Securities and Exchange Commission v. Oyebola et al

Filing 35

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER...regarding procedures to be followed that shall govern the handling of confidential material... SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Analisa Torres on 1/29/2025) (vfr)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION,
Plaintiff,

1/29/2025

No. 1:24-cv-07363-AT

-vOLAYINKA TEMITOPE OYEBOLA AND
OLAYINKA OYEBOLA & CO. (CHARTERED
ACCOUNTANTS),
Defendants.
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
WHEREAS, Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), and
Defendants Olayinka Temitope Oyebola and Olayinka Oyebola & Co. (Chartered Accountants)
(collectively, the “Defendants”), are parties (the “Parties” and each a “Party”) to this action (the
“Action”) and have agreed to abide by the terms of this proposed Protective 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.

Any Party or their counsel may designate any document or information, in whole or

in part, as confidential if the Party or counsel determines, in good faith, that such designation is
necessary to protect the interests of the Party in information that is proprietary, a trade secret or
otherwise sensitive non-public information. Information and documents designated by a Party as
confidential will be stamped “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.

Deposition testimony shall be deemed CONFIDENTIAL only if designated as such

by (i) a statement on the record, by counsel, at the time of such disclosure or before the conclusion

of the deposition or testimony; or (ii) written notice, sent by counsel to all Parties within thirty (30)
days of the receipt of the final transcript. Such designation shall be specific as to the portions of the
transcript or any exhibit to be designated as CONFIDENTIAL. Thereafter, any portions of the
deposition transcripts or exhibits so designated shall be protected as CONFIDENTIAL, pending
objection, under the terms of this Order.
3.

Without the need for designation as provided in Paragraph 1, above, any document

or information exchanged in connection with the pre-trial phase of this action shall be deemed
CONFIDENTIAL to the extent that any portion thereof contains, with respect to third parties, any
personal identifying information (“PII”), including an individual’s social security number, tax
identification number or tax return, home address or home telephone number, date of birth, medical
information, financial account number, brokerage account number, or passwords.
4.

Deposition transcripts and documents and information exchanged by the Parties in

connection with the pre-trial phase of this action that are designated as or deemed
CONFIDENTIAL, shall be referred to herein as “Confidential Information.”
5.

The Confidential Information disclosed will be held and used by the person receiving

such information solely for use in connection with the Action. Any person or entity in possession of
Confidential Information shall maintain those materials in a reasonably secure manner, so as to
avoid disclosure of their contents.
6.

The restrictions set out in this Order shall not apply to copies of documents or

information contained in documents that any Party obtained or obtains independently of documents
produced in this Action and designated CONFIDENTIAL.
7.

The designation of CONFIDENTIAL shall not be applied to, and the restrictions

and obligations set forth in this Order shall not apply to, any information or document that: (i) is
already public knowledge or otherwise in the public domain; (ii) has become public knowledge or
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enters the public domain other than as a result of disclosure by a receiving Party, its employees or
agents in violation of this Order; (iii) has come or shall come into a receiving Party’s legitimate
possession independently of the Party of person seeking to designate information or documents as
CONFIDENTIAL in this action; or (iv) has come into a receiving Party’s legitimate possession
prior to entry of this Order.
8.

In the event a Party challenges another Party’s designation of confidentiality, the

Parties or their 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.
9.

The Parties should meet and confer if any production requires a designation of “For

Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” All other documents designated as or deemed CONFIDENTIAL shall not
be disclosed to any person, except as permitted by paragraph 11 and those set forth in
subparagraphs (a) through (h) below:
a. The requesting Party or their counsel, including in-house counsel;
b. Employees of such counsel assigned to and necessary to assist in the litigation;
c. Witnesses (and their counsel) who a Party or their counsel in good faith believes
may be called to testify at trial or deposition in this action, provided however,
that a person identified solely in this paragraph shall not be permitted to retain
copies of such Confidential Information;
d. Consultants or experts assisting in the prosecution or defense of the matter, to
the extent deemed necessary by a Party or their counsel;

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e. Outside photocopying, graphic reproduction services, litigation support services,
data processing services, or investigators employed by the Parties or their counsel
to assist in this litigation, and computer personnel performing duties in relation
to a computerized litigation system;
f. Court reporters and recorders engaged for depositions or testimony;
g. The Court (including the mediator, or other person having access to any
Confidential Information by virtue of his or her position with the Court); and
h. Other persons only by written consent of the producing Party or upon order of
the Court and on such conditions as may be agreed or ordered.
10.

Prior to disclosing or displaying the Confidential Information to any person solely

pursuant to subparagraph 9(d), counsel must:
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 as Exhibit A.
11.

This Order shall not limit Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission

(“Commission”) from using or disclosing any materials, including Confidential Information, in a
manner consistent with the Commission’s duties and authorities pursuant to any applicable laws and
regulations, including as delineated in the Commission’s Form 1662 (available here:
https://www.sec.gov/files/sec1662.pdf) (“Form 1662”);

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12.

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 information shall
thenceforth be treated as Confidential Information subject to all the terms of this Stipulation and
Order.
13.

Any 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 listed in paragraph 9 above 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.
14.

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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15.

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 for requests for filing under seal.
16.

This Order shall not be construed to affect in any way the admissibility or use of any

document, testimony or other information at trial or a pre-trial hearing.
17.

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.
18.

Any person subject to this Stipulation and Order who receives a subpoena or other

request for the production or disclosure of any Confidential Information shall promptly give written
notice to the disclosing Party and enclose a copy of the subpoena or request. The person subject to
the subpoena or other request also shall make all reasonable good faith efforts to provide the
disclosing Party a reasonable period of time in which to seek to quash the subpoena, or move for
protection of the Confidential Information, before the person to whom the subpoena request is
directed takes action to comply with it.
19.

Any Party issuing a subpoena to a non-party shall notify the non-party that the

protections of this Order are available to such non-party.
20.

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 and the Commission shall retain any documents or information in its possession in
accordance with its governmental record-keeping obligations or to carry out any permitted uses
under Commission Form 1662.

SO ORDERED.
Dated: January 29, 2025
New York, New York
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