THOMAS v. PONCE FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.

Background

The parties jointly requested a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). They represented that discovery would involve confidential documents or information whose public disclosure could harm the producing person or a third party owed a duty of confidentiality. The court found good cause for a tailored order governing the pretrial phase of the case.

Confidentiality designations

The order permits a producing person to designate only information whose disclosure is restricted by law or would harm business, commercial, financial, or personal interests. Listed categories include previously undisclosed financial information; information about ownership or control of a nonpublic company; business plans, product-development information, and marketing plans; personal or intimate information; and other categories later given confidential status by the court.

The producing person or counsel must mark qualifying material as confidential, subject to the order’s procedures. Deposition testimony may be designated during the deposition or within 30 days afterward. A producing person may also correct an earlier failure to designate material before trial by notifying prior recipients in writing.

Permitted disclosures and use

Recipients may disclose confidential discovery material only to people identified in the order, including the parties, counsel and certain litigation personnel, insurers and their counsel, approved vendors, mediators or arbitrators, certain witnesses, experts and advisers, deposition stenographers, and the court. Some recipients must first receive the order and sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Confidential discovery material may be used only to prosecute or defend this action and any appeals. It may not be used for business, commercial, competitive, or other litigation purposes. The order does not waive objections to discovery, privilege protections, or objections to the evidence’s admissibility at trial.

Challenges, sealing, and protected information

A party may object to a confidentiality designation or request additional limits on disclosure, such as an attorneys’-eyes-only restriction. If the parties cannot resolve the issue, they must present it to the court under the judge’s individual rules.

The order does not automatically entitle confidential material to be filed under seal. A party seeking to seal documents must file a letter-motion explaining the basis for sealing, and the court retains discretion over confidential treatment. Parties must publicly file a redacted copy and separately file the unredacted version under seal when making a confidential court submission, following the order’s procedures.

Personally identifying information exchanged in discovery must be maintained securely. A recipient experiencing a data breach must immediately notify the producing person and cooperate in addressing the breach. The order also provides procedures for inadvertently disclosed material protected by attorney-client privilege or attorney work-product protection, including return or destruction, a privilege log, and a possible motion asking the court to order production.

Disposition

The parties stipulated and agreed to the protective order, and the court entered it as an order. The order remains binding after the litigation ends. Within 30 days after final disposition, confidential discovery material generally must be returned or destroyed, with written certification, although attorneys specifically retained for the case may keep certain archival materials subject to the order. The court retained jurisdiction to enforce the order and impose contempt sanctions for willful violations.