Richmond v. Montefiore Medical Center
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:21-cv-08700
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 9
Richmond v. Montefiore Medical Center: Judge Gardephe entered a protective order governing confidential discovery, permitted disclosures, sealing, challenges, use, and return or destruction.
Lynn Richmond, Montefiore Medical Center, their counsel and representatives, insurers, experts, consultants, certain witnesses and service providers, third parties providing discovery, and others with actual or constructive notice of the protective order.
What happened
In Richmond v. Montefiore Medical Center, the parties asked the Southern District of New York to approve an agreement protecting nonpublic and competitively sensitive information exchanged during discovery. The court found good cause for a tailored order covering the pretrial phase of the case.
The order limits disclosure of materials marked confidential and allows disclosure only to listed people, such as the parties, lawyers, experts, certain witnesses, service providers, mediators, and the court. Confidential information may be used only for this case and related appeals. The order also explains how parties may challenge confidentiality designations, request additional limits, file confidential materials, and return or destroy the materials after the case ends.
Judge Paul G. Gardephe ordered the parties and other covered persons to follow these requirements. The order remains effective after the litigation ends, and the court retains authority to enforce it and address contempt.
The detailed version
- Richmond v. Montefiore Medical Center · No. 1:21-cv-08700
- Paul Gardephe
- Feb. 15, 2022
Background
The parties, through counsel, stipulated to 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 to issue an appropriately tailored confidentiality order for the pretrial phase of the action.
Confidentiality Designations
The producing party may designate material as confidential only when it reasonably and in good faith believes the material falls within specified categories, including previously undisclosed financial information; information about ownership or control of a nonpublic company; business, product-development, or marketing plans; and personal or intimate information, including protected health information. The order also permits the court to grant confidential status to other categories later.
The order provides procedures for marking confidential material and preparing redacted copies. Deposition testimony and exhibits 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 later designate material that was initially produced without a confidentiality designation.
Permitted Disclosures and Use
Confidential discovery material may be disclosed only to the people and entities listed in the order. These include the parties and their insurers, counsel and their litigation support staff, outside vendors, mediators or arbitrators, certain people identified in documents, potential witnesses, experts and other specialized advisers, deposition stenographers, and the court and its personnel. Witnesses, experts, mediators, and arbitrators who receive the material must first sign the required nondisclosure agreement.
Recipients may use confidential discovery material only to prosecute or defend this action and related appeals. They may not use it for business, commercial, competitive, or other litigation purposes. The order does not restrict a party's rights concerning its own documents or information.
Sealing and Challenges
A party filing material under seal must also submit a letter brief and supporting declaration giving a particularized justification for continued sealing. The court retains discretion over whether to give confidential treatment to material submitted in connection with a motion or other proceeding. The order warns that material introduced at trial is unlikely to remain sealed, even if it was previously designated confidential.
Parties must publicly file redacted versions of confidential court submissions and file unredacted versions under seal. A party may object to a confidentiality designation before trial by written notice stating the specific grounds for the objection. A party may likewise request additional disclosure limits, such as attorneys'-eyes-only treatment, subject to court resolution if the parties cannot promptly agree.
After the Litigation
Within 60 days after final disposition of the action, including appeals, recipients must return all confidential discovery material to the producing party or destroy it if the producing party permits. Recipients must certify that they have not kept copies or other reproductions. Litigation counsel may retain an archival copy of specified case materials, but those copies remain subject to the order.
Ruling
The court ordered the parties and all other persons subject to the order to comply with its terms. The order survives termination of the litigation, and the court retains jurisdiction over covered persons as necessary to enforce the order or impose sanctions for contempt. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims between Lynn Richmond and Montefiore Medical Center.
Read the full 9-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.