Hanover Insurance Company v. Fluidmaster, Inc.
- Philip Halpern
- 7:24-cv-09307
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 10
In Hanover Insurance Company v. Fluidmaster, Inc., Judge Halpern approved a protective order governing confidential discovery materials and their use.
Hanover Insurance Company, Fluidmaster, Inc., and other persons covered by the order, including their insurers, counsel, representatives, agents, experts, consultants, specified third parties providing discovery, and others with actual or constructive notice of the order.
What happened
Hanover Insurance Company v. Fluidmaster, Inc. involves the parties’ request for a protective order covering nonpublic and competitively sensitive information disclosed during discovery. The court found good cause to issue the order for the pretrial phase of the case.
The order permits confidentiality designations for certain financial, business, ownership, product-development, marketing, and personal information. It limits disclosure to specified people, requires nondisclosure agreements for some recipients, regulates sealed court filings, and allows challenges to confidentiality designations.
The order also limits use of confidential materials to this case and related appeals, protects certain inadvertently disclosed privileged materials, and requires most recipients to return or destroy confidential materials within 60 days after the case and appeals end. Judge Halpern ordered the parties and other covered persons to follow these requirements.
The detailed version
- Hanover Insurance Company v. Fluidmaster, Inc. · No. 7:24-cv-09307
- Philip Halpern
- Apr. 11, 2025
Background
The parties, through counsel, jointly requested a 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 a confidentiality order governing the pretrial phase of the action.
Confidentiality Designations
The order defines “Discovery Material” as information of any kind produced or disclosed during discovery. A producing party may designate material as “Confidential” only when it reasonably and in good faith believes the material includes certain previously undisclosed information, including:
- Financial information, such as profitability reports or estimates, fees, royalty rates, guarantees, sales reports, and margins; - Information about ownership or control of a nonpublic company; - Business plans, product-development information, or marketing plans; - Personal or intimate information about an individual; or - Another category the court later determines should receive confidential status.
The producing party or its counsel must clearly mark confidential portions and provide a redacted copy for future public use. Special procedures apply to deposition testimony and exhibits. A producing party may also later designate material that was initially produced without a confidentiality designation.
Who May Receive Confidential Material
The order permits disclosure to specified recipients, including the parties and their insurers; counsel and litigation support staff; outside vendors; mediators or arbitrators; people identified as authors or recipients of documents; certain witnesses; experts and other specialized advisers; deposition transcription providers; and the court. Some witnesses, experts, mediators, and arbitrators must first receive the order and sign a nondisclosure agreement.
Recipients may use confidential material only to prosecute or defend this action and related appeals. They may not use it for business, commercial, competitive, or unrelated litigation purposes. The order does not restrict a party’s rights regarding its own documents or information.
Court Filings and Challenges
A party filing confidential material under seal must also file a letter brief and supporting declaration providing a particularized justification for continued sealing. The court retained discretion to decide whether confidential treatment is appropriate for material submitted in connection with a motion or other proceeding. The order warns that material introduced at trial is unlikely to remain sealed.
When confidential material is filed, the parties must publicly file a redacted version and file the unredacted version under seal. A party may object to a confidentiality designation or request additional disclosure limits, such as attorneys’ eyes only treatment, by providing written notice with specific grounds. Unresolved disputes must be presented to the court under its individual practices.
Privilege and End of the Case
If privileged or work-product material is inadvertently disclosed, the disclosure does not waive the protection. After receiving a claim of inadvertent disclosure, the receiving party generally must return or destroy the material within five business days and provide counsel’s certification. The producing party must then provide a privilege log, and the receiving party may ask the court to compel production. The producing party retains the burden of establishing that the material is privileged or protected.
Within 60 days after final disposition of the action, including appeals, recipients must return or destroy confidential material and certify that they have not kept copies or other reproductions. Counsel specifically retained for the action may keep an archival copy of certain case materials, but those copies remain subject to the order. The order survives termination of the litigation, and the court retains jurisdiction to enforce it and impose contempt sanctions.
Disposition
The court entered the stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order on April 11, 2025. The opinion does not decide the parties’ underlying claims or defenses.
Read the full 10-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.