Neca-Ibew Health & Welfare Fund et al v. Goldman Sachs & Co. et al

Filing 247

MEMO ENDORSEMENT granting 245 Motion to Seal. ENDORSEMENT: 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. (Signed by Judge Loretta A. Preska on 12/15/2020) (jwh)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

x
NECA-IBEW HEALTH & WELFARE FUND, :
Individually and On Behalf of All Others
:
Similarly Situated,
:
:
Plaintiff,
:
:
vs.
:
:
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO., et al.,
:
:
Defendants.
:
x

4812-6694-1649.v1

Civil Action No. 1:08-cv-10783-LAP
“ECF Case”
CLASS ACTION
PLAINTIFF’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND
MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL

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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
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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

LUCAS F. OLTS
655 West Broadway, Suite 1900
San Diego, CA 92101
Telephone: [phone]
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: [phone]
631/367-1173 (fax)
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Lead Counsel for Plaintiff
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CAVANAGH & O’HARA
PATRICK J. O’HARA
407 East Adams Street
Springfield, IL 62701
Telephone: [phone]
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

_______________________________
LORETTA A. PRESKA, U.S.D.J.

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