Global Refining Group, Inc. v. PMD Analysis Inc.

Background

The parties filed a joint letter asking the court to compel discovery. Global Refining Group, Inc. moved to seal information in that letter, and the defendants separately moved to seal several exhibits attached to it. The court resolved the discovery dispute at a November 5, 2021 conference but deferred ruling on the sealing motions.

Legal standard

The court applied the Second Circuit’s three-step test for sealing judicial documents. First, it determined whether the materials were judicial documents—documents placed before the court that are relevant and useful to the judicial process. Second, it assessed the strength of the public’s presumptive right of access. Third, it balanced that right against legitimate reasons for keeping the materials confidential.

Ruling

The court held that the materials were judicial documents, but that the presumption of public access was low because the information was not meaningful to the court’s assessment of the discovery application. The court further found that the parties’ concerns about the commercial impact of disclosing proprietary information outweighed the public interest in disclosure at this stage of the case.

The court granted the parties’ motions to seal. It clarified that the ruling was based on the circumstances surrounding the discovery letter and warned that the same information might not be sealed in a different procedural setting. The court also stated that the parties should not expect records used at trial to be sealed. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate the motions at docket numbers 67, 69, and 71.