              Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and the
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                                              Proposed Class
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     Motion to File Documents Under Seal;                                                       2
     Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB
 Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB            Document 384   Filed 12/02/24   PageID.20000   Page
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 1 Dated: December 2, 2024                   ALTSHULER BERZON LLP
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                                             By:   /s/ Michael Rubin
 3                                                 MICHAEL RUBIN
 4                                                 STACEY M. LEYTON
                                                   CONNIE K. CHAN
 5                                                 JAMES BALTZER
 6                                                 KATHERINE G. BASS
                                                   COLIN C. JONES
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                                             Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and the
 8                                           Proposed Class
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     Motion to File Documents Under Seal;                                                    3
     Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB
 Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB            Document 384   Filed 12/02/24   PageID.20001     Page
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 1                                  SIGNATURE ATTESTATION
 2          Pursuant to section 2(f)(4) of the Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and
 3 Procedures Manual, I, Brian Danitz, attest that the other signatories listed, and on whose
 4 behalf this filing is submitted, concur in the filing content and have authorized this filing.
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 6 Dated: December 2, 2024                         /s/ Brian Danitz
 7                                                    Brian Danitz

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     Motion to File Documents Under Seal;                                                      4
     Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB


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