Intrepid Financial Partners, LLC v. Fernandez
- Laura Swain
- 1:20-cv-09779
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Intrepid Financial Partners v. Fernandez, Judge Swain required more support before deciding Fernandez’s request to seal case filings.
Defendant Antonio C. Fernandez’s request to seal filings and exhibits was affected; the order also concerned filings submitted in Intrepid Financial Partners, LLC’s case.
What happened
In Intrepid Financial Partners, LLC v. Fernandez, Defendant Antonio C. Fernandez asked to file redacted briefs and related exhibits under seal. The materials included deposition excerpts, an offer letter, and an employment agreement that the parties had labeled confidential under their protective order.
The court noted that the parties’ agreement and confidentiality designations alone do not overcome the public’s general right to access court records. The court had not yet decided whether to allow the requested sealing.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed Fernandez to provide factual and legal support for the request by December 17, 2020, at noon. The supplemental filing also had to include highlighted versions of documents with proposed partial redactions and identify the relevant electronic filing entry subnumbers.
The detailed version
- Intrepid Financial Partners, LLC v. Fernandez · No. 1:20-cv-09779
- Laura Swain
- Dec. 16, 2020
Background
Defendant Antonio C. Fernandez asked the court for permission to file under seal two filings: a memorandum supporting his motion to dismiss the amended complaint in aid of arbitration and a memorandum opposing Intrepid Financial Partners, LLC’s motion for a preliminary injunction in aid of arbitration. He proposed redacting deposition testimony from Christopher Winchenbaugh, Hugh “Skip” McGee, Fernandez, and Stephen Trauber.
Fernandez also asked to seal exhibits designated confidential under the parties’ protective order. The listed materials included Fernandez’s September 2, 2020 Citigroup N.A. offer letter, deposition excerpts, and Makay Clements’ employment agreement. The parties had conferred and agreed to follow their confidentiality designations when filing the documents.
Court’s Action
The court did not grant or deny the sealing requests in the order. It stated that the parties’ consent and a confidentiality agreement, by themselves, were not enough to overcome the presumption that judicial documents should be publicly accessible. The court also stated that the submission did not provide enough factual and legal justification or show that the proposed sealing was narrowly tailored.
The court directed Fernandez to supplement the application by December 17, 2020, at 12:00 p.m. The supplemental filing had to provide the required factual and legal justification, include highlighted versions of proposed redactions where only portions of documents would be redacted, and identify the subnumbers of the relevant electronic filing entries. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order on December 15, 2020.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.