Willton NC NY, LLC v. MH I Investment LLC et al

Filing 52

STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER: WHEREAS, Plaintiff Willton NC NY, LLC, and Defendants MH I Investment LLC, Frank T. Sinito, and Malisse Sinito (each individually a "Party," and collectively the "Parties") having agreed to the following terms of confidentiality, and the Court having found that good cause exists for the issuance of an appropriately tailored confidentiality order pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, it is hereby ORDERED that the following restrictions and procedures shall apply to the information and documents exchanged by the Parties in connection with the pre-Trial phase of this action. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Analisa Torres on 3/6/2025) (ar)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT CO
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW
MANHATTAN DIVISION
WILLTON NC NY, LLC,
Plaintiff,
vs.
MH I INVESTMENT LLC, et al.,
Defendants.

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3/6/2025

CASE NO. 1:24-cv-05526-AT
Judge Analisa Torres
Magistrate Judge Jennifer Willis
STIPULATION AND
PROTECTIVE ORDER

WHEREAS, Plaintiff Willton NC NY, LLC, and Defendants MH I Investment LLC, Frank
T. Sinito, and Malisse Sinito (each individually a “Party,” and collectively the “Parties”) having
agreed to the following terms of confidentiality, and the Court having found that good cause exists
for the issuance of an appropriately tailored confidentiality order pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, it is hereby
ORDERED that the following restrictions and procedures shall apply to the information
and documents exchanged by the Parties in connection with the pre-trial phase of this action:
1.

Counsel for any Party may designate any document or information, in whole or in
part, as confidential if counsel determines, in good faith, that such designation is
necessary to protect the interests of the client in information that is proprietary, a
trade secret or otherwise sensitive non-public information (“Confidential
Information”). Information and documents designated by a Party as confidential
will be stamped “CONFIDENTIAL.”

2.

The Confidential Information disclosed will be held and used by the person
receiving such information solely for use in connection with the action.

3.

In the event a Party challenges another Party’s designation of confidentiality,
counsel shall make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute, and in the absence of

a resolution, the challenging Party may seek resolution by the Court. Nothing in
this Protective Order constitutes an admission by any Party that Confidential
Information disclosed in this case is relevant or admissible. Each Party reserves the
right to object to the use or admissibility of the Confidential Information.
4.

The Parties should meet and confer if any production requires a designation of “For
Attorneys’ or Experts’ Eyes Only.” All other documents designated as
“CONFIDENTIAL” shall not be disclosed to any person, except:

5.

a.

The requesting party and counsel, including in-house counsel;

b.

Employees of such counsel assigned to and necessary to assist in the
litigation;

c.

Consultants or experts assisting in the prosecution or defense of the matter,
to the extent deemed necessary by counsel; and

d.

The Court (including the mediator, or other person having access to any
Confidential Information by virtue of his or her position with the Court).

Prior to disclosing or displaying the Confidential Information to any person,
counsel must:

6.

a.

Inform the person of the confidential nature of the information or
documents;

b.

Inform the person that this Court has enjoined the use of the information or
documents by him/her for any purpose other than this litigation and has
enjoined the disclosure of the information or documents to any other person;
and

c.

Require each such person to sign an agreement to be bound by this Order in
the form attached hereto.

The disclosure of a document or information without designating it as
“confidential” shall not constitute a waiver of the right to designate such document
or information as Confidential Information. If so designated, the document or

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information shall thenceforth be treated as Confidential Information subject to all
the terms of this Stipulation and Order.
7.

Any Personally Identifying Information (“PII”) (e.g., social security numbers,
financial account numbers, passwords, and information that may be used for
identity theft) exchanged in discovery shall be maintained by the receiving party in
a manner that is secure and confidential and shared only with authorized individuals
in a secure manner. The producing party may specify the minimal level of
protection expected in the storage and transfer of its information. In the event the
party who received PII experiences a data breach, it shall immediately notify the
producing party of same and cooperate with the producing party to address and
remedy the breach. Nothing herein shall preclude the producing party from
asserting legal claims or constitute a waiver of legal rights and defenses in the event
of litigation arising out of the receiving party’s failure to appropriately protect PII
from unauthorized disclosure.

8.

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502, the production of privileged or work
product protected documents or communications, electronically stored information
(“ESI”) or information, whether inadvertent or otherwise, shall not constitute a
waiver of the privilege or protection from discovery in this case or in any other
federal or state proceeding. This Order shall be interpreted to provide the maximum
protection allowed by Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d). Nothing contained herein
is intended to or shall serve to limit a Party’s right to conduct a review of
documents, ESI or information (including metadata) for relevance, responsiveness
and/or segregation of privileged and/or protected information before production.

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9.

Notwithstanding the designation of information as “confidential” in discovery,
there is no presumption that such information shall be filed with the Court under
seal. The Parties shall follow the Court’s procedures with respect to filing under
seal.

10.

At the conclusion of litigation, Confidential Information and any copies thereof
shall be promptly (and in no event later than 30 days after entry of final judgment
no longer subject to further appeal) returned to the producing party or certified as
destroyed, except that the Parties’ counsel shall be permitted to retain their working
files on the condition that those files will remain protected.

11.

Nothing herein shall preclude the Parties from disclosing material designated to be
Confidential Information if otherwise required by law or pursuant to a valid
subpoena.

SO STIPULATED AND AGREED.
/s/ Joshua A. Klarfeld
Joshua A. Klarfeld (admitted pro hac vice)
Counsel for Plaintiff Willton NC NY, LLC

/s/
Erica Barrow
Erica Barrow
Counsel for Defendants MH I Investment
LLC, Frank T. Sinito, and Malisse Sinito

Date: 3/4/2025

Date: March 4, 2025

SO ORDERED.
Judge Analisa Torres
Dated: March __,
6 2025
New York, New York

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Agreement
I have been informed by counsel that certain documents or information to be disclosed to
me in connection with the matter entitled have been designated as confidential. I have been
informed that any such documents or information labeled “CONFIDENTIAL” are confidential by
Order of the Court. I hereby agree that I will not disclose any information contained in such
documents to any other person. I further agree not to use any such information for any purpose
other than this litigation.
Signature:

_________________

Printed Name: _________________
Dated:

_________________

Signed in the presence of:
______________________________
(Attorney)