FD Special Opportunities V, LLC v. Silver Arch Capital Partners, LLC

Background

The court had previously found that the plaintiffs had not adequately established complete diversity of citizenship, a requirement for this court to exercise subject-matter jurisdiction. The earlier order gave the plaintiffs one more opportunity to identify all members of the plaintiff limited liability companies and trusts, and the members of those entities throughout the ownership chain.

The plaintiffs then submitted a supplemental declaration by Brian Charville and related filings. The declaration identified the members and citizenship of the plaintiff entities throughout the ownership chain and described the trusts so the court could determine how to treat them when analyzing citizenship. The court concluded that the plaintiffs had now adequately alleged complete diversity of citizenship.

Motion to Seal

The plaintiffs also asked the court to seal the Charville Declaration. They acknowledged that it was a judicial document, meaning a document filed with the court that is generally subject to a presumption of public access. They argued that the declaration disclosed the identities of members who were not parties to the lawsuit and who had substantial privacy interests. The defendants did not object.

The court held that the presumption of public access was especially strong because the declaration’s information about the plaintiff entities’ membership formed the basis for the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction. Although the court gave some weight to the asserted privacy interests, it found that the plaintiffs’ general statements about privacy did not explain concretely how disclosure would cause harm. The court also noted that the declaration did not contain personally identifiable information, included general citizenship and ownership information, and was sought to be sealed in its entirety even though some information had already been filed publicly.

Ruling

The court found that the plaintiffs had adequately alleged complete diversity of citizenship. It denied the plaintiffs’ Letter-Motion to Seal, directed the Clerk to terminate the motion, and directed the Clerk to unseal and enable public viewing of the Charville Declaration. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon did not decide the underlying claims between the parties in this opinion.