Opinion
2:18-cr-00253-APG-NJK
11-21-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff v. ANTHONY UVARI, Defendant
ORDER TO CONFER
[ECF NOS. 208, 243]
ANDREW P. GORDON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Defendant Anthony Uvari moved to modify protective orders entered in this case to allow him to review protected documents. ECF No. 208. Magistrate Judge Koppe granted the motion in part. ECF Nos. 243, 244. Uvari now appeals that order. ECF No. 251.
There are 317 documents that Uvari is not permitted to see. ECF No. 251 at 14. Of that, Uvari contends that “less than 80 pages contain any substance that is not already publicly available,” and that only approximately 30 pages may qualify for protection. Id. The Government's response does not explain why Uvari should not be allowed to review publicly-available documents.
In their September 20, 2022 status report, Uvari's counsel stated they would meet with the Government about the protected documents. ECF No. 203 at 4 n.11. Judge Koppe ordered the parties to confer about further redactions to the subject documents so Uvari could review them. ECF Nos. 243, 244 at 24. It is unclear whether they did so, but based upon Uvari's appeal and the Government's response, it appears that no such conference occurred, or if it did it was not meaningful. See, e.g., ECF No. 258 at 17 (Government responding that it “has repeatedly held itself out to [Uvari's counsel] as willing to discuss the designations of such materials. However, [Uvari's counsel] has declined to confer regarding specific materials ....”).
Given that both sides profess a willingness to discuss the disputed documents, but neither side appears willing to pick up the phone to initiate that discussion, I will order the parties to confer before I consider Uvari's appeal any further. Hopefully, meaningful dialogue among counsel acting professionally can narrow, if not eliminate, this dispute.
I THEREFORE ORDER the parties to immediately confer about the documents that Uvari is precluded from reviewing by the protective order, particularly the documents that are publicly available. The parties will file a status report by Monday, November 28, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. PST. I will discuss with the parties Uvari's appeal of Judge Koppe's order, along with the other pending motions, at the calendar call the next day.