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Administrative Motion to File Under Seal filed by Cat Brooks,… — Brooks v. Thomson Reuters Corporation (Dkt. 292)
Summary
Plaintiffs' Administrative Motion to File Under Seal, Document 292, filed 11/13/25 in Brooks v. Thomson Reuters Corporation, Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW (N.D. Cal.), under Civil Local Rules 7-11 and 79-5. It seeks to seal the Declaration of Steven Weisbrot, Esq. For In Camera Review and certain exhibits, which include proprietary details about settlement administrator Angeion Group's business relationships and revenues. The motion says that the judge asked Angeion at a November 4 status conference to prepare a declaration and materials that could be protected from public disclosure (ECF 290). Plaintiffs say they do not oppose Angeion's request and that the exhibits are marked Attorney's Eyes Only.
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Cite this document
“Administrative Motion to File Under Seal filed by Cat Brooks,… — Brooks v. Thomson Reuters Corporation (Dkt. 292).”
Original at ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC, Doc. 292. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/court-filings/full-docket-brooks-thomsonreuters-cand-374304/2025-11-13-gov-uscourts-cand-374304-292-0-doc-292/
, SHA-256 c654856f50e7d8d2e50e102aa7954729071db09a830db1400034588371e5162e.Full text
Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 292 Filed 11/13/25 Page 1 of 5
1 Andre M. Mura (SBN 298541) Geoffrey A. Graber (SBN 211547)
Ezekiel S. Wald (SBN 341490) Karina G. Puttieva (SBN 317702)
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GIBBS MURA LLP COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL
3 1111 Broadway, Suite 2100 PLLC
Oakland, CA 94607 1100 New York Ave. NW, Suite 800
4 Telephone: (510) 350-9700 Washington, DC 20005
5 Facsimile: (510) 350-9701 Telephone: (202) 408-4600
amm@classlawgroup.com Facsimile: (202) 408-4699
6 zsw@classlawgroup.com ggraber@cohenmilstein.com
7 kputtieva@cohenmilstein.com
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12 Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Certified Class
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15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
16 SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION
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CAT BROOKS and RASHEED SHABAZZ, Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
18 individually and on behalf of all others
similarly situated, PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE
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MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL
20 Plaintiffs,
v. Judge: Hon. Edward M. Chen
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22 THOMSON REUTERS CORPORATION,
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Defendant.
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PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 292 Filed 11/13/25 Page 2 of 5
1 Plaintiffs move pursuant to Civil Local Rules 7-11 and 79-5 to seal the Declaration of
2 Steven Weisbrot, Esq. For In Camera Review and certain exhibits thereto (“Weisbrot Decl.”);
3 because they include proprietary and highly confidential details about settlement
4 administrator Angeion Group’s business relationships and revenues.
5 As required by Civil Local Rules 79-5(c) and 7-11(a), Plaintiffs simultaneously
6 submit (1) the declaration of Andre M. Mura in support of Plaintiffs’ Administrative
7 Motion to File Under Seal (“Mura Decl.”); and (2) a proposed order identifying the
8 documents sought to be sealed.
9 I. LEGAL STANDARD
10 There is a “strong presumption in favor of access” to court records, but “access to
11 judicial records is not absolute.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178
12 (9th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted). The legal standard applicable to whether a document
13 should be sealed depends on whether the document is attached to a dispositive motion or a
14 non-dispositive motion. See id. at 1179-80. Documents attached to dispositive motions may
15 be sealed only when the proponent establishes “compelling reasons” for doing so. Id. at
16 1179. Documents attached to non-dispositive motions that relate to the merits only
17 tangentially may be sealed upon a lesser showing of good cause. Id. at 1180. Motions to file
18 under seal connected to approval of class action settlements are subject to the “compelling
19 reasons” standard. Thomas v. MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp., No. 14-CV-01160-JST, 2017
20 WL 4750628, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 20, 2017); In re Yahoo! Inc. Sec. Litig., No. 17-CV-00373-
21 LHK, 2018 WL 11349976, at *2 (N.D. Cal. May 9, 2018).
22 What reasons are sufficiently compelling to justify sealing documents is generally
23 “left to the sound discretion of the trial court.” Ctr. For Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809
24 F.3d 1092, 1097 (9th Cir. 2016). Courts commonly seal “business information that might
25 harm a litigant’s competitive standing[.]” Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598
26 (1978).
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PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 292 Filed 11/13/25 Page 3 of 5
1 II. ARGUMENT
2 At the November 4 status conference, the Court asked Angeion to prepare a
3 declaration and associated materials for the Court’s and counsel’s review, and indicated
4 that those materials could be protected from public disclosure. ECF 290. Angeion now
5 seeks to file that information under seal. The declaration and accompanying materials, as
6 requested by the Court, include proprietary information revealing Angeion’s business
7 relationships and revenues. Weisbrot Decl. ¶¶ 42, 55. There are compelling reasons to seal
8 this sort of proprietary business information, as it “might harm a [business’s] competitive
9 standing[.]” Nixon, 435 U.S. at 598. Angeion does not publicly disclose this information in
10 the ordinary course of its business, and is submitting it to the Court for review pursuant to
11 the Court’s direction at the November 4, 2025 status conference. ECF 290; Weisbrot Decl.
12 ¶¶ 42, 55. The sealing of this declaration (through narrow redactions) and the supporting
13 exhibits (which reveal highly competitively sensitive information and are marked for
14 Attorney’s Eyes Only in their entirety) is narrowly tailored to protect Angeion’s
15 competitive and highly sensitive proprietary information.
16 Plaintiffs do not oppose Angeion’s sealing request.
17 III. CONCLUSION
18 For the reasons discussed above and in the Weisbrot Declaration, Angeion
19 respectfully asks the Court to issue an order sealing the designated materials.
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DATED: November 13, 2025 Respectfully submitted,
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/s/ Andre M. Mura
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Andre M. Mura
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Andre M. Mura (SBN 298541)
24 Ezekiel S. Wald (SBN 341490)
25 GIBBS MURA LLP
1111 Broadway, Suite 2100
26 Oakland, California 94607
27 Telephone: (510) 350-9700
Facsimile: (510) 350-9701
28 amm@classlawgroup.com
zsw@classlawgroup.com
2
PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 292 Filed 11/13/25 Page 4 of 5
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Geoffrey A. Graber (SBN 211547)
2
Karina G. Puttieva (SBN 317702)
3 COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL
PLLC
4 1100 New York Ave. NW, Suite 800
5 Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: (202) 408-4600
6 Facsimile: (202) 408-4699
7 ggraber@cohenmilstein.com
kputtieva@cohenmilstein.com
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9 Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Certified Class
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PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 292 Filed 11/13/25 Page 5 of 5
1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
2 The undersigned hereby certifies that a copy of the foregoing and its attachments was served
3 via electronic mail on November 13, 2025, to Counsel for Defendants.
4 I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States that the foregoing is true
5 and correct.
6 /s/ Honeyleen Bohol
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Honeyleen Bohol
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PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
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