Lentz v. American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service, Inc.
- Gregory Woods
- 1:22-cv-03886
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 9
In Lentz v. American Academy McAllister Institute, Judge Woods entered a protective order governing confidential discovery information.
Tracy Lentz, American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service, Inc., Daniel McManus, Mary Margaret Dunn, I. Martin Goldstein, Donald Cymbor, their counsel and representatives, and other people who receive confidential discovery material under the order.
What happened
In Lentz v. American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service, Inc., the parties asked the court to protect nonpublic and competitively sensitive information exchanged during discovery. The parties agreed through their lawyers to the order’s terms.
The order limits disclosure of information marked confidential, identifies who may receive it, and requires certain recipients to sign nondisclosure agreements. It also establishes procedures for marking information, challenging confidentiality designations, filing confidential material with the court, responding to subpoenas, and returning or destroying the material after the case ends. Confidentiality does not automatically mean that material will remain sealed or confidential at trial.
Judge Gregory H. Woods found good cause and entered the stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order on August 8, 2022. The order applies to the parties and other people covered by its terms, remains effective after the litigation ends, and allows the court to enforce it and impose contempt sanctions.
The detailed version
- Lentz v. American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-03886
- Gregory Woods
- Aug. 8, 2022
Nature of the Order
The court entered a stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). The parties requested protection for nonpublic and competitively sensitive information that might be disclosed during discovery, and the court found good cause for an appropriately tailored order governing the pretrial phase of the case.
Information That May Be Designated Confidential
A producing party may designate only material that it reasonably and in good faith believes includes previously undisclosed financial information, ownership or control information concerning a nonpublic company, business plans or marketing plans, personal or intimate information about an individual, or another category later given confidential status by the court.
The producing party or its counsel must mark confidential portions of discovery material. Deposition testimony may be designated during the deposition or within 30 days afterward. A producing party may also correct an earlier failure to designate material by giving written notice and providing replacement copies within two business days.
Limits on Disclosure and Use
People subject to the order may disclose confidential discovery material only to specified recipients, including the parties and their insurers, counsel and litigation-support personnel, service providers, mediators or arbitrators, certain document recipients, potential witnesses, experts, stenographers, and the court. Mediators, arbitrators, witnesses, and experts must first sign the required nondisclosure agreement. The material may be used only to prosecute or defend this action and any appeals, not for another lawsuit or purpose.
The order does not waive objections to discovery, privileges, or protections, and it does not decide whether any evidence will be admissible at trial. It also requires recipients to take precautions against unauthorized or accidental disclosure.
Court Filings and Challenges
A party filing confidential discovery material must publicly file a redacted version and separately seek permission to file an unredacted version under seal. The order states that a confidentiality designation does not itself require the court to seal material, and warns that material introduced at trial is unlikely to remain sealed absent the required specific findings.
A party may object to a confidentiality designation before trial by giving written notice explaining the grounds. A party may also request additional disclosure limits, such as attorneys’ eyes only treatment, by written notice. Unresolved disputes are to be presented to the court under its individual practices.
Return, Destruction, and Enforcement
Within 60 days after final disposition of the action, including appeals, recipients must return confidential discovery material or destroy it if the producing party permits destruction. They must provide written certification that they retained no copies or other reproductions, subject to an exception allowing specifically retained litigation counsel to keep archival copies of certain case-related materials. Any archival copies containing confidential material remain subject to the order.
The order survives termination of the litigation. The court retains jurisdiction over people subject to the order as necessary to enforce its obligations or impose contempt sanctions. Judge Gregory H. Woods entered the order on August 8, 2022; the opinion does not decide the underlying claims or defenses.
Read the full 9-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.