A. All pleadings, briefs, requests, and other
correspondence shall be filed with the Administrative Office. When an appeal is
filed, the Administrative Office shall assign it a docket number.
B. All pleadings and other documents filed in
the appeal shall be entered on a docket to be maintained by the Administrative
Office. The Administrative Office shall make a notation of the filing date on
all such pleadings and other documents.
C. Copies of any and all pleadings, briefs
and requests filed by any party to an appeal must be served on every other
party or his or her attorney. All such documents must contain a certification
executed by the serving party identifying the parties served, the manner of
service and the date of service.
D.
All pleadings, briefs, and requests filed by any party to an appeal must be
signed by such party or his or her attorney and must specify the assigned
docket number.
E. Obligation to
Protect Sensitive and Private Information
1.
Parties and their counsel shall refrain from including, or shall partially
redact where inclusion is necessary and relevant to the case, the following
personal data identifiers from all pleadings and other papers filed with the
tribunal, including exhibits thereto, whether filed electronically or in paper,
unless otherwise ordered by the tribunal or except where otherwise specifically
required by rule or statute:
a. Social
Security numbers: If an individual's social security number must be included in
a pleading, only the last four digits of that number should be used.
b. Names of minor children: If the
involvement of a minor child must be mentioned, only the initials of that child
should be used.
c. Dates of birth:
If an individual's date of birth must be included in a pleading, only the year
should be used.
d. Financial
account numbers: If financial account numbers are relevant, only the last four
digits of those numbers should be used.
e. Health Information Portability and
Accountability Act protected information in which the records do not belong to
a party.
f. Any confidential agency
records or information protected under Federal law or regulation for a specific
agency due to their federal funding guidelines.
2. The responsibility for redacting these
personal identifiers rests solely with counsel and the parties. The EAB
Administrative Office staff will not review pleadings for compliance with this
procedure. Attorneys are also advised to exercise caution when filing documents
that contain the following:
a. personal
identifying number, such as driver's license number;
b. medical records, treatment, and
diagnosis;
c. employment
history;
d. individual financial
information: and,
e. proprietary or
trade secret information
3. Attorneys are strongly urged to share this
notice with all clients so that an informed decision may be made about the
inclusion of certain materials in court documents.
4. Counsel and the parties are cautioned that
failure to redact personal identifiers and/or the inclusion of irrelevant
personal information in a pleading or exhibit field with the court may subject
the party and/or counsel to sanctions as provided in Section
9.16(F).
F. A party may file a motion to
seal records in lieu of the redaction requirement. If the hearing officer
issues an order to seal the records, then the party may file the records
unredacted.
G. Filing Documents
with Sensitive and Private Information A party wishing to file a document
containing the personal data identifiers listed above may do so in the
following manner:
1. File an unredacted
version of the document under seal, or
2. File a reference list under seal. The
reference list shall contain the complete personal data identifier(s) used in
its (their) place in the filing.
All references to the redacted identifiers in the case
included in the references list will be constructed to refer to the
corresponding complete personal data identifier. The references list must be
filed under the seal and may be amended without leave of court.
The unredacted version of the document or the reference list
shall be retained by the court as part of the record. The court may, however
still require the party to file a redacted copy for the public file.
H. A party waives his or
her right to the protection of 9.7 (E) by filing documents that include his or
her own personal data identifiers without redaction.