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Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. v. Poruri

United States District Court, S.D. New York
Jan 12, 2004
Index No, 03-CV-9220 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 12, 2004)

Opinion

Index No, 03-CV-9220 (LAK)

January 12, 2004

John Siegal, Linda I.T. Zabriskie, PROSKAUER ROSE LLP, New York, New York, for Plaintiff

Barry M. Kazan, PITNEY, HARWN, KUPP SZUCH, LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant


STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR THE PROTECTION OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION


IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AMD AGREED by plaintiff Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. ("Plaintiff") and defendant Laxmi Poruri ("Defendant"), by and through their respective counsel, and

ORDERED by this Court, as follows;

1. This Stipulation and Order for the Protection of Confidential Information ("Stipulation and Order") shall govern the handling of all information disclosed during the course of this action, whether by a party or a non — party, including but not limited to information disclosed during discovery or hearing; in any document, affidavit, brief, motion, transcript, or other writing; or in testimony given in any deposition, hearing, proceeding, or trial ("Discovery Materials").

2. As described in this Stipulation and Order, any party (hereafter "Designating Party") may designate as "Confidential" any Discovery Materials containing or reflecting confidential or sensitive financial, business, trade secret or other information.

3. Any Discovery Materials may be designated as Confidential by affixing the legend "Confidential" on such documents, material or information prior to their production; by making a statement on the record at a deposition that all or part of that deposition's transcript is to be treated as Confidential pursuant to the terms of this Order and Stipulation; or by notifying all other parties (the "Non — designating Party" or"Non — designating Parties") in writing that such Discovery Materials are to be treated as Confidential Discovery Materials.

4. The inadvertent production of any Confidential Discovery Materials without a "Confidential" designation shall be without prejudice to any claim that such material is Confidential or privileged in any respect or protected from discovery as trial preparation material within the meaning of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(3), and no part) — shall be held to have waived any rights by such inadvertent production, Discovery Materials not initially designated as Confidential may thereafter be designated as such, after which time they shall be treated as Confidential in accordance with the terrns of this Stipulation and Order,

5. Discovery Materials designated as Confidential may be used only for the prosecution or defense of this action or any related action, whether involving the current parties to this action or additional parties not yet identified, which arises from the same set of facts or circumstances as this action (the "Proceeding"). Confidential Discovery Materials may not be used for any other purpose, Those having access to Confidential Discovery Materials shall not USB, show or disclose the contents thereof except as permitted by this Stipulation and Order,

6. Access to Confidential Discovery Materials shall be limited to:

(a) this Court, including Court personnel, and any jury that may be empanelled in this Proceeding;

(b) the parties (including their employees) and their counsel, together with their associate attorneys and office personnel employed or engaged in the preparation for, or aiding in the trial of, this Proceeding;

(c) outside vendors who perform photocopying, computer classification, or similar clerical functions, but only for so long as necessary to perform those services;

(d) court reporters and other persons engaged in preparing transcripts of testimony or hearings in this Proceeding;

(e) law enforcement officials for the purpose of enforcing any state or federal law, provided, however, that the Designating Party is given five business days notice prior to access being given to any law enforcement officials;

(f) witnesses who have been subpoenaed and/or have been made available for deposition in this proceeding, and their counsel;

(g) outside consultants and experts retained for the purpose of assisting counsel in this Proceeding;

(h) any other person to whom both parties agree in writing.

7. Each person or entity to be given access to Confidential Discovery Materials shall be advised that those materials and the information contained therein shall be disclosed pursuant to and subject to the terrns of this Stipulation and Order and may not be used or disclosed other than pursuant to the terrns hereof, Furthermore, before disclosing Confidential Discovery Materials to any person or entity that falls within subparagraphs (f), (g) or (h) of paragraph 6 above, such person or entity shall read this Stipulation and Order and sign an affidavit in the form of Exhibit A attached hereto ("Affidavit") containing;

(a) a recital that the signatory has read and understands this Order and Stipulation;

(b) a recital that the signatory understands that unauthorized disclosures of the information contained in the Confidential Discovery Materials constitute contempt of Court; and

(c) a statement that the signatory consents to the exercise of this Court's personal jurisdiction solely for purposes of enforcing the terms of this Order and Stipulation, Executed copies of the Affidavit shall be acquired prior to providing access to the Confidential Discovery Materials and shall be maintained by counsel that seeks disclosure of the Confidential Discovery Materials to the affiant. Such counsel shall provide a copy of the executed Affidavit to all other parties upon their written request.

8. If Confidential Discovery Materials are to be included in any papers to be filed in this Court, such papers shall be filed in a sealed envelope which bears the caption of this Proceeding, the title of the papers contained therein, and a conspicuous label "Confidential — Subject to Court Order." The Clerk of the Court shall be directed that any papers so filed shall not be made available to anyone except Court personnel and the counsel of record for the parties.

9. Nothing herein shall impose any restrictions on a party's use or disclosure of Confidential Discovery Materials that:

a) prior to disclosure in this action were within the possession or knowledge of a person receiving disclosure, provided that such information is not subject to any prior restriction as to use or obligations as to confidence;

b) at any time arc independently developed by a party, witness, expert, consultant or counsel without use or reliance upon any Confidential Discovery Materials;

c) are rightfully acquired by any party, witness, expert, consultant or counsel without restriction as to use or obligation as to confidentiality;

d) are already in the public domain at the time of disclosure; or

e) become part of the public domain at any time, unless as a result of

(i) action or failure to act, where there is a duty to act, on the part of the Non — disclosing Party, or

(ii) any breach of duty by any third party, or

(iii) any violation of this Stipulation and Order.

10. If Confidential Discovery Materials are disclosed in violation of this Stipulation and Order, the party responsible for such disclosure shall immediately notify tae Designating Party, and shall cooperate in supplying the facts relating to such disclosure and in making all reasonable efforts to prevent further disclosure.

11. Entering into, agreeing to, and/or complying with the terms of this Stipulation and Order shall not;

a) operate as an admission by any party that any particular Confidential Discovery Materials contain or reflect currently valuable trade secrets or proprietary or commercial information; or

b) prejudice in any way the right of a party at any time:

(i) to seek a determination by this Court of whether any particular document, item of material or piece of information should be subject to the terms of this Stipulation and Order; or,

(ii) to seek relief on appropriate notice from any provision(s) of this Stipulation and Order, either generally or as to any particular document, item of material or piece of information.

12. Upon the termination of this Proceeding, including all appeals, counsel for any person producing documents subject to the terms of this Stipulation and Order may request in writing (a) that any person receiving such Confidential Discovery Materials shall destroy all of them (and all copies thereof) and provide an affidavit confirming their destruction to the producing party or (b) that all such documents (and all copies thereof) that have not previously been destroyed be returned to the producing party, together with an affidavit confirming that any Confidential Discovery Materials (Or any copies thereof) that are not being returned have been destroyed.

13. Absent a Court order or the agreement of the parties to this Proceeding, no party shall use, show or otherwise disclose to third parties pursuant to subpoena or otherwise any Confidential Discovery Materials, except as provided in this Stipulation and Order, In the event any party to this Proceeding receives a subpoena requesting disclosure of Confidential Discovery Materials to a third party or parties, the party receiving the subpoena shall notify all other parties to this Proceeding of receipt of the subpoena and of the Confidential Discovery Materials requested, by overnight courier and facsimile within five business days of receipt of the subpoena, Notwithstanding the above, if the subpoena calls for production of Confidential Discovery Materials within fewer than five business days of its receipt, then the party receiving the subpoena shall notify the other party to this Proceeding of its receipt as soon as practicable but in no event fewer than two business days prior to the date of production in response to the subpoena. The Court supervising discovery in the matter in which disclosure of Confidential Discovery Materials is sought shall be apprised of the existence and terms of this Stipulation and Order by the party from whom Confidential Discovery Materials is sought.

14. If any person objects to the designation of any information or material as Confidential Discovery Materials it shall notify in. writing counsel for the producer objecting to the designation of particular material and explaining the basis for the objection. Within three (3) business days of receiving the foregoing notification, the producer shall advise the objecting party whether it agrees to withdraw the designation. If the producer does not withdraw the designation, the objecting party may move within three (3) business days for an order that the material not be treated as such. Unless and until this Court enters an order to the contrary, the information or material shall be treated as designated by the producer.

15. For good cause, any party may seek modification or termination of this Stipulation and Order first by attempting to obtain the consent of every other party to such modification, and then, absent consent, by application to the Court. The party seeking such modification or termination shall give notice to all non — party producers under this Stipulation and Order no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the effective date of the modification or termination. The producers so notified may then, prior to the effective date of modification or termination, petition the Court for relief. If this Stipulation and Order is modified by agreement, it shall be submitted to the Court, as modified, for execution.

16. It is the present intention of the signatories to this Stipulation and Order that the provisions of paragraphs 1 through 14 hereof shall govern the production of documents, things, material and other information and the testimony given herein, as of the inception of this action, and shall be binding regardless of whether this Stipulation and Order is entered as a formal Order of the Court.

17. This Stipulation and Order shall be deemed to have been drafted jointly by the parties. No rule of construction shall be applied against any party by reason of that party having drafted any particular provision of this Stipulation and Order.

SO ORDERED.


Summaries of

Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. v. Poruri

United States District Court, S.D. New York
Jan 12, 2004
Index No, 03-CV-9220 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 12, 2004)
Case details for

Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. v. Poruri

Case Details

Full title:GERSON LEHRMAN GROUP, INC., Plaintiff, -against- LAXMI PORURI and JOHN…

Court:United States District Court, S.D. New York

Date published: Jan 12, 2004

Citations

Index No, 03-CV-9220 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 12, 2004)