Filed: May 11, 2018
Latest Update: May 11, 2018
Summary: ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT CLAIR COUTURIER'S MOTION TO MODIFY THE PROTECTIVE ORDER KENDALL J. NEWMAN , Magistrate Judge . ORDER Defendant Clair R. Couturier, Jr., a party to the protective order entered on February 22, 2006 (ECF No. 24) ("Protective Order"), has moved to modify, or in the alternative, vacate the Protective Order. (ECF No. 798.) A hearing on the motion was noticed for May 17, 2018. ( Id. ) In accordance with Local Rule 230(c), any opposition to the motion was due fourteen (14
Summary: ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT CLAIR COUTURIER'S MOTION TO MODIFY THE PROTECTIVE ORDER KENDALL J. NEWMAN , Magistrate Judge . ORDER Defendant Clair R. Couturier, Jr., a party to the protective order entered on February 22, 2006 (ECF No. 24) ("Protective Order"), has moved to modify, or in the alternative, vacate the Protective Order. (ECF No. 798.) A hearing on the motion was noticed for May 17, 2018. ( Id. ) In accordance with Local Rule 230(c), any opposition to the motion was due fourteen (14)..
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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT CLAIR COUTURIER'S MOTION TO MODIFY THE PROTECTIVE ORDER
KENDALL J. NEWMAN, Magistrate Judge.
ORDER
Defendant Clair R. Couturier, Jr., a party to the protective order entered on February 22, 2006 (ECF No. 24) ("Protective Order"), has moved to modify, or in the alternative, vacate the Protective Order. (ECF No. 798.) A hearing on the motion was noticed for May 17, 2018. (Id.) In accordance with Local Rule 230(c), any opposition to the motion was due fourteen (14) days prior to the hearing, i.e., on May 3, 2018. No opposition to the motion was filed.
In his motion, defendant Couturier essentially requests modification of the Protective Order to allow him to use documents produced subject to the Protective Order in a Tax Court Proceeding he initiated against the Internal Revenue Service. According to the motion, plaintiffs' counsel authorized Mr. Couturier's counsel to state that plaintiffs have no objections to the proposed modifications, but would object to vacating the Protective Order. Counsel for defendant Johanson purportedly represented that Mr. Johanson had no position on the relief sought. According to Mr. Couturier's counsel, he received no reply from counsel for the defendant corporate entities TEOHC Corporation, Noll Manufacturing Company, Inc., and Noll Manufacturing Company Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Trust, which have all been dissolved. Additionally, defendant Robert Eddy died in 2010, and there is apparently no known counsel representing his interests.
In light of counsel for defendant Couturier's representations and the failure of any party to file an opposition to defendant Couturier's noticed motion, the court finds it appropriate to submit the motion without a hearing pursuant to Local Rule 230(g) and grant the motion.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. The May 17, 2018 hearing is VACATED.
2. Defendant Couturier's motion to modify the protective order (ECF No. 798) is GRANTED.
3. The Protective Order is modified (1) to include the Internal Revenue Service, its employees, and its agents as parties who may receive documents designated "Confidential" or "Attorney's Eyes Only" pursuant to the protective order and (2) to include the United States Tax Court proceeding entitled Couturier v. Commissioner, Case No. 019714-16 (filed September 7, 2016), as a proceeding in which such materials may be used pursuant to the protective order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
