MaxEn Capital Advisors, Ltd. v. Pure Lithium Corporation

Background

The parties jointly requested a confidentiality agreement and protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). They sought protection for nonpublic and competitively sensitive information that might be disclosed during discovery. The court found good cause for an appropriately limited order governing the pretrial phase of the case.

Order

The court ordered the parties and other persons with notice of the order to follow its terms, subject to contempt sanctions for violations. Information may be designated confidential when the producing person reasonably and in good faith believes it includes previously undisclosed financial information, ownership or control information about a nonpublic company, business plans, product-development or marketing plans, personal or intimate information, or another category later given confidential status by the court.

Confidential discovery material may generally be disclosed only to specified recipients, including the parties and their counsel, litigation vendors, certain mediators or arbitrators, relevant document recipients, possible witnesses, experts or specialized advisers, deposition stenographers, and the court. Mediators, arbitrators, witnesses, experts, and certain advisers must first receive the order and sign the required nondisclosure agreement.

Recipients may use confidential discovery material only to prosecute or defend this case and related appeals. The order requires precautions against unauthorized or accidental disclosure. It also provides procedures for correcting an initial failure to designate material as confidential, challenging a designation, requesting additional restrictions, and responding to subpoenas or other compulsory process.

Court filings and duration

A party filing confidential discovery material must publicly file a redacted version and seek permission to file the unredacted version under seal under the court’s rules. The order states that the court has not itself determined that designated material is confidential and may decide whether to give it confidential treatment. It also warns that material introduced at trial is unlikely to remain sealed automatically.

Within 60 days after the final disposition of the case, including appeals, recipients must return or, if the producing party permits, destroy confidential discovery material and certify that they have kept no copies or other reproductions. Attorneys specifically retained for the case may keep certain archival case files, which remain subject to the order. The order survives the end of the litigation, and the court retains jurisdiction to enforce it and impose contempt sanctions.

Ruling

Judge Gregory H. Woods entered the stipulated protective order on April 6, 2025. The order governs discovery confidentiality and does not resolve the parties’ underlying claims, the admissibility of evidence, or whether any particular material ultimately qualifies for confidential treatment.