Courts allow companies to seal too many civil lawsuit documents, attorney says.

Bruce R. Kaster, "an attorney who represents the families of Utah State University students killed in a grim 2005 van accident, told Congress on Thursday" that "courts allow companies to keep too many civil lawsuit documents secret that could save lives by disclosing dangerous defects in products." He "showed a House Judiciary subcommittee an example of one such document: a 2000 memo by Cooper Tires (which made the tires on the ill-fated USU van) that he said discusses how the company's tires lack key safety components that others offer." Presently, "the Judiciary Committee is considering the Sunshine in Litigation Act, which would make it more difficult for companies to keep secret documents used in civil cases." Kaster said, "'Tens of thousands of Americans, if not hundreds of thousands, have been killed or seriously injured by defective products that manufacturers are aware of, but the public is not,' because they manage to seal sensitive documents in court." Read the full article: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705308569/Do-courts-sanction-suit-secrets.html