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<div class="pre" style="margin: 0; padding: 0; font-family: monospace">Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva<br />______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">May 20, 2026</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So long as a court had jurisdiction over the case, it should not matter that the case has been concluded and/ or dismissed. You would file your motion in the same court, same case number. You must give notice to all parties. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The sealing of cases is guided by GR 15. There are forms available on the state court website. I don't think they are mandatory but are a good guide. The motion is All Civil 050 and the proposed Order is All Civil 052. Basically, you must show that your privacy rights outweigh the public interest in having access to the record.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a preference to seal or to redact only what is necessary- so redaction of parts of a declaration vs. an entire declaration. The mandatory form refers to Seattle Times v. Ishikawa, but I would encourage you to try to find cases more similar to yours for examples of when the court was or was not persuaded.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I have only twice asked the court to seal a file or portions of a file. They were both family law matters and in one case, there were unfounded allegations of sexual abuse (that were actually investigated by law enforcement.) That case went on for quite awhile and the father’s relationship with the youngest child that was purportedly molested was fairly damaged. My client got normal visitation with the older two children but only access in counseling to the youngest. That was in King County and the court sealed portions of that file. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In the other, the wife made very extreme and unsavory allegations implying that their had been sexual molestation of the children. The allegations were never investigated and/ or reported to CPS or law enforcement. In the end, my client had a very normal parenting plan with him being the non-primary parent. That was in Snohomish County and the court denied my client’s motion to seal.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrekita Silva</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 940</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Seattle, Washington 98101-2509</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">206-224-8288</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:ak@seattle-silvalaw.com">ak@seattle-silvalaw.com</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">On 2026/05/20 08:31 AM, Amy Goertz wrote:</span>
<blockquote type="cite" style="padding: 0 0.4em; border-left: #1010ff 2px solid; margin: 0"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Good Morning Listers -</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">My neighbor was a participant (witness?) in a Spokane County custody</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">dispute between her brother and his ex. Neighbor and several family</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">members submitted responses to the ugly allegations made against both</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">parties. Eventually, the case was dropped or otherwise dismissed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Neighbor now wishes to have the file or witness statements sealed so</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">that the public cannot read or search for the information.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Is this possible or would this need to have been done at the time?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If so, is there anyone to refer her to that might be able to help with</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">this?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">_Amy J. Goertz, J.D._</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">_Goertz & Lambrecht PLLC_</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:amyjgoertz@icloud.com">amyjgoertz@icloud.com</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1.888.926.2607 phone</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1.877.684.1627 fax</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Address for correspondence:</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">2829 S. Grand Blvd., Suite 303</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Spokane, WA 99203 </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Additional office locations:</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">510 Bell Street</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Edmonds, WA 98020</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Goertz & Lambrecht PLLC</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goertzlambrecht.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.goertzlambrecht.com</a> [<a href="http://www.goertzlambrecht.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1</a>]</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Links:</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">------</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">[1] <a href="http://www.goertzlambrecht.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.goertzlambrecht.com/</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and others.***</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">_______________________________________________</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">WSBAPT mailing list</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:WSBAPT@lists.wsbarppt.com">WSBAPT@lists.wsbarppt.com</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt</a></span></blockquote>
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