CrossBorder Solutions v. Macias
- Nelson Roman
- 7:20-cv-04877
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In CrossBorder Solutions v. Macias, Gini, & OConnell, Judge Roman granted CrossBorder’s request to seal three confidential arbitration exhibits.
CrossBorder Solutions, Inc., Cross Border Transactions, LLC d/b/a CrossBorder Solutions, Macias, Gini & O’Connell, LLP, and Sanjay Agarwal; the sealed documents are accessible only to the court and the parties.
What happened
In CrossBorder Solutions, Inc. n/k/a Exactera Inc. v. Macias, Gini, & OConnell, LLP, CrossBorder asked to file three documents from a JAMS arbitration under seal. The documents were submitted in connection with a dispute about a declaration supporting CrossBorder’s motion for partial summary judgment.
CrossBorder said the documents contained confidential, nonpublic information about its clients, costs, renewal rates, and the safeguards surrounding a trade-secret Master List. The defendants, Macias, Gini & O’Connell, LLP and Sanjay Agarwal, consented to the request. The court considered the public’s general right to access judicial documents against the parties’ privacy and confidentiality interests.
Judge Roman granted the request to seal the three exhibits. He directed the Clerk to place ECF Nos. 252-1, 252-2, and 252-3 under seal, accessible only to the court and the parties, and directed the Clerk to terminate the motion at ECF No. 273.
The detailed version
- CrossBorder Solutions v. Macias · No. 7:20-cv-04877
- Nelson Roman
- Apr. 20, 2023
Background
CrossBorder Solutions, Inc. and Cross Border Transactions, LLC d/b/a CrossBorder Solutions asked for permission to file three exhibits under seal. The request concerned materials from a JAMS arbitration and was made in connection with CrossBorder’s response to the defendants’ request for a pre-motion conference about partially excluding Stephanie Israel’s declaration supporting CrossBorder’s motion for partial summary judgment.
The requested documents were: (1) a March 5, 2021 letter related to the arbitration; (2) CrossBorder’s April 12, 2021 brief on damages in the arbitration; and (3) Stephanie Israel’s declaration supporting CrossBorder’s damages brief. The documents were marked confidential under the parties’ September 29, 2020 Stipulated Confidentiality Agreement and Protective Order.
Sealing standard
The court applied the common-law presumption that the public may access judicial documents—documents relevant to the court’s work and useful in the judicial process. It balanced that presumption against competing interests, including privacy and confidentiality interests.
CrossBorder represented that the exhibits contained confidential and proprietary nonpublic information about its clients, costs, renewal rates, and information concerning the substance and safeguards surrounding its trade-secret Master List. CrossBorder argued that protecting this information outweighed the presumption of public access. Macias, Gini & O’Connell, LLP and Sanjay Agarwal consented to the request.
Ruling
Judge Nelson S. Roman granted CrossBorder’s request to file the identified documents under seal. The court directed the Clerk of Court to place ECF Nos. 252-1, 252-2, and 252-3 under seal, accessible only to the court and the parties. The court also directed the Clerk to terminate the motion at ECF No. 273.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.