Circuit Court of Cook County Sealing & Redaction Procedures

CRITICAL

Parties must obtain leave of court before filing documents or materials under seal.

Parties must seek leave of Court to file documents or other materials under seal.

CRITICALCivil cases

Motions to file under seal must detail privacy interests, be supported by affidavit, include redacted version as exhibit, and cannot apply to all documents; protective orders must state they do not apply to court orders.

Motions to File Under Seal & Protective Orders • Cannot be applied to all documents and/or pleadings. • Must explicitly state that the protective order will not apply to court orders. • The request must detail the privacy interests involved and justify the necessity of the protective order, supported by an affidavit. • Motions to file under seal should include the redacted version as an exhibit. • Courtesy copies of a motion to file under seal should include both redacted and unredacted versions, with the proposed redactions clearly highlighted, as indicated here.

CRITICALCivil cases

Fee petitions filed under seal or for in camera review require prior leave of court to be accepted.

Fee petitions filed under seal or for in camera review will not be accepted without prior leave of Court. (This includes In re Special States Attorney fee petitions.)

CRITICAL

Motions to file under seal or for protective orders require leave of court and must include specific statements and an affidavit; they cannot apply to all documents.

Parties must seek leave of Court to file documents or other materials under seal. Please note the following when filing a motion to file under seal or a motion seeking a protective order: • The motion(s) cannot apply to all documents and/or pleadings. • The motion(s) must state in the text of the order that the order does not, by itself, authorize the filing of any document under seal, and that any party wishing to file a document designated as ‘Confidential,’ or ‘Attorney’s Eyes Only Information’ in connection to a motion, brief, or other submission to the Court must comply with court rules pertaining to filings under seal. • The motion(s) must state in the text of the order that the protective order will not apply to Court orders. • The motion(s) must recite the privacy interest involved, and why a protective order is necessary. This should be supported by affidavit. Failure to comply may lead to the motion being struck from the call and the Movant will need to re-spindle the motion to be presented on another day, denied, or other sanction.

CRITICALCivil cases

Sealing requires a motion addressing specific documents, good cause, and prior attempt to agree on redactions.

Parties may agree to the entry of protective orders, but they may not agree that documents are to be filed under seal without presenting a motion addressing the specific documents to be filed. Such motions may be granted only in limited circumstances upon good cause shown. Before presenting such motions, parties shall seek to agree on redactions that will allow documents to be filed in the public court record. If agreement is not possible, the party wishing to file a confidential document under seal must seek leave of court.

WARNING

Fee petitions filed under seal or for in camera review require prior leave of Court, including special State's Attorney fee petitions.

Fee petitions filed under seal or for in camera review will not be accepted without prior leave of Court. (This includes In re Special States Attorney fee petitions.)

WARNING

A motion to seal or for a protective order cannot cover all documents or pleadings.

The motion(s) cannot apply to all documents and/or pleadings.

WARNINGCivil cases

If any materials are submitted which a party would like to remain confidential, the materials should be marked as such; otherwise, the Court will assume it has been seen by all parties (if it is not confidential, please provide a courtesy copy to the other parties).

If any materials are submitted which a party would like to remain confidential, the materials should be marked as such; otherwise, the Court will assume it has been seen by all parties (if it is not confidential, please provide a courtesy copy to the other parties).

WARNING

Confidential memoranda must be sent to the court via email without including opposing counsel, plus hard copies.

Confidential memoranda shall be sent to the court via email without inclusion of opposing counsel and hard copies.

INFOCivil cases

Parties must agree whether the pretrial settlement submissions shall be confidential.

Parties are to agree whether the submissions shall be confidential.