In addition to the deaths, the government has identified 250 injuries linked to tread separation accidents. The confidentiality orders applied only to trade secrets and formulations and these kinds of matters. Crigger told lawmakers. But advocates of openness, including safety groups and the ATLA, call that a cop-out. But what rankles openness advocates most is the protective order, a judicial decree issued routinely in business litigation limiting access to company information to participants in the lawsuit.
Civil lawsuits are essentially private matters pursued in public courts.
Openness advocates argue the public, therefore, has a stake in knowing what transpires at every stage. Many, like Judge Schockett and defense lawyers, disagree. Legal experts say that in the daily administration of justice, none of the parties is looking out first and foremost for the public interest. Defense lawyers have no incentive to do anything but seek the broadest, most restrictive protective order possible. As an advocate for your client, you're going to start with a position that's fairly broad,'' says Lloyd Milliken, an Indianapolis defense lawyer.