Before requesting entry of a protective order to preserve the confidentiality of materials disclosed in discovery, counsel shall carefully review the following:
1. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), L.R. 26.2, and Form L.R. 26.2;
2. The decisions of the Seventh Circuit in Jepson, Inc. v. Makita Electric Works, Ltd., 30 F.3d 854 (7th Cir. 1994), Citizens First Nat’l Bank v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 178 F.3d 943 (7th Cir. 1999), and Union Oil Co. v. Leavell, 220 F.3d 562 (7th Cir. 2000); and
3. In referral cases, any standing order or instructions from the District Judge regarding protective orders and restricting orders.
In preparing a protective order, the parties should refer to General Order 12-0018 (Model Confidentiality Order). To the extent the parties submit a confidentiality order that differs from the Court’s Model Confidentiality Order, they shall submit an original and red-lined version to Magistrate Judge Mason's Proposed Order email address (see submitting a Proposed Order, Agreed or Otherwise, for Electronic Entry by the Judge).
All proposed protective orders, even if agreed, must comply with the requirements set forth by the Seventh Circuit and, when appropriate, the assigned District Judge. Specifically, all protective orders must include, inter alia, a carefully-drafted definition of the materials to be protected, with an explanation of why these documents are entitled to protection, consistent with the Seventh Circuit’s descriptions of what is protectable; and an explicit procedure under which a party or interested member of the public can challenge the confidential designation of particular documents.
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