Imperium Insurance Company v. Walker

Background

Imperium Insurance Company and defendants Ellen M. Walker and Granoff, Walker & Forlenza, P.C. agreed to confidentiality terms for discovery in the case. The stipulation defines “Discovery Material” as information provided during discovery and permits the producing person to designate specified portions as “Confidential.” The listed categories include previously undisclosed financial information, ownership or control information concerning a nonpublic company, business plans, personal or intimate information, trade secrets, proprietary or competitively sensitive information, and other categories later given confidential status by the court.

Protective-order requirements

The order generally bars people who receive designated confidential material from disclosing it, except to specified recipients such as the parties, litigation counsel and staff, certain document recipients, witnesses, experts, litigation-support services, deposition stenographers, and the court. Witnesses and experts who receive the material must first receive the order and sign a nondisclosure agreement. Confidential material may be used only for this litigation, and people with access must take precautions against unauthorized or accidental disclosure.

The order also creates a procedure for inadvertently disclosed material covered by attorney-client privilege or work-product protection. The receiving party must return or destroy the material within five business days after notice and provide counsel’s certification. The producing party must then provide a privilege log, while the receiving party may ask the court to require production. The producing party retains the burden of establishing that the material is privileged or protected.

Sealing and court clarification

The stipulation says confidential discovery material and filings revealing it should be filed under seal, with a redacted public version filed as well. The court expressly limited that provision: it did not authorize the parties to file materials under seal without a prior court order. The court stated that it had not reviewed the referenced documents and made no finding that any document was confidential. Any confidentiality determination would occur through document-by-document review, subject to the presumption favoring public access to judicial documents.

Ruling

Judge Jesse Furman ordered the stipulated protective order after finding good cause for an appropriately limited confidentiality order under Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The order remains effective after the litigation ends, requires most confidential materials to be returned or destroyed within 30 days after final disposition, and preserves the court’s authority to enforce the order and impose contempt sanctions. The order did not decide the merits of the underlying dispute or determine that any particular document was confidential.