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But in many other circumstances, counsel are also required to redact personally identifiable information in court filings to comply with federal and state redaction rules governing individual privacy. Proper application of redactions in public filings may be essential to protect confidential or sensitive client information. caused by the method of redaction.” Specifically, the error was the result of applying the redactions in Microsoft Word and printing to Adobe Acrobat, “rather than redaction software our law firm has in place that is specifically designed to avoid such issues.” Id.

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Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent ordered Indivior’s attorneys to explain “why counsel should not be sanctioned for this error and explain what steps counsel have taken to ensure this error will not be repeated.” The lawyers took full responsibility for the improperly applied redactions, explaining that although black-box redactions appeared over certain text in the brief (making it impossible to see the text), a reporter was able to copy and paste the hidden text underlying the redactions due to a “technical weakness . . . The publicly filed version of the brief even said it was “redacted in order to protect certain grand jury material.” And although the memorandum appeared to redact the grand jury material, it didn’t actually do so, which allowed a reporter to write an (unflattering) story about the whole affair. The law firm representing Indivior prepared a filing alleging misconduct during grand jury proceedings. 2019), the government charged Indivior with engaging in an illicit nationwide scheme to increase prescriptions of Suboxone Film, a drug used in the treatment of opioid addiction.

And even more recently, a law firm inadvertently failed to redact testimony protected by grand jury secrecy rules.