Compass, Inc. v. Real Estate Board of New York, Inc.

Background

Compass and non-party NRT New York LLC, doing business as The Corcoran Group, had a dispute about whether Corcoran should produce documents responsive to Requests Nos. 4–8 and 18–20 of Compass’s subpoena. Part of Corcoran’s position concerned a confidential settlement agreement that Compass and Corcoran entered into on September 28, 2022. The court had ordered the parties to submit a joint letter describing their remaining discovery disputes and to submit the settlement agreement under seal.

Request to Seal and Redact

Compass asked the court to authorize filing the joint letter with quotations from and references to the settlement agreement redacted. Corcoran did not oppose the request. Compass argued that the limited redactions were needed to protect confidential commercial information and that disclosure could harm Compass’s business in the competitive New York real estate brokerage market.

The court discussed the presumption that the public may access judicial documents, while explaining that this right is not absolute. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G) allows courts to protect confidential commercial information. The court also noted that confidential settlement terms may support a privacy interest against disclosure. Compass argued, and the court accepted for purposes of the application, that the settlement terms had been deliberately kept from competitors and that the settlement’s terms did not otherwise affect the action before the court except through the discovery dispute.

Ruling

The court’s order states: “Application GRANTED.” The court allowed the joint letter to be filed under seal and directed the Clerk of Court to close the documents identified as Docket Nos. 68 and 80. The opinion does not state that the underlying discovery dispute was otherwise resolved.