Sunday, May 17, 2009

TRADE SECRET PROTECTION SIMPLIFIED FOR THE LAY PERSON

Donald F. Conviser, Certified Family Specialist owner of Warner Center Law Offices in Woodland Hills, in the San Fernando Valley, serving people in family law and divorce cases in the Courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years, offering a free confidential consultation at 818-880-8990, provides a simplified version of his blog posted last night, this version written for the lay person.

If the other party in a case (i.e., a divorce, family law, or even a civil or criminal case) seeks information or documents from you (whether you are a party to the case or a person whose confidential records or information is sought for the case) which would disclose confidential information - such as a trade secret, the public disclosure of which could devastate your business [such as the formulation of Coca Cola, or the techniques and/or processes used to fabricate a product, etc.], or your social security number or computer passwords, you should immediately contact and set an appointment with a competent lawyer to review the subpoena or discovery requests and determine what protection is needed and why, and to have that lawyer endeavor to meet and confer with the seeking party's attorney in an effort to either come to agreement [a Stipulation and Order filed with the Court] that the confidential matters do not have to be disclosed, or that they will be disclosed for only the specific restricted use in and for the case, and not used by or disclosed by the recipient to any other person or business, and providing for specific penalities enforceable by the Court for disclosure or use beyond the permitted process.

If such an agreement cannot be promptly reached and submitted in the form of a STIPULATION AND ORDER for PROTECTIVE ORDER signed by the propounding attorney and his client, you and your attorney [and if you are not a party to the case, then all the other attorneys and parties], your attorney MUST PROMPTLY file and serve a Motion for Protective Order seeking the Court's intervention and protection. By promptly filing and serving that Motion, your time to respond to and/or produce under the seeking party's discovery is put on hold pending the Court's determination on that Motion. I would suggest that you attend the hearing on the Motion, as well, so that if the Judicial Officer has any questions, they can be quickly answered before the Order is made.

Please read my yesterday's blog in connection with this blog. I trust that this blog should clarify matters where "technicalities" addressed in my former blog may have made that blog difficult to follow.

When time permits, I will prepare a new blog addressing some specific provisions that I have put into Stipulated Protective Orders in Divorce or Family Law Cases in the Courts of Los Angeles or Ventura County.

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