Also known as: orders for protection · protective order · protection order · restraining order
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court order issued for good cause to shield a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense during discovery or related proceedings. The motion must certify a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute without court intervention. The court may forbid disclosure, specify terms for discovery, or allocate expenses.
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Omega Energy moves for relief after opposing counsel seeks production of proprietary drilling logs in a contract dispute. The company certifies it attempted to narrow the requests through email exchanges. The court limits the scope of production to publicly filed data and shifts the cost of any additional review to the requesting party.
A prosecutor learns of a witness statement that undermines the defendant's intent but withholds it pending sentencing. Defense counsel moves to compel disclosure. The court issues a protective order directing immediate production while allowing the prosecutor to withhold only material already covered by an existing protective directive from the tribunal.
Limited partners of Orchard Farms sue the general partner for self-dealing. The partnership appoints a special litigation committee and seeks to stay the action. The court grants a protective order halting further discovery of sensitive records until the committee completes its investigation and reports whether the suit serves the partnership's interests.
Oakridge Manufacturing obtains a protective order halting a competitor's use of disputed trade secrets during discovery. The court requires the company to post a bond in an amount sufficient to cover the competitor's potential lost profits and litigation costs if the order later proves wrongful.
Residents obtain a protective order barring labor protesters from obtaining personnel records through discovery. The protesters challenge the order as content-based. The court upholds the restriction because it is narrowly tailored to the residents' interest in privacy and leaves open ample alternative channels for communication.
A defendant posts statements that a reasonable person would view as threats against an ex-spouse. The government seeks to introduce the posts at trial. The court issues a protective order restricting further dissemination of the statements while allowing the defense to review them under controlled conditions to prepare its case.
The movant must demonstrate good cause that the requested discovery would cause annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. The motion must also include a certification that the parties conferred in good faith before seeking court intervention.
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A prosecutor may be relieved of the duty to disclose exculpatory or mitigating information when a tribunal has issued a protective order that expressly relieves the prosecutor of that responsibility.
…The President entered a special appearance in the District Court on June 6 and requested that court to lift its protective order regarding the naming of certain individuals as coconspirators and to any additional extent deemed appropriate by the Court. This motion of the President was based on the ground that the…
…to $280 a month as opposed to the full California grant of $504 for a family of two. The District Court issued a temporary restraining order and, after a hearing, preliminarily enjoined implementation of the statute. District Judge Levi found that the statute "produces substantial disparities in benefit levels and makes no…
…that the Illinois Act was pre-empted by the Williams Act and violated the Commerce Clause. In addition, MITE sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the Illinois Secretary of State from enforcing the Illinois Act. Chicago Rivet responded three days later by bringing suit in…
…He immediately coerced the victim into providing information by the threatening application of a knife. He violated a subsisting restraining order." App. 48-49. The judge adhered to his initial determination of deliberate cruelty. Petitioner appealed, arguing that this sentencing procedure deprived him of his federal constitutional…
…United States v. Meade , 175 F.3d 215 (1st Cir.1999); and possession of a firearm by a person against whom a domestic violence protective order
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The court may grant extraordinary relief in the form of a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to protect the limited partnership during a derivative proceeding while a special litigation committee investigates the claims.
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The movant must give security in an amount the court deems proper to cover costs and damages if the enjoined party is later found to have been wrongfully restrained. The United States and its agencies are exempt from this requirement.
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A protective order limiting dissemination of discovered information does not violate the First Amendment when it rests on good cause, applies only to information obtained through discovery, and leaves the party free to obtain and publish the same information from independent sources.
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