Court Opinion

ID: 9792453
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:29:42.674702+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:42.951847
License: Public Domain

HALL, Chief Justice
(dissenting):
I do not join the court in departing from the long-established common law of this state, which is that sealed, unpublished depositions do not become “judicial records” (subject to public inspection).1
At the trial level, an unpublished deposition is not available for use by anyone, including the court. For example, in considering motions for summary judgment, unpublished depositions are not available to the court.2 Likewise, at trial, a party desiring to utilize the contents of a deposition must first move for its publication. Not until then does it become a part of the record. As observed in the main opinion, the same is also true on appeal. Unpublished depositions are not part of the record and are therefore unavailable for the court to review.3
Unpublished depositions simply are not “judicial records” within the contemplation of Utah Code Ann. §§ 78-26-1 to -8, nor are they “casefiles” made reference to in Utah Code of Judicial Administration, rule 4-KD.
I would uphold the common law rule that depositions do not become public records until published and thereby used in the adjudication process.

. Bawden and Assocs. v. Smith, 646 P.2d 711, 713 (Utah 1982); Reliable Furniture Co. v. Fidelity and Guar. Ins. Underwriters, Inc., 14 Utah 2d 169, 380 P.2d 135, 135 (1963); Thompson v. Ford Motor Co., 14 Utah 2d 334, 384 P.2d 109, 109 (1963); Rosander v. Larsen, 14 Utah 2d 1, 376 P.2d 146, 146 (1962).

. Reliable Furniture Co., 380 P.2d at 135; Thompson, 384 P.2d at 109.

. Thompson, 384 P.2d at 109.