Background:
I'm hoping to find recent court cases that involve a private citizen's
attempt to get into sealed records when fighting a corporation. 
Recently, a teenager was given 30 years for killing his grandparents
and the defense ran into major stumbling blocks getting into the
sealed records (http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=117664)
that Merck had.  This can be traced back a little bit further into the
tobacco companies and their sealed records when they knew the dangers
of nicotine well before they publicly acknowledged it.

Questions:
1) Can you find me a current list of sources involving an individual
trying to get into sealed records (either successfully or
unsuccessfully)?

2)  What do companies do in order to seal records?

3)  What steps can an individual or company take to seal/unseal these records?

Thank you.  I am definitely willing to pay more if things need
refining in the future.

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Request for Question Clarification by cynthia-ga on 22 Feb 2005 11:01 PST

Are you looking for information like this?

Access to civil pleadings. Wilson v. Lowe, 16 Media L. Rep. 1847
(Fulton County Superior Court, May 24, 1989) (Hull, J.):
http://www.gfaf.org/resources/courtCases.html
..."Petition by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for access to records
filed under seal in civil action.
Concluding that all court records in Georgia are public and
presumptively open to public access unless the harm resulting to the
party seeking closure clearly outweighs the public interest, Court
found that, since much of the information in the sealed records
already had been disclosed and disseminated publicly, the alleged harm
to the defendant seeking closure does not outweigh the public's
interest..."


USA TODAY: People v. Jackson and People v. Bryant
http://www.gannett.com/go/newswatch/2004/december/nw1223-5.htm
USA TODAY joined media coalitions in these two high-profile criminal
actions challenging rulings sealing portions of the proceedings.
Attorneys defending Michael Jackson in the child molestation case
against him have attempted to file nearly every document in the case
under seal, contending that intense public scrutiny because of
Jackson's celebrity status renders secrecy the only means to secure a
fair trial. The media group recently filed an omnibus appeal of a
number of the judge's rulings, arguing that public access to the
official record is actually the surest method of squelching the rumor
and conjecture Jackson's lawyers fear. During the prosecution of NBA
star Kobe Bryant on charges of sexual assault, the coalition
successfully challenged many of the attempts to close pre-trial
proceedings. The trial court opened almost all of the remaining sealed
records after the case was suddenly dismissed because of the victim's
unwillingness to proceed with a trial of the matter. The media
coalition successfully argued that in the wake of the dismissal, the
public's interest in the decisions that went into bringing the case in
the first place was even greater than it had been before..."


State ex rel. WBNS TV, Inc. v. Dues, 101 Ohio St. 3d 406, 2004 Ohio 1497 (2004):
http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/LocalGovernment/YellowBook/update.htm
..."A settlement agreement filed under seal with the probate court is
a public record that must be released in response to a public records
request, including the amount of the settlement.

After a young girl was killed by an errant puck at a Columbus Blue
Jackets (CBJs) hockey game, the executor of her estate reached a
settlement with various hockey entities related to the CBJs. Upon
motion of the executor, the probate court sealed the settlement
figure. Relying on this sealing order, the probate court denied the
public records request of a news station seeking access to the
settlement figure. The news station filed a public records mandamus
action seeking an order granting it access to the sealed records..."


~~Cynthia

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Clarification of Question by catania-ga on 22 Feb 2005 17:53 PST

Cynthia,

I appreciate your undertaking this question--I've read your other
posts and they are excellent.  I do apologize for the broadness of my
initial questions and I will do my best to clarify.

I am not so much concerned with press access to public records as I am
how the individual plaintiff receives the short end of the stick when
having to go against a major corporation who has sealed records
pertinent to a given case.

Additionally, I am interested to know how this sealing of
corporations' records influences the development of Common Law. 
Perhaps this second half of the question might be better suited for a
separate entry but in my own research I have found the two are
commonly addressed in articles.  If I may provide any more information
for you please do not hesitate to ask.