Kumaran v. ADM Investor Services, Inc.
- Gregory Woods
- 1:20-cv-03873
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kumaran v. ADM Investor Services, Judge Aaron granted plaintiffs’ motion to seal exhibits containing sensitive financial and trading information.
The plaintiffs, whose exhibits were sealed, and members of the public who otherwise could have sought access to those exhibits.
What happened
In Kumaran v. ADM Investor Services, Inc., the plaintiffs asked the court to seal exhibits attached to arbitration pleadings, saying they contained confidential financial and trading data and trade-secret information.
The court recognized that documents filed with a motion to compel arbitration generally carry a presumption of public access. It found that the exhibits contained nonpublic information that could potentially harm the parties competitively if shared with competitors.
Judge Aaron ruled that the interest in keeping the documents confidential outweighed the public-access presumption and granted the plaintiffs’ motion to seal.
The detailed version
- Kumaran v. ADM Investor Services, Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-03873
- Gregory Woods
- June 8, 2021
Background
Samantha Siva Kumaran and Nefertiti Risk Capital Management, LLC, asked the court to seal certain exhibits attached to arbitration pleadings. They stated that the exhibits contained confidential financial and trading data and trade-secret information.
Court’s analysis
The court applied the test from Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga. It explained that documents filed with a motion to compel arbitration generally are judicial documents, meaning they are subject to a presumption of public access under both common law and the First Amendment.
The court nevertheless found that the exhibits contained nonpublic financial and trading data, along with related communications. It determined that the information was sensitive and potentially damaging if shared with competitors. The court therefore concluded that the interest in maintaining confidentiality outweighed the presumption of public access.
Disposition
Judge Stewart D. Aaron granted the plaintiffs’ motion to seal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.