Protective orders are often used in litigation to protect confidential information such as trade secrets or proprietary information during document discovery. The protective orders will contain confidentiality designations to be applied during the document review process that indicate who has access to the information in the specific document.
There are a number of considerations or issues that can arise in applying confidentiality designations. These include:
Misclassification – Information that is defined by the litigants and the Protective Order as “confidential” can be found in any number of document types including emails, correspondence, reports, invoices, Board minutes, medical records and, even, employee personnel files. Failure to mark or stamp a document as “confidential” will potentially allow that document to be shared with third parties or become public if attached to unsealed court filings or used during trial. Thus, document reviewers need to understand enough about the case and about what is defined as “confidential” to properly identify and classify the documents being reviewed.
Desirable level of inclusivity – Because the documents being marked as “confidential” are being produced, litigants tend to want an expansive use of the “confidentiality” designation. For litigants, the dangers of over-inclusivity are often smaller than the potential dangers of under-inclusivity. Document reviewers need to understand the expectations of their clients in this regard. This understanding should become a feature of on-going quality control.
“To-be-returned” coding/stamping – Many confidentiality stipulations and Protective Order provisions contain requirements that any and all documents that are marked as “confidential” must be returned to the producing party after the litigation is completed. However, sometimes, only designated categories of “confidential” documents must be returned. If this is the case, then the document review team must understand what documents are expected to be returned and, if desired by the litigant, must accurately identify and mark such documents with a “to-be-returned” stamp or marking.
Baer Reed provides privilege review and other legal support solutions to law firms and in-house legal teams around the globe. To learn more, contact us online or call us today at 888-433-1990.
Mr. Reyes graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila University, where he received the Procter and Gamble Student Excellence Award. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law. During law school, Mr. Reyes was part of the Philippine delegation to the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held in Vienna, Austria. He was also a member of the Ateneo Society of International Law and the St. Thomas More Debate Society. He completed his internship at the Public Attorney’s Office. He wrote a thesis entitled: “To Kill A White Elephant: An Analysis of the Fiduciary Exception to the Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege”. Mr. Reyes is admitted to practice law in the Philippines and the State of New York.
Ms. Lardizabal-Manzano is a graduate of San Sebastian College-Recoletos, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science. In 2003, she received her law degree from Lyceum of the Philippines and was admitted to practice law in 2004.
Matthew Hersh earned a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University in 1990 and graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999. He also holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Cap. Avi Levak (Res. IDF) graduated from from Israel’s prestigious Ben-Gurion University of the Negev with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics. He is also a Leadership and Communication coach trained in TuT coaching by Alon gal in Israel. Avi specializes in high-level, in-depth analysis of business and client needs, within systems and software strategy and architecture.
Ms. Tyler graduated cum laude from Georgetown University and received her law degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. During law school, she interned at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. She also worked on The Tax Lawyer journal and was a member of the award-winning Barristers’ Council Mock Trial Team. Ms. Tyler is admitted to practice law in the State of California and the District of Columbia.
Ms. Cruz-Anonuevo graduated cum laude and top nine in her batch from Miriam College with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in InternationalStudies. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in Rockwell. During law school, she interned in Rivera, Santos, Maranan & Associates. She was also part of Ateneo’s Labor Law Bar Operations. She wrote her thesis on, “Stealing Privacy: Limitations on Media’s Photographic Invasion.,” Ms. Cruz-Anonuevo is admitted to practice law in the Philippines.
Ms. Aquino-Batallones obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Development Studies (with Minors in Global Politics and Hispanic Studies) from the Ateneo de Manila University. In 2011, she received her Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law. During law school, she interned at Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles then became an intern of Ateneo Legal Services Center’s Clinical Legal Education Program.
Mr. De Guzman graduated from San Beda College with a degree of Bachelor of Arts Major in Economics and received his law degree from San Beda College of Law. He is multilingual and is fluent in three languages: Chinese, Filipino, and English. He was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2003.