Gov Uscourts Nysd 447706 1037 0 PDF
Gov Uscourts Nysd 447706 1037 0 PDF
Gov Uscourts Nysd 447706 1037 0 PDF
Pursuant to this Court’s Order of March 19, 2020 (Doc. 1034) at 3, attached please
find Ms. Maxwell’s proposed changes to the Court’s proposed revisions to the Protocol,
Notice to Non-Parties, the Non-Party Request for Excerpts, and the Non-Party Form
Objection. Counsel conferred with plaintiff’s counsel concerning these proposed revisions,
who object for reasons that they intend to explain to the Court by separate letter.
Ms. Maxwell believes the proposed changes, as reflected in the attached redlined
version, are appropriate for the following reasons:
2(d): One or both of the Original Parties may want to oppose a Non-Party Objection
by arguing for un-sealing. Any argument by an Original Party for sealing would be covered
by 2(f) and not in opposition to the Non-Party.
2(f): The Court in its Order at ¶ 5 recognized the right of reply for both objecting and
non-objecting parties. The change to this paragraph was intended to reflect that right.
3(e): The Non-Parties are advised in their Objection to Un-Sealing at ¶ 2 that they
“understand this Objection will be filed under seal and I will not be identified in any court
filing.” Ms. Maxwell remains concerned that Non-Parties will be reluctant to participate in
this process if their objection will itself become publicized and also believes that despite best
redaction efforts and pseudonym efforts, any objections may reveal the identity of its author.
For those reasons, Ms. Maxwell respectfully requests that the Non-Party Objections
themselves be maintained under seal.
Notice to Non-Parties of Possible Unsealing: The Notice advises the Non-Parties that
the documents will be made “publicly available” but does not explain what that means. In this
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037 Filed 03/26/20 Page 2 of 2
Honorable Loretta A. Preska
March 26, 2020
Page 2
case, where unsealing was instigated at the behest of the Miami Herald who seems intent on
publishing even scandalous and factually unsupported statements, an additional explanation
about who is requesting the unsealing of sealed materials, i.e., the media, gives Non-Parties
accurate and important information to help inform their decision whether to participate. In
other words, it is one thing for a party to a litigation to seek to unseal materials concerning a
non-party that if unsealed will remain in a court file albeit available to the public; it is quite
another thing for the news media to seek to unseal the same materials.
Provision for emailing to this Court’s chambers: Ms. Maxwell added the possibility of
Non-Parties emailing their Objection to chambers, in addition to emailing the parties, to allow
for the possibility that not all Non-Parties have access to fax machines and not all Non-Parties
reside in the U.S. Because they are required to email to counsel for the Original Parties, it
would reduce their burden and ensure timely delivery if they likewise were permitted to email
to Chambers.
Counsel for the Original Parties have conferred and are available for a telephonic
conference regarding next steps on either Tuesday March 31st or Friday April 3rd at 1:00,
2:00 or 4:00 EST. Counsel also has availability the following week if the Court would prefer.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura A. Menninger
VIRGINIA L. GIUFFRE,
Plaintiff,
v. No. 15-cv-07433-LAP
GHISLAINE MAXWELL,
Defendant.
The Court previously ruled that “only motions actually decided by Judge Sweet—along
with documents relevant to Judge Sweet’s decisions on those motions—are properly considered
judicial documents to which a presumption of public access attaches.” Order, dated Dec. 16,
2019 (DE 1016). Such materials are referred to herein as the “Sealed Materials” or “Sealed
Items.” The Sealed Materials will be enumerated in a List of Decided Motions designated by the
Court. In accordance with Brown v. Maxwell, 929 F.3d 41, 49-51 (2d Cir. 2019), the Court will
conduct an individualized review of each Sealed Item in the List of Decided Motions to
determine (a) the weight of presumption of public access that should be afforded to the
document, (b) the identification and weight of any countervailing interests supporting continued
sealing/redaction, and (c) whether the countervailing interests rebut the presumption of public
access. To assist in this process and afford persons identified or otherwise interested in the
Sealed Materials the opportunity to participate in the Court’s individualized review, the Court
adopts the following protocol.
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• Provide the address or contact information for each Non-Party or his or her legal
counsel, which the Original Parties identified to the best of their ability.
2. Judicial Adjudication: Because of the volume of Sealed Materials, the Court will
conduct an individualized review of several Sealed Items at a time, thereby allowing the review
to proceed on a rolling basis and in a manageable fashion. The Court will review sealed items
based on the Non-Party mentioned in the Sealed Materials. For example, for Doe #1, the Court
would review each Sealed Item that mentions Doe #1, and would do the same for Does #2, #3,
etc. This will allow the Court more easily to manage and review any objections from Non-
Parties. The following procedure shall be used for each set of Sealed Items reviewed by the
Court:
a. The Court will notify the parties via minute order (“Notification”) of the set of
Sealed Items that will be considered. The Court will consider input from the Original
Parties as to the number of Sealed Items that is appropriate to consider at once in light of
the volume and complexity of the Sealed Items.
b. As soon as practicable after the Notification the Original Parties shall confer and
shall use their best efforts to cause each Non-Party mentioned in the Sealed Materials to
be considered to be served confidentially with a Non-Party Notice approved by the Court.
“Best efforts” entails identifying the most current address available for the nonparty in a
public records database or other readily available source. Service shall be effected via
first class certified mail, return receipt requested. After service, the party causing the
service shall file a certificate of service, stating the date and method of service and
identifying the Non-Party by his or her pseudonymous identifier.
d. Within 14 days of service of the Excerpts, the Non-Party may submit to the Court
an objection to unsealing/unredacting (“Non-Party Objection”). A form Non-Party
Objection, approved by the Court, shall be attached to the Non-Party Notice. The Non-
Party Notice will require any objecting Non-Party to state briefly the reasons for the
1
The Court may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
2
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 3 of 14
objection and identify any countervailing interest that militates against unsealing, if
applicable. A Non-Party may also submit a memorandum of law in support of the Non-
Party Objection. The Non-Party Objection and any accompanying memorandum shall
be served on the Original Parties. Within 14 days of service of any Non-Party Objection
and accompanying memorandum, if any, the Original Parties may file an opposition
stating the reasons why any Sealed Item should be remain un-sealed. The opposition
shall be served on the objecting Non-Party. The objecting Non-Party may file a reply in
support of its objection within 7 days of service of the Original Parties’ opposition.
e. Within 14 days of service of any Non-Party Objection, any Original Party may file
its own objection to unsealing/unredacting (“Party Objection”), and an accompanying
memorandum of law in support of the objection. Any opposition to the Party Objection
shall be filed within 14 days. The objecting Original Party may file a reply in support of
his or her objection within 7 days of service of any opposition.
i. If the Court determines that a factual issue exists as to a Sealed Item and that its
ruling requires resolution of that factual issue, it may order the Original Parties and
relevant Non-Parties to appear for an evidentiary hearing. In addition, the relevant Non-
Parties or the Original Parties may affirmatively request an evidentiary hearing. Any
such request shall be made by letter explaining any factual issues that exist with a Sealed
Item (or Sealed Items) and the reasons that an evidentiary hearing may facilitate their
resolution.
j. After objections, responses and replies have been submitted, and any evidentiary
hearing held, the Court will enter a minute order setting the date and time it will decide in
open court the objections lodged as to each set of motions. Appearance by any of the
parties or Non-Parties is optional. The Court will determine whether each Sealed Item
3
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 4 of 14
shall be (1) unsealed in its entirety, (2) unsealed in redacted form, or (3) kept under seal.
Thereafter the Court will issue a Notification of the next set of Sealed Items to be
decided.
3. Non-Party Participation.
a. Any Non-Party requesting Excerpts shall maintain them as confidential and shall
not disclose them to anyone other than the lawyer, if any, representing him or her in this
proceeding. The requesting Non-Party may use the Excerpts only to decide whether to
object and to prepare his or her objection, if any, submitted to this Court. A Non-Party’s
request for the Excerpts constitutes acknowledgment of the requirement to comply with
this Court’s restrictions placed on the Excerpts and submission to this Court’s
jurisdiction for purposes of enforcement of the restrictions.
c. A copy of this Order and Protocol shall be served with the Non-Party Notice.
d. All submissions by Non-Parties to the Court shall be under seal. The Original
Parties served with Non-Party submissions shall not disclose them to anyone else
pending further order of the Court.
4. Unless expressly stated otherwise, all notices, submissions, and filings made
pursuant to this Order shall remain permanently sealed inasmuch as they are submitted solely
so that the Court may decide whether any Sealed Materials should be unsealed. See Brown, 929
F.3d at 50 n.33.
4
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 5 of 14
So ordered.
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Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 6 of 14
Virginia L. Giuffre,
v.
Ghislaine Maxwell,
Defendant.
A Federal Court authorized this notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.
This case involves allegations of sexual abuse and sexual trafficking of minors. Some
documents submitted to the Court were filed under seal. You are receiving this Notice because
your name appears in one or more sealed court documents in this case, which is pending before
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska.
The documents that mention your name (the “Sealed Materials”) are currently under seal and
cannot be accessed or viewed by the public. Pursuant to court order, those documents may
be unsealed in the future, which means they will be publicly available. Once the materials
are made publicly available, the media entities who have sought the unsealing will gain
access to these materials including your name and the other references to you contained
in the Sealed Materials, and they will be free thereafter to publish any such information.
The Court has entered the attached Order and Protocol governing the possible unsealing
of sealed materials.
1. Do nothing. The Court may determine that the Sealed Materials should be unsealed,
at which point they would become available to the public.
2. Ask to see Excerpts of the document(s) to decide whether you want to object to
unsealing. Within 14 days of your receipt of this notice, you may ask the parties to this
case to send you the relevant excerpts of the Sealed Materials (the “Excerpts”). You
may then file an objection to the unsealing of the Sealed Materials within 14 days after
the Excerpts are placed in the U.S. mail to you, e-mailed to you, or faxed to you.
• You must use the attached form, “Non-Party’s Request for Access to Sealed Excerpts.”
1
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 7 of 14
• Your request for the Excerpts must be submitted within 14 days of the date this Notice
was mailed to you.
2
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 8 of 14
• Your request must be submitted by U.S. mail, by fax, or by e-mail to Judge Preska:
• Your request must also be sent by email, U.S. mail or fax to counsel for the parties to
this action:
Attorney for Plaintiff Virginia Giuffre: Attorney for Defendant Ghislaine Maxwell:
Sigrid S. McCawley Laura A. Menninger
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C.
401 East Las Olas Blvd., Suite 1200 150 East Tenth Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 Denver, CO 80203
Tel 954.377.4223 Tel 303.831.7364
Fax 954.356.0022 Fax 303.832.1015
[email protected] [email protected]
• You will then be provided with the Excerpts via U.S mail or by-email, as you specify.
• The use and disclosure of the Excerpts are governed by a Court Order. You may review
and make reference to the Excerpts in your objection to unsealing. With the exception
of any lawyer representing you in this matter, the Excerpts may not be shared with any
other person. Disclosing the Excerpts is a violation of the Court’s Order limiting the use
of the Excerpts.
After viewing the Excerpts pursuant to Option 2, you may either do nothing or file an objection
to the unsealing of the Sealed Materials.
• Your objection must be filed within 14 days after the Excerpts are placed in the U.S.
mail to you.
• You should submitfax the form to Judge Preska via fax at at (212) 805-7941, by U.S.
mail, or via email to [email protected] .
• Your objection should also be served by email upon counsel for the parties to this action.
Your participation in this process is optional. You are under no obligation to object to the
unsealing of the Sealed Materials and your decision not to do so will not signify your consent
to the unsealing of any document. Ultimately, the court will determine whether to unseal each
document in this case, regardless of your participation in this process.
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--------------------------------------------------X
-
-------------------------------------------
VIRGINIA L. GIUFFRE,
Plaintiff,
v. 15-cv-07433-LAP
GHISLAINE MAXWELL,
Defendant.
--------------------------------------------------X
1. I received a copy of the Court’s Order and Protocol for the unsealing of materials in
this case and the Notice to Non-Parties. At my request I also received a copy of excerpts from
2. I understand this Objection will be filed under seal and I will not be identified in any
court filing.
3. I am submitting this Objection within 14 days after the date the Excerpts were
4. I am submitting this Objection to the Court via United States mail, or fax or email to:
5. I certify that I have sent a copy of this Objection to the parties’ lawyers listed below
6. I object to unsealing the Excerpts for the following reasons (if needed, attach
additional pages):
1
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 11 of 14
Non-Party Objector or
Counsel for Non-Party Objector
Signature:
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
2
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 12 of 14
--------------------------------------------------X
-
-------------------------------------------
VIRGINIA L. GIUFFRE,
Plaintiff,
v. 15-cv-07433-LAP
GHISLAINE MAXWELL,
Defendant.
--------------------------------------------------X
1. I received a copy of the Court’s Order and Protocol (“Court Order”) for the unsealing
2. I acknowledge that the excerpts from the sealed materials I am requesting (“Excerpts”)
are governed by the Court Order, which restricts the use and disclosure of the Excerpts. I
acknowledge I am required to comply with the Court Order. I understand that under the Court
Order: (a) I may only use the Excerpts from the sealed materials to decide whether to object and,
if so, to prepare my objection; (b) I am prohibited from disclosing the Excerpts to any person
3. I acknowledge that if I want to review the Excerpts, I must submit this Request to the
4. I acknowledge that within 14 days from the date the Excerpts are placed in the
U.S. mail to me, I must file any objection I have to unsealing the materials that identify me.
5. I certify I have sent a copy of this Request to the parties’ lawyers listed below via U.S.
1
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1037-1 Filed 03/26/20 Page 14 of 14
6. I wish to receive the Excerpts (check one) by U.S. Mail at the address listed below or
Requester
Signature:
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
E-Mail Address: