A federal magistrate judge in Colorado has refused to seal property and vehicle information submitted by defendants to challenge a plaintiff's claim of Wyoming residency. The case, Kazazian v. Wilson Elser LLP, involves malpractice and breach-of-duty claims against attorneys who represented the plaintiff in disciplinary proceedings, as well as negligence allegations against a neuropsychologist. The plaintiff asserted diversity jurisdiction based on her alleged domicile in Wyoming since 2024.
Defendants' motion to dismiss questioned that assertion, attaching investigative findings that showed extensive Colorado ties: ownership of residential property in Vail and Denver, a vehicle registered in Colorado with an expired registration, voting records in Eagle County, and email IP addresses originating almost entirely from Colorado. The plaintiff filed an emergency motion to restrict the filing, arguing it contained unnecessary private and personal information, including vehicle-identifying and location-related details.
Judge Reid Neureiter denied the request, emphasizing the District of Colorado's stated policy that the public shall have access to all filed documents unless a statute, rule, or court order says otherwise. He noted that a party seeking restriction must show a clearly defined and serious injury and that the interest outweighs the presumption of public access. Quoting a prior opinion by Judge John L. Kane, he wrote that secret court proceedings are "anathema to a free society."
The judge also pointed out that the plaintiff's own serious public allegations against the defendants necessarily invite public responses. Because she chose to file a public lawsuit accusing others of misconduct, she must accept that defendants may publicly counter with evidence bearing on jurisdiction, including personal details. The ruling underscores the difficulty of sealing records in civil cases where the underlying facts are central to the court's decision. Only one source was used for this report; no conflicting accounts were identified.