Youge Venture Capital LLC v. Xueyuan Han

2025 NY Slip Op 31359(U)

• Court: New York Supreme Court, New York County
• Decided: April 18, 2025
• Docket: Index No. 654762/2022
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Youge Venture Capital LLC v Xueyuan Han 2025 NY Slip Op 31359(U) April 18, 2025 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 654762/2022 Judge: Joel M. Cohen Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. INDEX NO. 654762/2022 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 396 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2025

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK: COMMERCIAL DIVISION PART 03M -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------X YOUGE VENTURE CAPITAL LIMITED LIABILITY INDEX NO. 654762/2022 COMPANY, JIANZONG YANG, JINXIA LI, HONGHUA WEI, XIAOYUN ZHANG, BING LI, JI JIANG, HONGLIAN XU, SHUNQI LYU, JINGYUE MO, CHUNJI ZHONG, MOTION DATE 02/21/2025 CHUNSHI ZHONG, LI NI, XIANGLING LI, XIAOCHEN JIANG, LILING CHI, FANG GAO, GUOFANG GU, HANYA MOTION SEQ. NO. 008 CHEN, YING WANG, LIANG FANG, CHUNXIANG WANG, XUKUN WANG, DAMING YI, XICHAN CHEN, YANGYUAN SHI, JUAN LU, XIAOPING TANG, JIANMING DECISION + ORDER ON YE, QINFANG HUA, HONG ZHANG, XUE WANG, MOTION QUNHUI PENG, JIE LIU, LIXIANG LUO, RONG FAN, JUAN NING, JINYING YANG, CHUNFENG ZHAO, JINGHUA CHEN, SHENGJUN HU, YUMEI HUANG, XIN HUANG, MENGXIA KAN, LIHUA SONG, LU ZHANG, YUAN XIE, HAO SUN, XIAOXU LI, RUI ZHANG, LEI ZHANG, YOU LU, YANJU SONG, XIN SUI, JUAN ZHU, XUE WANG, XUDONG SHEN, NING GE, PENG SONG, SHU TIAN, HONG CHANG, GUOQIANG WANG, MINQI ZHANG, PEIJUN YAO, LING LIU, FENGYUN GU, YUN YUN, CHENHONG LI, HUIMIN BIAN, WEIJUN WANG, ZHENWEI SU, BIN LIU, HUAMEI DU, KAIJING SHEN, XIHUA DU, LEI SUN, QUN ZHANG, YING MENG, YUBIN JIANG, PEIHUAN CAI, YIXING HUANG, GUIZHEN WANG, HAILONG LI, ZUNAN CAI, JIE PANG, LIJUN WANG, HAILING DING, YUMING ZHENG, HAIBIN SHANG, YANBING LI, GUOHUA ZHAO, SHUMIN SHAO, SHANDE LUO,

Plaintiffs,

-v- XUEYUAN HAN,

Defendant.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

HON. JOEL M. COHEN:

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 008) 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 305, 327 were read on this motion to SEAL .

Xueyuan Han (“Defendant”) moves for an order sealing and/or redacting portions of

Exhibits 3, 13-18, and 23 to the Affirmation of MarcAnthony Bonanno (NYSCEF 257) filed by

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Plaintiffs in connection with their motions to compel and for an adverse inference. No parties

oppose this request. For the following reasons, Defendant’s motion is granted.

Pursuant to § 216.1(a) of the Uniform Rules for Trial Courts, this Court may seal a filing

“upon a written finding of good cause, which shall specify the grounds thereof. In determining

whether good cause has been shown, the court shall consider the interests of the public as well as

of the parties” (22 NYCRR § 216.1[a]).

The Appellate Division has emphasized that “there is a broad presumption that the public

is entitled to access to judicial proceedings and court records” (Mosallem v Berenson, 76 AD3d

345, 348 [1st Dept 2010]). “Since the right [of public access to court proceedings] is of

constitutional dimension, any order denying access must be narrowly tailored to serve

compelling objectives, such as a need for secrecy that outweighs the public’s right to access”

(Danco Labs., Ltd. v Chemical Works of Gedeon Richter, Ltd., 274 AD2d 1, 6 [1st Dept 2000]

[emphasis added]; see also, e.g. Gryphon Dom. VI, LLC v APP Intern. Fin. Co., B.V., 28 AD3d

322, 324 [1st Dept 2006]). “Furthermore, because confidentiality is the exception and not the

rule, ‘the party seeking to seal court records has the burden to demonstrate compelling

circumstances to justify restricting public access’” (Maxim, Inc. v Feifer, 145 AD3d 516, 517

[1st Dept 2016] [citations omitted]). Good cause must “rest on a sound basis or legitimate need

to take judicial action” (Danco Labs., 274 AD2d at 9). Agreements to seal are insufficient as

such agreements do not establish “good cause” (MBIA Ins. Corp. v Countrywide Home Loans,

Inc., 2012 NY Slip Op 33147[U], * 9 [Sup Ct, NY County 2012]).

The Court has reviewed Defendant’s proposed redactions of Exhibits 3, 13, 14, 15, 16,

17, 18, and 23 to the Affirmation of MarcAnthony Bonanno (NYSCEF 260, 270, 271, 272, 273,

274, 275, 280) as provided in Exhibits 2-9 to the Affirmation of Jeffrey S. Boxer dated February

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21, 2025 (NYSCEF 287, 289, 291, 293, 295, 297, 299, 301) (redacted versions filed at 288, 290,

292, 294, 296, 298, 300, 302) and finds that they comport with the applicable sealing standards

as laid out in Mosallem, 76 AD3d at 348-50, and its progeny, in that they contain personally

identifying information of defendant or third parties including taxpayer ID Numbers, business

registration numbers, bank accounts, and details of wire transfer transactions. Defendant has

proposed and justified targeted redactions that satisfy the requirements of 22 NYCRR § 216.1

(a).

Plaintiffs shall file an unredacted copy of Exhibit 20 (NYSCEF 277) to the Affirmation

of MarcAnthony Bonanno as Defendant has not sought to seal or redact this exhibit.

Accordingly, it is:

ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion is GRANTED, and Plaintiffs are directed to file

the above-referenced redacted versions of Exhibits 3, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 23 to the

Affirmation of MarcAnthony Bonanno within five (5) days of the date of this Order; it is further

ORDERED that Plaintiff shall file an unredacted copy of Exhibit 20 (NYSCEF 277) to

the Affirmation of MarcAnthony Bonanno within five (5) days of the date of this Order; it is

further

ORDERED that the County Clerk shall maintain NYSCEF Document Number(s) 260,

270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 280, 288, 290, 292, 294, 296, 298, 300, and 302 in their current,

redacted form; it is further

ORDERED that the County Clerk shall maintain NYSCEF Document Number(s) 287,

289, 291, 293, 295, 297, 299, and 301 under seal, so that the documents may only be accessible

by the parties, their counsel, and authorized court personnel; it is further

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ORDERED that Defendant shall serve a copy of this order upon the Clerk’s Office

within five (5) days of the date of this Order, and such service shall be made in accordance with

the procedures set forth in the Protocol on Courthouse and County Clerk Procedures for

Electronically Filed Cases (accessible at the “E-Filing” page on the court’s website); it is further

ORDERED as it related to future submissions, made by any party, that contain subject

matter that the Court has authorized to be sealed by this Order, parties may file a joint

stipulation, to be So Ordered, which will authorize the filing of such future submissions to be

filed in redacted form on NYSCEF, provided that an unredacted copy of any redacted document

is contemporaneously filed under seal; and it is further

ORDERED that nothing in this Order shall be construed as authorizing the sealing or

redactions of any documents or evidence to be offered at trial.

4/18/2025 DATE JOEL M. COHEN, J.S.C. CHECK ONE: CASE DISPOSED X NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

□ X GRANTED DENIED GRANTED IN PART OTHER

APPLICATION: SETTLE ORDER SUBMIT ORDER

□ CHECK IF APPROPRIATE: INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT REFERENCE

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