On December 26, 2013, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a joint decision in Goesel v. Boley International (H.K.) Ltd. and Massuda v. Panda Express, Inc. declining to seal the parties' settlement agreements due to the strong presumption of public access to judicial records (Nos. 13-2434, 13-2818, (7th Cir. Dec. 26, 2013)).

The Seventh Circuit consolidated motions to seal the settlement agreements in two appeals. In Goesel, the parties agreed to settle a personal injury suit on behalf of a minor. The court's local rule required judicial approval of the settlement. The plaintiffs' law firm filed a motion to maintain under seal documents disclosing the amounts of the settlement and lawyers' costs and fees. The law firm emphasized that the parties had agreed to keep the settlement amount secret. In Massuda, a breach of fiduciary duty suit, the district court dismissed most of the plaintiff's claims because they derived from claims in a previous suit that the parties settled. Because a redacted copy of the parties' settlement agreement was filed under seal in the previous case, the defendants asked the Seventh Circuit to keep the redacted agreement under seal.

The Seventh Circuit refused to seal the settlement agreements in both cases, citing the presumption of public access to judicial records. The court noted that most settlement agreements never become judicial records and are therefore not subject to the right of public access. However, in Goesel, the settlement agreement became a judicial record because it required the judge's approval. The court held that the parties' confidentiality agreement alone was an insufficient reason to keep the settlement agreement under seal. Likewise, in Massuda, the settlement agreement became a judicial record because its terms were at issue in a subsequent lawsuit. The defendants gave no reason for wanting the redacted agreement sealed. The court reasoned that because of the potential public value of disclosing the settlement terms, including the amount, the "parties have to give the judge a reason for not disclosing them, and the fact that they don't want to disclose is not a reason."

Practitioners in the Seventh Circuit who seek to file a settlement agreement under seal must articulate to the court a good reason to do so.