If I have a case that was settled over 2 years ago, is it still possible to have it “sealed”?
Background: Years ago I sued someone for copyright infringement and won. Now when prospective clients type my name into Google, it’s the first hit. (I think this is because my name is peppered throughout the document so often.) I’d like to have this taken down. Google tells me that I have to talk to the government site it resides on. When I talk to the Court Clerk (not helpful at all) he tells me “too bad”. When pressed, he says that I should send a letter to the Clerk’s office, but that nothing’s probably going to happen because the case is not “sealed”, and therefore, public.
This is not information I’m particularly embarrassed about, it’s just that it’s the first thing people see. My fear is that either I come across as having done something wrong, or if they take the time to see that I was the Plaintiff—and won—that they might assume me to be litigious, when I’ve never sued anyone else before or since.
So, anyway to have it “sealed” now. If not any other ideas on how to have it removed?
Thanks. That would work—kinda. The problem is that if I create these documents to take over the top spots (more instances of my name), I also push further down some of the articles with my name that I’d like people to see. Right?
Not necessarily. If that stuff is already out there, just googlebomb it - and you kill two birds with one stone.
I don’t see what the big deal is, though. I mean, if it was a link to your kiddy porn docket, then OK… but what harm could clients seeing you filed an apparently merited infringement suit do?
[supposition] From a marketing perspective, it could scare a potential client off. It’s reasonable for a client to think “who wants to do business with someone who might sue me over something trivial?”. Whether or not the issue was trivial is irrelevant, because no one is going to be there cajoling the prospect to read for details. All the client sees is that magellan01 sued someone. It’s perfectly reasonable to hope that a client’s first impression/view on Google is something positive rather than ostensibly off-putting. In addition, a top hit on Google says something to people, that this particular site is more prominent/important than others.
IANAL, but I think if you petition the court to have documents in the case sealed, you’d better have a more compelling reason than “to keep it off of Google.”
Yes, if there is a compelling reason to seal a case, a court may do so at any time. However, the trend in the law, including Supreme Court precedent from a few years ago, is in favor of public access to litigation documents and against sealing or confidentiality unless there is a strong legally-based reason to do so. Just having them appear inconviently on internet searches likely won’t cut it.
Further, if they are on the internet already, it is likely that they will remain there forevermore. Although a court order could cause an agency site to remove the documents, a sealing order won’t affect others who legitimately obtained the documents without violating the seal, including anyone (including, Google) who has them saved or cached.
Although I am a lawyer, I am not yours, and and this is a general discussion of the law, not advice on your particular case. if you are interested in pursuing this, please contact a lawyer in your jurisdiction who can advise you on your particular circumstances.
Rhythmdvl nailed my desire to do this, it’s just about removing potential barriers. And I’ve been asked about this by potential clients. Question for Really Not All That Bright: what do you mean by “googlebomb it”?
Billdo, can you guide me as to what type of lawyer to talk to and where I might find him or her? If it helps, I’m in San Francisco.
I’m not your lawyer; you’re not my client. What follows isn’t legal advice and you shouldn’t rely on it.
I may be misunderstanding what you mean by a “sealed” case. But in California, Rule of Court 2.550(c) states:
Subdivision (d) of that same rule states:
Frankly, I would be very surprised to find that “I’m losing business because people can find out I sued someone once” would qualify as an overriding interest. That said, I haven’t researched the issue and could be wrong.
As for who to call to find out more, consider calling one of the local lawschools (Boalt, Hastings, UC Davis – I use “local” loosely) and asking for the small business clinic. (I presume you are a small business owner.) Ask them if they can get you an answer, or if they can refer you to someone low cost who can. Good luck. I realize that this must be a giant pain in the neck.
Thanks. The problem is that my prospective clients would be hiring me for the same type of work that the Defendant did. I’ll take your advice and contact a local schools. Much appreciated.
I’d start with the lawyer who represented you on the copyright case, though I expect he or she (and most any other lawyer who isn’t interested in spinning fees in a futile cause) will tell you not to waste your time.
Gfactor quotes the California rule, and if it is a federal case, a somewhat different rule may apply, but to establish that something should be sealed, you are responsible for proving to the judge that there is a damn good reason do so in light of the very strong public interest in open public records.
I agree with **Billdo ** and Campion. Common good reasons for sealing files include protection of proprietary information or trade secrets, protection of identity information, and protection of juveniles. The fact that you sued somebody probably doesn’t cut it. But as others have said, you’ll need to talk to a lawyer to get case- and jurisdiction-specific advice.
This is a problem for a lot of companies. Bad word of mouth now not only spread but spread on the Internet. A movie company tried to get a blogger to take down bad reviews of their movies because his results of how bad them movie was were coming up first in Google.
You can consult search engine optimization people who will tell you how to boost other documents so your negative comes up down the list perhaps even on page two, but it’s really the price of the Internet. Be thankful it wasn’t copied over to usenet, where it will never disappear.
Anyone for free can copy your name and put a link to the case and create a new website for free. They can even sum up the case and put it on the web. If they really want to get you they just put it on a webserver outside the country.
This is the new world. This is why everyone should change their name to John Smith.
Googlebombing is an attempt to move your prefered page upwards in Google’s links. One of the things that affects the Google rankings is how many sites link to your page, even better if they use a hyperlink to do it. Wikipedia has a decent description.
No, they just point me to the government site where it resides. I’ve tried to contact quite a few people in the NInth Circuit, by phone and email so far, not one response. I’m bust with work right now, but I’m going to deal with this the first break I get.
Well, now I’m confused. I just searched for my name on Yahoo and AltaVista and the link in question didn’t come up at all. I went ten pages deep in both results and the link is not even there. But on Google it is the first one. Consistently. What gives?
Yes, a common affliction. It’s struck me on occasion, as well.
Any ideas, though, on why the link in question would come up #1 on Google and not show up at all—for the first ten pages at least—on Yahoo or AltaVista?
