On March 4, 2025, Justice Reed of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Linkable Networks, Inc. v. Mastercard Inc., 2025 NY Slip Op. 50278(U), refusing to seal trial exhibits, explaining:
At the filing of the subject motions, an interim order was entered temporarily sealing public access to the records sought to be permanently sealed. Trial in this matter commenced on June 4, 2024, and a jury verdict was rendered on June 17, 2024. The trial was a public proceeding. Most, if not all, the records sought to be sealed in the instant motions, were utilized during trial as exhibits. Granting an order sealing the subject records does not comport with, or overcome, the broad presumption of public entitlement to judicial proceedings and court records. Courts have found pause in the sealing of court records in the context of business unless there is a showing that trade secrets are at risk of being divulged or where the documents may harm a business’s competitive edge, neither of which were shown here (id.at 350). For these and the foregoing reasons, the parties’ requests to seal documents related to the litigation and utilized during trial is denied.
(Internal citations omitted).