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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

Joseph Sorge, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

Yelp Incorporated, 

Defendant. 

No. CV-17-04518-PHX-JJT

PROTECTIVE ORDER 

 At issue is the Joint Motion for Entry of Protective Order (Doc. 24). Upon review 

and good cause appearing; 

 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED granting the Joint Motion (Doc. 24). 

 The Court recognizes that many of the documents and much of the information 

(“Materials” as defined herein) being sought through discovery in the above-captioned 

action are, for competitive reasons, normally kept confidential by the parties. The Materials 

to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation between the parties may contain 

trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information, as is 

contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G). The parties shall be bound 

by the terms of this Protective Order (“Order”) in this action to facilitate the document 

production and disclosure, and protect the respective interests of the parties in their trade 

secrets and/or confidential information. This Order shall remain in effect unless modified 

pursuant to the terms contained in this Order. 
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 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the following Definitions shall apply in this 

Order: 

 A. The term “Confidential Information” will mean and include information 

contained or disclosed in any materials, including documents, portions of documents, 

answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, trial testimony, deposition 

testimony, and transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, including data, summaries, 

and compilations derived therefrom that is deemed to be Confidential Information by any 

party to which it belongs. 

 B. The term “Materials” will include, but is not be limited to: documents; 

correspondence; memoranda; financial information; email; specifications; marketing 

plans; marketing budgets; customer information; materials that identify customers or 

potential customers; materials pertaining to current and former employees; price lists or 

schedules or other matter identifying pricing; minutes; letters; statements; cancelled 

checks; contracts; invoices; drafts; books of account; worksheets; forecasts; notes of 

conversations; desk diaries; appointment books; expense accounts; recordings; 

photographs; motion pictures; sketches; drawings; notes of discussions with third parties; 

other notes; business reports; instructions; disclosures; other writings; records of website 

development; and internet archives. 

 C. The term “Counsel” will mean outside counsel of record, and other attorneys, 

paralegals, secretaries, and other support staff employed in the following law firms: 

Ogletree Deakins and Joshua Carden Law Firm. 

 The following provisions shall apply in this litigation: 

 1. Each party to this litigation that produces or discloses any Materials, answers 

to interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, trial testimony, deposition 

testimony, and transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, or information that the 

producing party believes should be subject to this Protective Order may designate the same 

as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY.” 
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(a) Designation as “CONFIDENTIAL”: Any party may designate 

information as “CONFIDENTIAL” only if, in the good faith belief of 

such party and its Counsel, the unrestricted disclosure of such 

information could be harmful to the business or operations of such 

party. 

(b) Designation as “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY”: Any 

party may designate as “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL 

ONLY” only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its Counsel, 

the information is among that considered to be most sensitive by the 

party, including but not limited to trade secret or other confidential 

research, development, financial, customer related data or other 

commercial information. 

 2. In the event the producing party elects to produce Materials for inspection, 

no marking need be made by the producing party in advance of the initial inspection. For 

purposes of the initial inspection, all Materials produced will be considered as 

“CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY,” and must be treated as such pursuant to 

the terms of this Order. Thereafter, upon selection of specified Materials for copying by 

the inspecting party, the producing party must, within a reasonable time prior to producing 

those Materials to the inspecting party, mark the copies of those Materials that contain 

Confidential Information with the appropriate confidentiality marking. 

 3. Whenever a deposition taken on behalf of any party involves the disclosure 

of Confidential Information of any party: 

(a) the deposition or portions of the deposition must be designated as 

containing Confidential Information subject to the provisions of this 

Order; such designation must be made on the record whenever 

possible, but a party may designate portions of depositions as 

containing Confidential Information after transcription of the 

proceedings; a party will have until thirty (30) days after receipt of the 
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deposition transcript to inform the other party or parties to the action 

of the portions of the transcript to be designated “CONFIDENTIAL” 

or “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY.” 

(b) the disclosing party will have the right to exclude from attendance at 

the deposition, during such time as the Confidential Information is to 

be disclosed, any person other than the deponent, Counsel (including 

their staff and associates), the court reporter, and the person(s) agreed 

upon pursuant to paragraph 8, below; and 

(c) The originals of the deposition transcripts and all copies of the 

deposition must bear the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

“CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” as appropriate, and 

the original or any copy ultimately presented to a court for filing must 

not be filed unless it can be accomplished under seal, identified as 

being subject to this Order, and protected from being opened except 

by order of this Court. 

 4. All Confidential Information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” must not be 

disclosed by the receiving party to anyone other than those persons designated within this 

Order and must be handled in the manner set forth below, and in any event, must not be 

used for any purpose other than in connection with this litigation, unless and until such 

designation is removed either by agreement of the parties, or by order of the Court. 

 5. Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” may 

be viewed only by: 

(a) Counsel (as defined in paragraph C, above) of the receiving party; 

(b) Independent experts and stenographic and clerical employees 

associated with such experts. Prior to receiving any Confidential 

Information of the producing party, the expert must execute a copy of 

the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order,” attached hereto as 
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Exhibit A. Counsel for the receiving party must retain executed copies 

of such exhibits; 

(c) The Court and any Court staff and administrative personnel; 

(d) Any court reporter employed in this litigation and acting in that 

capacity; and 

(e) Any person indicated on the face of the document to be its author or 

co-author, or any person identified on the face of the document as one 

to whom a copy of such document was sent before its production in 

this action. 

 6. Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL” may be viewed only by the 

individuals listed in paragraph 5, above, and by the additional individuals listed below: 

(a) Party principals or executives who are required to participate in policy 

decisions with reference to this action; 

(b) Technical personnel of the parties with whom Counsel for the parties 

find it necessary to consult, in the discretion of such Counsel, in 

preparation for trial of this action; and 

(h) Stenographic and clerical employees associated with the individuals 

identified above. 

 7. All information that has been designated as “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR 

COUNSEL ONLY” by the producing or disclosing party, and any and all reproductions of 

that information, must be retained in the custody of the Counsel for the receiving party, 

except that independent experts authorized to view such information under the terms of 

this Order may retain custody of copies such as are necessary for their participation in this 

litigation, but only during the course of this litigation. The principals, employees or other 

agents of the parties who received information prior to and apart from this litigation that 

was subsequently disclosed in this litigation as being either “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

“CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” may also retain copies of that information 

as is necessary for use in their respective businesses. 
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8. Before any Materials produced in discovery, answers to interrogatories, 

responses to requests for admissions, deposition transcripts, or other documents which are 

designated as Confidential Information are filed with the Court for any purpose, the party 

seeking to file such material must seek permission of the Court to file the material under 

seal. Nothing in this order shall be construed as automatically permitting a party to file 

under seal. The party seeking leave of Court shall show “compelling reasons” (where the 

motion is more than tangentially related to the merits of the case) or “good cause” for filing 

under seal. See Ctr. For Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir. 

2016). Additionally, such party seeking to file under seal shall, within the applicable 

deadline, file a redacted, unsealed version of any motion, response or reply if such party is 

waiting for a ruling from the Court on filing an unredacted, sealed version of the same 

document.1

 Further, no portion of the trial of the matter shall be conducted under seal. 

 9. Confidential Information and Materials designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

“CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” shall be used solely for the prosecution or 

defense of this action. A party who wishes to use Confidential Information and/or Materials 

designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” for a 

purpose other than the prosecution or defense of this action must request permission, in 

writing, from Counsel for the producing party. The receiving party’s request must identify 

the Confidential Information and/or Materials designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

“CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” that the receiving party wishes to use, and 

identify the purpose for which it wishes to use Confidential Information and/or Materials 

designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY.” If the 

parties cannot resolve the question of whether the receiving party can use Confidential 

 

1

 If a party wishes to use the opposing party’s confidential designations to support 

or oppose a motion, the opposing party bears the burden to make the “compelling reasons” 

showing. In the event the party wishing to use the confidential information anticipates this 

scenario arising, the party shall initiate a discovery dispute conference call consistent with 

the terms of the Court’s Rule 16 Scheduling Order at least fourteen (14) days before the 

due date of the filing in which the party wishes to reference the information. 
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Information and/or Materials designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

“CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” for a purpose other than the prosecution or 

defense of this action within fourteen (14) days of the producing party’s receipt of such a 

request, the receiving party may move the Court for a ruling on the receiving party’s 

request. In the event any party files a motion seeking to use Confidential Information and/or 

Materials designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL 

ONLY” for a purpose other than the prosecution or defense of this action, the Confidential 

Information and/or Materials designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – 

FOR COUNSEL ONLY” shall be submitted to the Court, under seal, for an in-camera 

inspection. Any Confidential Information and/or Materials designated “CONFIDENTIAL” 

or “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” at issue must be treated as Confidential 

Information, as designated by the producing party, until the Court has ruled on the motion 

or the matter has been otherwise resolved. 

 10. At any stage of these proceedings, any party may object to a designation of 

Materials as Confidential Information. The party objecting to confidentiality must notify, 

in writing, Counsel for the producing party of the objected-to Materials and the grounds 

for the objection. If the dispute is not resolved consensually between the parties within 

fourteen (14) days of receipt of such a notice of objections, the objecting party may move 

the Court for a ruling on the objection. In the event any party files a motion challenging 

the designation or redaction of information, the document shall be submitted to the Court, 

under seal, for an in-camera inspection. The Materials at issue must be treated as 

Confidential Information, as designated by the producing party, until the Court has ruled 

on the objection or the matter has been otherwise resolved. 

 11. At any stage of these proceedings, any party may request that it be permitted 

to disclose Materials designated as Confidential Information to individuals not permitted 

by this Order to view such Materials. The party must notify, in writing, Counsel for the 

producing party of the identity of the relevant Materials and the individuals to whom the 

party wishes to disclose the Materials. If the request is not resolved consensually between 
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the parties within fourteen (14) days of receipt of such a request, the requesting party may 

move the Court for a ruling allowing such disclosure. In the event any party files a motion 

requesting such disclosure, the document shall be submitted to the Court, under seal, for 

an in-camera inspection. The Materials at issue must be treated as Confidential 

Information, as designated by the producing party, until the Court has ruled on the request. 

 12. All Confidential Information must be held in confidence by those inspecting 

or receiving it. To the extent the Confidential Information has not been disclosed prior to 

and apart from this litigation, it must be used only for purposes of this action. If the 

Confidential Information was exchanged between the parties prior to and apart from this 

litigation for purposes of conducting their respective businesses, the parties may continue 

to use that otherwise Confidential Information for that purpose. The parties may not 

distribute the Confidential Information beyond those persons or entities that had received 

the Confidential Information prior to this litigation. In addition, counsel for each party, and 

each person receiving Confidential Information, must take reasonable precautions to 

prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such information. If Confidential 

Information is disclosed to any person other than a person authorized by this Order, the 

party responsible for the unauthorized disclosure must immediately bring all pertinent facts 

relating to the unauthorized disclosure to the attention of the other parties and, without 

prejudice to any rights and remedies of the other parties, make every effort to prevent 

further disclosure by the party and by the person(s) receiving the unauthorized disclosure. 

 13. No party will be responsible to another party for disclosure of Confidential 

Information under this Order if the information in question is not labeled or otherwise 

identified as such in accordance with this Order. 

 14. If a party, through inadvertence, produces any Confidential Information 

without labeling or marking or otherwise designating it as such in accordance with this 

Order, the producing party may give written notice to the receiving party that the Materials 

produced are deemed Confidential Information, and that the Materials produced should be 

treated as such in accordance with that designation under this Order. The receiving party 
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must treat the Materials as confidential, once the producing party so notifies the receiving 

party. If the receiving party has disclosed the Materials before receiving the designation, 

the receiving party must notify the producing party in writing of each such disclosure. 

Counsel for the parties will agree on a mutually acceptable manner of labeling or marking 

the inadvertently produced Materials as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – FOR 

COUNSEL ONLY” SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER. 

 15. Nothing within this Order will prejudice the right of any party to object to 

the production of any discovery material on the grounds that the material is protected as 

privileged or as attorney work product. 

 16. Nothing in this Order will bar Counsel from rendering advice to their clients 

with respect to this litigation and, in the course thereof, relying upon any information 

designated as Confidential Information, provided that the contents of the information must 

not be disclosed. 

 17. This Order will be without prejudice to the right of any party to oppose 

production of any information for lack of relevance or any other ground other than the mere 

presence of Confidential Information. The existence of this Order must not be used by 

either party as a basis for discovery that is otherwise improper under the Federal Rules of 

Civil Procedure. 

 18. Information designated Confidential pursuant to this Order also may be 

disclosed if: (a) the party or non-party making the designation consents to such disclosure; 

(b) the Court, after notice to all affected persons, allows such disclosure; or (c) the party to 

whom Confidential Information has been produced thereafter becomes obligated to 

disclose the information in response to a lawful subpoena, provided that the subpoenaed 

party gives prompt notice to Counsel for the party which made the designation, and permits 

Counsel for that party sufficient time to intervene and seek judicial protection from the 

enforcement of this subpoena and/or entry of an appropriate protective order in the action 

in which the subpoena was issued. 
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 19. Nothing in this Confidentiality Order shall limit any producing party’s use 

of its own documents or shall prevent any producing party from disclosing its own 

Confidential Information to any person. Such disclosures shall not affect any confidential 

designation made pursuant to the terms of this Order so long as the disclosure is made in a 

manner which is reasonably calculated to maintain the confidentiality of the information. 

Nothing in this Order shall prevent or otherwise restrict Counsel from rendering advice to 

their clients, and in the course thereof, relying on examination of stamped confidential 

information. 

 20. Within thirty (30) days of the final termination of this action, including any 

and all appeals, Counsel for each party must purge all Confidential Information from all 

machine-readable media on which it resides and must either (a) return all Confidential 

Information to the party that produced the information, including any copies, excerpts, and 

summaries of that information, or (b) destroy same. With respect to paper copies, return or 

destruction of Confidential Information is at the option of the producing party. 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, Counsel for each party may retain all pleadings, briefs, 

memoranda, motions, and other documents filed with the Court that refer to or incorporate 

Confidential Information, and will continue to be bound by this Order with respect to all 

such retained information, after the conclusion of this litigation. Further, attorney work 

product Materials that contain Confidential Information need not be destroyed, but, if they 

are not destroyed, the person in possession of the attorney work product will continue to 

be bound by this Order with respect to all such retained information, after the conclusion 

of this litigation. 

 21. The restrictions and obligations set forth within this Order will not apply to 

any information that: (a) the parties agree should not be designated Confidential 

Information; (b) the parties agree, or the Court rules, is already public knowledge; or (c) 

the parties agree, or the Court rules, has become public knowledge other than as a result of 

disclosure by the receiving party, its employees, or its agents, in violation of this Order. 
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 22. Any party may designate as “CONFIDENTIAL” OR “CONFIDENTIAL – 

FOR COUNSEL ONLY” any Materials that were produced during the course of this action 

without such designation before the effective date of this Order, as follows: 

(a) Parties to this action may designate such Materials by sending written 

notice of such designation, accompanied by copies of the designated 

Materials bearing the appropriate legend of “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

“CONFIDENTIAL – FOR COUNSEL ONLY” to all other parties in 

possession or custody of such previously undesignated Materials. Any 

party receiving such notice and copies of designated Materials 

pursuant to this subparagraph shall return to the producing party all 

undesignated copies of such Materials in its custody or possession, or 

shall affix the appropriate legend to all copies of the designated 

Materials in its custody or possession. 

(b) Upon notice of designation pursuant to this paragraph, parties shall 

also: (i) make no disclosure of such designated Materials or 

information contained therein except as allowed under this Order; and 

(ii) take reasonable steps to notify any persons known to have 

possession of such designated Materials or information of the effect 

of such designation under this Order. 

(c) All such designations must be made within thirty (30) days of the date 

of this Order. 

 23. Transmission by e-mail or facsimile is acceptable for all notification 

purposes within this Order. 

 24. This Order may be modified by agreement of the parties, subject to approval 

by the Court. 

 25. The Court may modify the terms and conditions of this Order for good cause, 

or in the interest of justice, or on its own order at any time in these proceedings. 
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 26. After termination of this action, the provisions of this Order shall continue to 

be binding, except with respect to those documents and information that became a matter 

of public record. This Court retains and shall have continuing jurisdiction over the parties 

and recipients of Confidential Information and Materials designated as confidential for 

enforcement of the provisions of this Order following termination of this litigation. 

 Dated this 4th day of December, 2018. 

Honorable John J. Tuchi 

United States District Judge 
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

Joseph Sorge, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

Yelp Incorporated, 

Defendant. 

No. CV-17-04518-PHX-JJT

AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY 

PROTECTIVE ORDER 

 I, _________________________________________, declare and say that: 

 1. I am employed as _________________________________________ by 

_________________________________________ and have received a copy of the Order. 

 2. I have read the Protective Order (the “Order”) entered in 

_____________________________________ and have received a copy of the Order. 

 3. I promise that I will use any and all “Confidential” or “Confidential – For 

Counsel Only” information, as defined in the Order, given to me only in a manner 

authorized by the Order, and only to assist Counsel in the litigation of this matter. 

 4. I promise that I will not disclose or discuss such “Confidential” or 

“Confidential – For Counsel Only” information with anyone other than the persons 

described in paragraphs 3, 8 and 9 of the Order. 

 5. I acknowledge that, by signing this agreement, I am subjecting myself to the 

jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona with respect to 

the enforcement of the Order. 
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 6. I understand that any disclosure or use of “Confidential” or “Confidential – 

For Counsel Only” information in any manner contrary to the provisions of the Protective 

Order may subject me to sanctions for contempt of court. 

 7. I will return all “Confidential” or “Confidential – For Counsel Only” 

Materials (as defined in the Order) to the attorney who provided it to me, upon request of 

that attorney, and I shall not retain any copies of said Materials or any information 

contained within “Confidential” or “Confidential – For Counsel Only” Materials. 

 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. 

Date: 

 Signature