Opinion
Civil Action No. 1:08-cv-10783-LAP
12-15-2020
NECA-IBEW HEALTH & WELFARE FUND, Individually and On Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiff, v. GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO., et al., Defendants.
ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN & DOWD LLP ARTHUR C. LEAHY THOMAS E. EGLER LUCAS F. OLTS ANGEL P. LAU JENNIFER N. CARINGAL 655 West Broadway, Suite 1900 San Diego, CA 92101 Telephone: 619/231-1058 619/231-7423 (fax) SAMUEL H. RUDMAN DAVID A. ROSENFELD 58 South Service Road, Suite 200 Melville, NY 11747 Telephone: 631/367-7100 631/367-1173 (fax) srudman@rgrdlaw.com drosenfeld@rgrdlaw.com Lead Counsel for Plaintiff CAVANAGH & O'HARA PATRICK J. O'HARA 407 East Adams Street Springfield, IL 62701 Telephone: 217/544-1771 217/544-9894 (fax) Additional Counsel for Plaintiff
"ECF Case"
CLASS ACTION
PLAINTIFF'S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to Rule 2.H.2 of this Court's Individual Practices, Class Counsel Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP hereby moves this Court, before the Honorable Loretta A. Preska, United States District Judge, at the United States Courthouse for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007, at a time to be determined by the Court, for leave to file under seal: (1) its November 24, 2020 letter to the Court ("Letter"); and (2) Exhibit A to the Letter. Pursuant to Rule 2 of the Court's Individual Practices, Class Counsel is contemporaneously herewith submitting paper copies of the subject documents, along with this motion, to the Court.
The documents Class Counsel seeks to file under seal contain confidential Class Member claim information as well as settlement information that Class Counsel, on behalf of the Class, has agreed to maintain as confidential. "Though there is a common law presumptive right of access to judicial documents, a court considers the weight to be given to this presumption in light of 'the role of the material at issue in the exercise of Article III judicial power and the resultant value of such information to those monitoring the federal courts.' . . . The 'presumption of access to settlement negotiations . . . is negligible to nonexistent.'" Pullman v. Alpha Media Pub., Inc., 624 F. App'x 774, 779 (2d Cir. 2015) (internal citations omitted). At the same time, the Second Circuit has acknowledged that maintaining the confidentiality of this type of information is in the public interest as it encourages settlement. See, e.g., Gambale v. Deutsche Bank AG, 377 F.3d 133, 143 (2d Cir. 2004). There is thus good reason for the Court to accept the Letter and exhibit under seal.
Additionally, the Letter and exhibit thereto concern and contain information that has expressly been deemed confidential and is sealed by court order in Fort Worth Employees' Retirement Fund v. J.P. Morgan Chase, et al., No. 1:09-cv-03701-JPO-JCF (S.D.N.Y.). See id., ECF No. 390 at 2 ("To the greatest extent permitted by law, all proceedings undertaken by the Special Master shall be conducted in such a way as to assure the continued confidentiality of unnamed Class members' identities, and all written and electronic materials received or generated by the Special Master shall be unavailable for public inspection or copying by any person or entity except for Lead Counsel, the Claims Administrator, and any Claimant discussed therein."). Thus, Class Counsel requests permission to file the Letter under seal consistent with Judge Oetken's order in Fort Worth, in which it is also counsel.
Because the aforementioned reasons establish good cause for filing Class Counsel's Letter and exhibit under seal, Class Counsel respectfully submits that its request should be granted. DATED: November 24, 2020
Respectfully submitted,
ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN
& DOWD LLP
ARTHUR C. LEAHY
THOMAS E. EGLER
LUCAS F. OLTS
ANGEL P. LAU
JENNIFER N. CARINGAL
/s/_________
LUCAS F. OLTS
655 West Broadway, Suite 1900
San Diego, CA 92101
Telephone: 619/231-1058
619/231-7423 (fax)
ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN
& DOWD LLP
SAMUEL H. RUDMAN
DAVID A. ROSENFELD
58 South Service Road, Suite 200
Melville, NY 11747
Telephone: 631/367-7100
631/367-1173 (fax)
srudman@rgrdlaw.com
drosenfeld@rgrdlaw.com
Lead Counsel for Plaintiff
CAVANAGH & O'HARA
PATRICK J. O'HARA
407 East Adams Street
Springfield, IL 62701
Telephone: 217/544-1771
217/544-9894 (fax)
Additional Counsel for Plaintiff The request to file under seal is GRANTED in order to protect the parties' interests in settlement. Counsel shall confer and inform the Court within one week of the finalization of the settlement as to whether the papers may be unsealed. SO ORDERED. Dated: December 15, 2020
New York, New York /s/_________
LORETTA A. PRESKA, U.S.D.J.