Times succeeds in getting 35 cases opened so far

Two years ago The Seattle Times began investigating sealed court files in King County Superior Court. We crafted at least a half-dozen searches of electronic court dockets and walked down aisles of files in the clerk's office, hunting for telltale signs of lawsuits that might be hidden away.

We identified 420 civil suits that had been sealed in their entirety since 1990.

Then we pulled the sealing orders for each case and discovered something else: Almost all of these files had been sealed improperly, with judges failing to follow laws that restrict such sweeping secrecy.

Hidden away in these cases were allegations of unsafe medical devices and other products; wrongdoing in schools, churches, state agencies and businesses; and alleged malpractice by lawyers and other licensed professionals.

In March, the Times began filing motions to unseal cases. So far, 35 have been filed. Of those, 25 motions have been granted, with the files unsealed in whole or part; seven are pending; two have been denied; and one has been withdrawn.

While these files were typically sealed perfunctorily — often with an uncontested request and a judge's signature on a one-page, fill-in-the-blank order — unsealing them has taken several months and tens of thousands of dollars. Sometimes the written arguments back and forth have approached 200 pages.

The Times has also opened 10 other lawsuits — in King and other Washington counties — without a formal motion. In these cases a judge or court commissioner agreed to unseal upon an informal request that pointed out that secrecy was inappropriate.

That means 35 files have been opened so far. In the coming months, The Times plans to pursue other cases as well.