Syndicaster, LLC v. Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.

Background

The parties 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 an appropriately limited order governing the pretrial phase of the case.

Confidential information

The order allows a producing party to designate as confidential only material that it reasonably and in good faith believes includes certain previously undisclosed information, such as:

- Financial information, including profitability reports or estimates, fees, royalties, minimum guarantees, sales reports, and margins; - Information about ownership or control of a nonpublic company; - Business plans, product-development information, and marketing plans; - Personal or intimate information about an individual; or - Another category that the court later gives confidential status.

The producing party or its counsel must clearly mark confidential portions and provide a redacted version for future public use. Deposition testimony may be designated during the deposition or within 30 days afterward. During that 30-day period, the entire deposition transcript must be treated as confidential. A producing party may also correct an earlier failure to designate material by giving written notice and providing replacement copies within two business days.

Who may receive the information

Covered confidential material may be disclosed only to specified recipients, including the parties and their insurers, counsel and litigation-support personnel, outside vendors, mediators or arbitrators, certain people identified in a document, potential witnesses, experts and specialized advisers, court personnel, and deposition transcription staff. Before disclosure to a mediator or arbitrator, potential witness, expert, or specialized adviser, that person must receive the order and sign the required nondisclosure agreement. Counsel must retain those agreements and produce them under the circumstances stated in the order.

Court filings and disputes

The order does not waive objections to discovery, privileges, or protections, and it does not decide whether evidence is admissible at trial. The court made no finding that any designated material is actually confidential and retained discretion over whether to provide confidential treatment. The order warns that material introduced at trial is unlikely to remain sealed automatically.

A party filing confidential discovery material must publicly file a redacted copy and separately seek permission to file an unredacted copy under seal. Any sealing request must provide a particularized justification. Parties may object to confidentiality designations or request additional disclosure limits, but unresolved disputes must be presented to the court under the judge’s individual practices.

Use, return, and enforcement

Recipients may use confidential material only to prosecute or defend this action and any appeals, not for another lawsuit or purpose. The order permits production in response to a lawful subpoena or other compulsory process if the required notice is given. People with access must take reasonable precautions against unauthorized or accidental disclosure.

Within 60 days after final disposition of the action, including appeals, recipients must return or, with the producing party’s permission, destroy the confidential material and certify that they kept no copies or other reproductions. Lawyers specifically retained for the case may keep archival copies of specified case materials, but those copies remain subject to the order. The confidentiality obligations continue after the litigation ends, and the court retains jurisdiction to enforce them or impose contempt sanctions.

Disposition

Judge Edgardo Ramos entered the stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order and ordered the parties and other persons covered by it to comply with its terms.