Opinion
NO. 14-17-00299-CV
11-27-2017
IN RE METHODIST PRIMARY CARE GROUP, Relator
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING WRIT OF MANDAMUS
234th District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2015-35424
ORDER
Real party-in-interest Associates in Medicine, PA filed in this court a motion for leave to file under seal the documents filed under Tabs B and D of the appendix to Associates in Medicine, PA's response to relator Methodist Primary Care Group's petition for writ of mandamus (the "B and D Appendix Documents").
In the motion for leave to file the B and D Appendix Documents under seal, Associates in Medicine, PA advised this court that those documents were designated "CONFIDENTIAL/ATTORNEYS'-EYES ONLY" under an "Amended Agreed Protective Order," signed by the trial court on February 21, 2017. We noted in an order issued June 20, 2017, that paragraph 5.c of the Protective Order provides that information protected by the Protective Order shall be filed under seal in accordance with Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 76a but that Associates in Medicine, PA had not provided this court with the trial court's order sealing the B and D Appendix Documents. We notified the parties that we would withhold a ruling on the motion for leave to file the B and D Appendix Documents under seal in this court to give the parties an opportunity to supplement the mandamus record with a Rule 76a order from the trial court permitting the filing of the B and D Appendix Documents under seal in that court.
Apparently, the trial court did not issue a Rule 76a order sealing the B and D Appendix Documents before relator filed its mandamus proceeding. Following the issuance of this court's June 20, 2017, order, however, Associates in Medicine, PA filed in the trial court a motion to seal records under Rule 76a, specifically requesting the trial court to seal the B and D Appendix Documents. Associates in Medicine, P.A. supplemented the mandamus record in this court with a "Temporary Sealing Order," signed by the trial court on July 10, 2017, allowing the filing of those documents "under temporary seal" in Trial Court Cause No. 2015-35424, Associates in Medicine, P.A. v. Dr. Shari P. Rubin, et al., in the 234th District Court of Harris County, as permitted by Rule 76a (5). The trial court ordered a public hearing to commence at 1:00 p.m. on October 30, 2017, at which time the trial court would consider a permanent sealing order.
On August 11, 2017, this court issued an order stating in relevant part:
The parties have until November 1, 2017, to provide this court with an order from the trial court permitting the filing of these documents under permanent seal in that court and to supplement the mandamus record with a copy of the permanent sealing order. Failure to do so will result in the denial of the motion to file the B and D Appendix Documents under seal, unless, before that date, the parties present briefing, with citations to authority, to this court establishing a valid legal basis on which this court may maintain the B and D Appendix Documents under seal without an order showing the documents have been permanently sealed in the trial court.
The November 1, 2017 deadline has passed and the parties have not provided this court with an order from the trial court permitting the filing of these documents under permanent seal in that court. Nor have the parties supplemented the mandamus record with a copy of a permanent sealing order. We therefore deny Associates in Medicine, PA's motion for leave to file under seal the B and D Appendix Documents.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Chief Justice Frost and Justices Donovan and Brown.