Byron v. Bronx Parent Housing Network

Nature of the Order

This document is a stipulated confidentiality and protective order. A protective order sets rules for handling information exchanged during discovery, the pretrial process in which parties obtain information relevant to their claims and defenses. The plaintiff sought documents and information from the City of New York, which treated the materials as confidential, and the parties agreed to the protections ordered by the court.

Confidential Materials

The order defines “Confidential Materials” broadly to include information that the producing party believes in good faith is a trade secret, proprietary, governmental, sensitive, or personal, or whose disclosure could harm business, governmental, proprietary, or privacy interests. A receiving party and its attorney may use those materials only to prepare or present the case or any appeal.

Disclosure is limited to what is necessary for the case. Before trial, disclosure may be made to a retained expert, a deposition witness, or the court. Before disclosure to an expert or witness, the recipient must receive the order and sign a written agreement promising not to use or further disclose the materials except as allowed by the order.

Court Filings and Depositions

Deposition testimony that reveals confidential materials is treated as confidential, and the relevant transcript portions and exhibits must be separately bound and marked “CONFIDENTIAL.” A party seeking to file documents under seal must make a specific request to the court explaining why sealing is appropriate and addressing the Second Circuit’s decision in Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga. When a confidential court filing is made, the parties must publicly file a redacted version and submit the unredacted version under seal, along with unredacted courtesy copies as required by the order.

Privilege and Clawback Procedures

The order provides that producing documents protected by attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product protection, another legally recognized protection, or non-party personally identifying information does not waive that protection. A producing party may make a “clawback demand”—a request for the return or destruction of protected material—after discovering that it was produced. The demand must identify the material and state the basis for the privilege or protection on a privilege log as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(A)(ii).

After receiving a clawback demand, the receiving party generally must return or destroy the identified material and its copies within ten business days, notify third parties that received it, and provide written confirmation. If only part of a document is protected, the producing party must provide a redacted version. A receiving party that notices material appearing to be protected must promptly notify the producing party so that a clawback demand can be made.

Disposition

The court ordered the stipulated confidentiality and protective order. The order does not decide whether particular material is relevant, privileged, or admissible, and it does not restrict the City of New York’s own use of its confidential materials or its ability to review, withhold, or redact documents for relevance, responsiveness, statutory requirements, or privilege. The opinion text does not clearly identify the judge by name.