The wars continue on sealing up information produced in discovery. In September, the 7th Circuit will hear arguments on Syngenta’s efforts to seal up records produced in discovery. Some locally respected advocacy groups are opposing the sealing. Stay tuned. For now, the Madison County Record has a helpful story with background. #Secrecy

The Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation blog by Francis Pileggi includes an update on the constitutional challenges to the Delaware Chancery rule creating secret arbitrations presided over by Delaware chancery judges. The post includes myriad links – you can follow follow them back to see why most commentators see the procedure as a violation of First Amendment rights to access information, among others. The defense is focused on economics for Delaware lawyers and m

Here is an interesting NLJ article on the state secrets privilege from a law professor and dean with an impressive background in both public interest litigation and academics. The law professor, Alan B. Morrison, currently is the Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law at the George Washington University School of Law. In short, he suggests that the price for exercising the privilege should be that the government pays for the harm cause

Is it ethical for government lawyers to demand, or a plaintiff’s lawyer to sign, a tort claim settlement agreement that includes terms that purport to limit the use of the settlement agreement in future litigation? “No” is the answer provided in this article addressing the issue in the context of government and private lawyers involved in tort and civil rights claims against the City of Chicago. The article is: SETTLEMENTS YOU CAN’T SIGN: ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CHICAGO’S MAC

Do not miss a fascinating June 24 article in the New York Times regarding the tort litigation seeking damages from the Saudi royal family for the 9/11 attacks, and make sure to click back through the prior articles and briefs linked to in the past articles. One issue of course is sovereign immunity. Another issue is secrecy – the article quotes from documents said to help prove the claim that some members of the royal family provided financial support to groups said to be lin