Chelsea Royal Care Pharmacy, Inc. v. Cardinal Health 110, LLC
- Naomi Buchwald
- 1:22-cv-05637
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 11
Chelsea Royal Care Pharmacy v. Cardinal Health 110: Judge Buchwald approved a protective order governing confidential discovery materials.
The parties, their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, people acting with them, recipients of protected discovery material, and others with actual notice of the protective order.
What happened
In Chelsea Royal Care Pharmacy, Inc. v. Cardinal Health 110, LLC, the parties asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to issue a protective order for nonpublic and competitively sensitive information that might be exchanged during discovery. The parties submitted agreed terms through their lawyers, and the court found good cause for an appropriately limited order.
The order defines how information labeled “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” may be designated, shared, used, challenged, filed with the court, and ultimately returned or destroyed. It limits use of protected information to this lawsuit and related appeals, requires certain recipients to sign nondisclosure agreements, and allows sanctions for violations. It also states that the order itself does not decide whether any information is truly confidential, privileged, or admissible at trial.
Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ordered the parties and other people covered by the order to follow its terms, subject to contempt penalties. The order applies throughout the litigation and continues afterward for people who received protected discovery material.
The detailed version
- Chelsea Royal Care Pharmacy, Inc. v. Cardinal Health 110, LLC · No. 1:22-cv-05637
- Naomi Buchwald
- Nov. 10, 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 could be disclosed during discovery. The court found good cause for issuing an appropriately tailored confidentiality order.
Terms of the Order
The order covers discovery material designated as “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” A producing party may designate material as Confidential when it reasonably and in good faith believes the material is protected from disclosure by statute or common law, including confidential personal information, trade secrets, personnel records, private health information, and sensitive commercial information that is not publicly available. A producing party may use the more restrictive Attorneys’ Eyes Only designation when it also believes in good faith that disclosure to the litigation parties could cause competitive harm.
Confidential material may be disclosed only to specified recipients, including the parties, their counsel and insurers, litigation support personnel, certain vendors, mediators or arbitrators, authors and recipients of documents, certain witnesses, experts, stenographers, and the court. Attorneys’ Eyes Only material may be disclosed to a narrower group, including litigation counsel, one designated in-house counsel representative for each party, qualified experts, the court, authors and original recipients, stenographers, and specified vendors. Some recipients must first receive the order and sign a nondisclosure agreement.
The order requires public redacted filings and separate unredacted filings under seal when court submissions contain confidential discovery material. A party seeking to file material under seal must submit an application and supporting declaration giving a particularized justification. The order also provides a process for objecting to confidentiality designations and requires disputes that cannot be resolved promptly to be brought to the court under the judge’s individual practices.
Protected material may be used only to prosecute or defend this action and related appeals, not for another purpose or litigation. Recipients must take reasonable precautions against unauthorized or accidental disclosure. Within 60 days after the final disposition of the action, including appeals, recipients generally must return or destroy the protected material and certify that they have not retained copies or other reproductions. Litigation counsel may keep certain archival case files, which remain subject to the order.
Ruling and Effect
Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald issued the stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order. It binds the parties, their officers, agents, employees, attorneys, people acting with them, and others with actual notice of the order. The court did not determine that any particular discovery material is confidential and retained discretion to decide whether to provide confidential treatment to designated material. The order survives the end of the litigation, and the court retains jurisdiction to enforce its obligations and impose contempt sanctions.
Read the full 11-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.