Philp v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc.
- Gregory Woods
- 1:22-cv-04017
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 9
In Philp v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc., Judge Woods approved a stipulated protective order governing confidential discovery materials in the case.
Adonis Philp; Santander Consumer USA Inc.; Equifax Information Services, LLC; Experian Information Solutions, Inc.; Trans Union, LLC; their officers, agents, employees, attorneys, insurers, litigation vendors, covered witnesses and experts, and other persons with actual notice of the order who receive or handle designated confidential discovery material.
What happened
Philp v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc. involves Adonis Philp and defendants Santander Consumer USA Inc., Equifax Information Services, LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., and Trans Union, LLC. The parties asked the court to protect nonpublic and competitively sensitive information exchanged during discovery.
The court's order permits parties to designate certain financial, business, ownership, personal, and other court-approved information as confidential. It limits disclosure and use of that material, establishes procedures for challenging designations and requesting limits, and requires most recipients to return or destroy the material within 60 days after the case and any appeals end.
Judge Gregory H. Woods found good cause and ordered the parties and other covered persons to follow the stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order. The order does not decide the confidentiality of any particular material, the admissibility of evidence, or the merits of the underlying case.
The detailed version
- Philp v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-04017
- Gregory Woods
- Oct. 27, 2022
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 tailored order governing the pretrial phase of the case.
Terms of the Order
A producing party may designate only portions of discovery material that it reasonably and in good faith believes contain qualifying information, including previously undisclosed financial information; information about ownership or control of a nonpublic company; business-related information such as plans, strategies, data, codes, investigations, and procedures; personal or intimate information about an individual; or another category that the court later gives confidential status.
The order generally prohibits covered persons from disclosing designated confidential discovery material except as the order permits. Permitted recipients include the parties and certain insurers; counsel and their litigation staff; outside vendors; mediators and arbitrators; persons identified on the face of a document as having received it; potential witnesses; experts and other specialized advisers; deposition stenographers; and the court and its personnel. Mediators, arbitrators, witnesses, experts, and certain other recipients must first receive the order and sign a nondisclosure agreement.
Confidential material may be used only to prosecute or defend this action and related appeals. The order establishes procedures for designating deposition testimony, correcting an accidental failure to designate material, objecting to a confidentiality designation, and seeking additional disclosure limits such as attorneys'-eyes-only treatment. It also requires public redacted filings when confidential material is submitted to the court and requires a separate application and supporting declaration for sealing.
Within 60 days after final disposition of the action, including appeals, recipients generally must return or destroy confidential discovery material and certify that they have not retained copies or other reproductions. Specifically retained counsel may keep archival copies of specified litigation files and work product, but those copies remain subject to the order. The order survives the end of the litigation, and the court retains jurisdiction to enforce it and impose contempt sanctions.
What the Court Decided
The order states that the court did not make a finding that any particular discovery material is confidential and retained discretion over whether to give such material confidential treatment. It also does not decide objections to discovery, waive privilege or other protections, or rule on the admissibility of any evidence. Judge Gregory H. Woods ordered the parties and other persons covered by the order to follow its terms.
Read the full 9-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.