Sk Shipping Co., Ltd. v. Nustar Energy Services, Inc.
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:15-cv-02141
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In SK Shipping v. NuStar Energy, Judge Caproni granted the parties’ application to seal settlement terms and registry-withdrawal amounts.
The parties to the case, whose specified settlement and registry-withdrawal information was sealed, and members of the public seeking access to that information.
What happened
In SK Shipping Co., Ltd. and SK B&T Pte. Ltd. v. NuStar Energy Services, Inc., the parties reached a confidential settlement and asked the court to keep certain information from public view.
The plaintiffs asked to seal highlighted portions of the settlement stipulation and docket entries showing amounts withdrawn from the court’s registry. They argued that the information was commercially sensitive and that limited sealing would protect the settlement’s confidentiality.
Judge Valerie Caproni granted the application. The order does not provide additional reasoning or identify the specific redactions in detail.
The detailed version
- Sk Shipping Co., Ltd. v. Nustar Energy Services, Inc. · No. 1:15-cv-02141
- Valerie Caproni
- Apr. 20, 2020
Background
The plaintiffs stated that the parties had concluded a confidential settlement agreement on March 9, 2020. They submitted a proposed stipulation concerning discharge and dismissal with prejudice and asked the court for permission to seal limited information connected to that agreement.
Application to Seal
The plaintiffs sought to seal two categories of information: highlighted portions of the stipulation concerning the confidential settlement terms, and docket entries showing the amounts withdrawn from the court’s registry. They argued that the information was not sufficiently connected to the court’s decision-making to receive the usual presumption of public access. Alternatively, they argued that any presumption of access was weak and outweighed by the parties’ confidentiality interests and concerns that disclosure of commercially sensitive information could affect negotiations in related cases.
Ruling
The court’s endorsement states: “Application GRANTED.” Judge Valerie E. Caproni therefore granted the requested application to seal. The opinion text does not separately explain the court’s reasoning, specify the precise material sealed, or state how long the sealing would remain in effect.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.