Vertical Aviation No. 1 LLC v. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and…
Vertical Aviation No. 1 LLC v. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
- Vyskocil
- 1:20-cv-04970
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Vertical Aviation v. Government of Trinidad and Tobago, Judge Vyskocil granted in part a motion to seal documents, requiring narrower redactions.
The ruling directly affected Vertical Aviation No. 1 LLC’s request to restrict public access to specified filings and affected the public’s access to those court materials. The opinion also identifies confidentiality, privacy, proprietary-business, and possible national-security interests of The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
What happened
Vertical Aviation No. 1 LLC sued The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over a helicopter lease. The defendant did not answer or appear, and the plaintiff sought default judgment. The plaintiff also asked to seal or redact information in supporting affidavits and exhibits, including lease terms, settlement terms, and materials it said contained confidential business or national-security information.
The plaintiff argued that sealing would protect private settlement terms, proprietary business information, and the defendant’s confidentiality and national-security interests. The request concerned the lease, selected pages of a letter, a legal opinion, the settlement agreement, and a letter about the plaintiff’s exercise of its right to require the defendant to purchase the aircraft.
In Vertical Aviation No. 1 LLC v. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil granted in part the plaintiff’s motion to seal. She ordered the plaintiff to file a newly redacted version of the lease that did not redact portions already quoted in the publicly filed complaint, by October 21, 2020. The opinion text does not specify which other requested sealing measures were denied.
The detailed version
- Vertical Aviation No. 1 LLC v. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and… · No. 1:20-cv-04970
- Vyskocil
- Oct. 14, 2020
Background
This matter arose from a breach-of-contract action involving the defendant’s lease of one of the plaintiff’s helicopters. The plaintiff stated that the defendant had failed to answer or otherwise appear. The Clerk of Court issued a certificate of default on September 25, 2020, and the plaintiff sought default judgment.
The plaintiff filed a letter-motion to seal information in affidavits supporting its default-judgment motion and in five related exhibits. The plaintiff identified as confidential the terms of the parties’ February 2019 settlement agreement, certain commercial aviation financing and leasing terms, selected communications that might involve national-security matters, a legal opinion prepared for the defendant, and information concerning the plaintiff’s exercise of a contractual right to require the defendant to purchase the aircraft.
Sealing request
The plaintiff asked the court to permit redactions concerning settlement terms and damages calculations, to seal selected pages of Exhibit 3, and to seal Exhibits 1, 4, and 11. The plaintiff also sought continued sealing of the settlement agreement, which the court had previously allowed to be filed under seal.
The opinion describes the applicable approach as balancing the public’s presumptive access to judicial documents against competing considerations, including privacy interests and sensitive or proprietary information.
Ruling
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil stated: “The Court HEREBY GRANTS IN PART Plaintiff’s Letter Motion to Seal.” The court directed the plaintiff to file a newly redacted version of the lease by October 21, 2020. The new version could not redact portions of the lease that were quoted in the publicly filed complaint. The provided opinion text does not identify the specific portions of the sealing request that were otherwise denied or explain the final treatment of every listed exhibit.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.