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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 204-9 Filed 04/16/21 Page4of6
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uncontested subpoena for documents—precisely the scenario here—such relief would be
appropriate. Chemical Bank, 154 F.R.D. at 94.
Second, any presumption against modification of a protective order is unreasonable where,
as here, the protective order is on its face temporary or limited. Such protective orders “that are
on their face temporary or limited may not justify reliance by the parties [and] in such
circumstances reliance may be unreasonable.” S.E.C. v. TheStreet.com, 273 F.3d 222, 230-31 (2d
Cir. 2001). “Where a litigant or deponent could not reasonably have relied on the continuation of
a protective order”—for example, where such an order was limited to the pretrial stages of
litigation—“a court may properly permit modification of the order.” Jd. (citing In re “Agent
Orange” Prod. Liab. Litig., 821 F.2d 139, 147 (2d Cir. 1987)); see also Allen v. City of New York,
420 F.Supp.2d 295, 301 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (Mag. J. Gorenstein) (analyzing the differently-situated
interests of civil litigants but where, as here, the relevant protective order specified that a party
could object to the designation of a document as confidential, and was also temporary or limited
on its face). In sucha case, “‘[w]hether to lift or modify a protective order is a decision committed
to the sound discretion of the trial court.’”” TheStreet.com, 273 F.3d at 231 (modification in
original) (citing Jn re Agent Orange, 821 F.3d at 147) (additional citations omitted). Here, the
parties in the Litigation explicitly contemplated the public disclosure of such information at trial
by the very terms of the Protective Order, thereby establishing precisely the kind of temporal limit
described above. See Prot. Order at 6 (“This Protective Order shall have no force and effect on
the use of any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION at trial in this matter.”). The parties could not
have—as, for example, they might in a bankruptcy proceeding such as in Subpoena Duces
Tecum—relied upon the Protective Order to indefinitely keep the relevant materials hidden.
In this case, where the Protective Order is limited by its terms to only the pretrial stages
of the civil litigation, no confidential business information appears to be at issue, and counsel for
the victims of the suspected crimes being investigated have indicated a willingness to voluntarily
comply with the Subpoena, the “sound discretion of [this] court,” TheStreet.com, 273 F.3d at 231,
militates overwhelmingly toward limited, narrow modification of the Protective Order to permit
compliance with the Subpoena.” This is consistent with the grand jury’s “wide ranging authority
to inquire into suspected violations of the criminal law; and to effectuate such investigations it may
compel the production of documentary evidence or the testimony of witnesses, as it deems
necessary.” Jd. at 421-22; see Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 688 (1972) (“Although the
powers of the grand jury are not unlimited and are subject to the supervision of a judge, the
longstanding principle that ‘the public . . . has a right to every man’s evidence,’ except for those
> The Government notes that any materials produced pursuant to a grand jury subpoena fall under
the protections and restrictions set forth in Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e), and further notes and emphasizes
that the proposed order accompanying the Application provides no additional exception or
modification to the Protective Order as to the recipient of the subpoena other than the narrow,
limited ability to comply with grand jury process. The Protective Order will remain otherwise
intact and fully enforceable.
SDNY_GM_00000922
CONFIDENTIAL
DOJ-OGR-00003553
Extracted Information
Dates
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00003553.jpg |
| File Size | 1159.8 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 93.9% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 3,730 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 16:38:02.589990 |