Venture Group Enterprises, Inc. v. Vonage Business Inc.
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:20-cv-04095
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Venture Group Enterprises, Inc. v. Vonage Business Inc., Judge Abrams required a sealing justification or public filings by October 8, 2020.
Venture Group Enterprises, Inc. and Vonage Business Inc.; the ruling concerned Venture’s requested redactions and sealing of supporting materials.
What happened
Venture Group Enterprises, Inc. asked to file a redacted memorandum supporting its motion to dismiss Vonage Business Inc.’s counterclaims and strike certain defenses. It also asked to seal a supporting declaration and exhibits.
Vonage had requested that the exhibits be sealed. The court stated that Venture had not explained why sealing portions of its memorandum was justified under the required standard.
Judge Ronnie Abrams directed Venture to provide the reasons for sealing by October 8, 2020, or file public versions of the documents by that date. The excerpt does not clearly state the formal disposition of the sealing request.
The detailed version
- Venture Group Enterprises, Inc. v. Vonage Business Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-04095
- Ronnie Abrams
- Oct. 1, 2020
Background
Venture Group Enterprises, Inc. asked for permission to file a redacted version of its memorandum supporting a motion to dismiss Vonage Business Inc.’s counterclaims and to strike certain affirmative defenses. Venture also asked to file under seal a declaration by Joseph A. Boyle and the exhibits accompanying that declaration. The letter states that Vonage requested sealing of the exhibits.
Court’s Analysis
The court stated that Venture had not explained why sealing portions of its memorandum was justified under the standard associated with Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga. The excerpt then directs Venture, if it continued to seek sealing, to provide the court with the reasons supporting sealing no later than October 8, 2020. If Venture did not provide that reasoning, it was directed to file public versions of the documents on the docket by that date.
Disposition
Judge Ronnie Abrams therefore required Venture either to justify sealing by October 8, 2020, or to file public versions of the documents. The opinion text is visibly incomplete around the phrase describing the request’s formal disposition, so it is unclear whether the court formally denied the request, denied it without prejudice, or used another disposition.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.