XRP Lawsuit: Court Approves Ripple and Brad Garlinghouse’s Docs Sealing Motion

XRP Lawsuit: In the latest development in the In re Ripple Labs Inc Litigation, a federal judge has granted an order related to an administrative motion to file documents under seal. Moreover, in relation to defendant Ripple’s summary judgment motion, the judge agrees to seal records of confidential, sensitive, and personally identifiable information as the case now proceeds in a US appeals court.

Judge Issues Order in Line With Ripple in XRP Lawsuit

In the latest court filing in the XRP lawsuit, Senior District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton granted the parties’ motion to prevent public access to some confidential documents in the Ripple case.

The court agreed with Ripple and CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s requests, which meets the Ninth Circuit’s “compelling reasons” standard. The “compelling reasons” is a legal standard applied to decide whether the reasons for sealing documents outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure.

Ripple and CEO Brad Garlinghose requested sealing eight exhibits submitted in support of motion for summary judgment in the XRP lawsuit. The defendants also sought fifty-six exhibits in support of plaintiff’s opposition to defendants’ motion for summary judgment. As CoinGape reported earlier, the court ruled in favor of Ripple in the summary judgment.

“The previous motions to seal filed by the parties (Dkt. 338, 340, 342, 343, 347, 349, 356, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 373, 379, 380, 381, 382, 387, and 389) are terminated as moot,” as per the court filing.

Similarly, plaintiff’s requested the district court to seal portions of exhibits 29, 30, and 33 submitted in support of defendants Ripple and Brad Garlinghouse’s motion for summary judgment. As well as, exhibit 6 in support of the defendants’ motion to exclude the testimony of Steven P. Feinstein, based on the presence of confidential, sensitive, and personally identifiable information in the XRP lawsuit.

The court grants the plaintiff’s motion to seal, concluding that the narrowed redactions sought by plaintiff do meet the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s “compelling reasons” standard.

US SEC Prepares to File Principal Brief in Ripple Case

Meanwhile, the XRP community awaits key U.S. SEC’s principal brief related to its appeals in SEC v. Ripple. It is scheduled to be filed by January 15. However, lawyers such as Jeremy Hogan and ex-SEC Marc Fagel believe pro-crypto Paul Atkins under the Trump administration may decide not to pursue the appeal further.

CoinGape has glanced at what could be expected from the opening brief by the U.S. SEC, as per Form C and outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s stance on crypto.