McKoy v. The Trump Corporation and Donald J. Trump

Background

On November 21, 2022, the plaintiffs filed a letter concerning a trial date and the briefing schedule for summary-judgment and class-certification motions. The same day, they filed a letter motion asking to file parts of that letter under seal because the information had been designated confidential under the operative protective order. The plaintiffs stated that the defendants were the parties with an interest in confidential treatment and that the plaintiffs took no position on sealing.

The Court’s Analysis

The court noted that Southern District of New York Individual Rule I.D.3 requires a party with an interest in confidential treatment to file a letter within two business days explaining why documents should be filed in redacted form when another party files the document. The defendants did not file that letter. Their response to the trial-scheduling letter also did not address the sealing request.

The court explained that documents filed on the docket are presumed to be open to the public. No party had overcome that presumption. The court further found that the redacted information was central to the plaintiffs’ claims and did not fit a recognized exception to public access, such as specific business information that could benefit competitors or sensitive personal information.

Disposition

The court denied the plaintiffs’ letter motion to seal. It directed the Clerk of Court to close the motion at Docket 497 and unseal the document at Docket 499.