Legal Definitions - motion for protective order

A motion for protective order is a formal request made by one party in a lawsuit, asking the court to prevent the other party from taking an action that could be harmful, abusive, or unduly burdensome. These motions are most commonly filed during the "discovery" phase of a lawsuit, when parties exchange information and evidence. If granted, the court issues a "protective order," which is a legal directive outlining specific limitations or conditions on how certain information can be sought, used, or disclosed. The purpose is to safeguard a party from unreasonable intrusion, harassment, or the disclosure of sensitive information that is not truly relevant or necessary for the case.

Here are some examples of when a party might file a motion for protective order:

• Protecting Personal Privacy: Imagine a plaintiff suing a company for a slip-and-fall injury. During discovery, the defendant's lawyers demand access to the plaintiff's entire medical history, including unrelated mental health records from decades ago, and also seek to depose (question under oath) every single person the plaintiff has ever known. The plaintiff could file a motion for protective order arguing that these requests are overly broad, harassing, and invade their privacy without being relevant to the specific injury in question. The court might then issue an order limiting discovery to medical records directly related to the fall and restricting the number of depositions.

• Preventing Undue Burden and Expense: Consider a small tech startup being sued by a much larger corporation. The large corporation demands millions of emails, internal documents, and source code, requiring the startup to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on forensic IT experts and legal review, which would severely strain its limited resources. The startup could file a motion for protective order, arguing that the discovery requests impose an undue burden and expense disproportionate to the issues at stake in the case. The court might then limit the scope of electronic discovery, require the larger corporation to share some of the costs, or establish a phased approach to information exchange.

• Safeguarding Confidential Business Information: In a contract dispute between two companies, one company is required to disclose detailed financial projections, customer lists, and proprietary marketing strategies during discovery. While not strictly "trade secrets" in every legal sense, this information is highly confidential and could be misused by the opposing party if it falls into the wrong hands or becomes public. The company could file a motion for protective order to ensure that this sensitive business information, if disclosed, is kept confidential, used only for the purposes of the lawsuit, and not shared with third parties or made public. The court might then issue an order requiring that certain documents be marked "attorneys' eyes only" or be filed under seal.