Sunlight Financial LLC et al v. Hinkle et al, No. 1:2021cv06680 - Document 32 (S.D.N.Y. 2021)

Court Description: PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION ORDER granting 15 Motion for TRO; granting 15 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED. THAT: 1. To the extent to which the Enjoined Parties, except for counsel of record for Defendants, possess or have in their possession, custody or control any of Sunlight's non-public documents, materials, business information and other media, including Sunlight's non-public information incorporated into other documents and files, that were created, saved, or modified after January 1, 2021 ("Sunlight Material"), whether in paper or electronic form, without regard to whether Defendants believe that the Sunlight Material contains confidential, proprietary, or trade secret i nformation, Defendants agree that it will return all such Sunlight Materials (whether originals or copies thereof) in the following manner, except as limited below: as further set forth herein. With regard to the expedient containment, remediation an d return of Sunlight Material in electronic form, the parties will work diligently to jointly select a third-party forensic expert ("the Expert") who will be tasked with locating Sunlight Material, preserving all forensic information and ev idence relating to the same (including metadata), returning the Sunlight Material to Sunlight, providing a copy of all identified Sunlight Material to below-signed counsel of record for Defendants for purposes of this Action only and on an Attorney&# 039;s Eyes Only basis relative to Defendants, and otherwise removing Sunlight Material from Defendants' possession (the "Expert Review"). In conjunction with this process: i. The Expert shall report directly to both parties. The first $30,000 of the Experts fees and costs shall be exclusively borne by Defendants (in whatever manner Defendants choose to allocate such fees and costs among themselves), and any additional Expert fees and costs above the initial $30,000 shall be split evenly among the parties. The parties agree that no bond is required relating to the issuance of this Stipulated Preliminary Injunction Order. The parties shall file a joint status update with the Court within ten (10) days after the delive ry to Plaintiffs of the statements identified in Paragraph 2 (the "Joint Status Update"). Defendants' time to move, answer, or otherwise respond to the operative complaint in this Action shall be extended to, and including, 45 days af ter the submission of the Joint Status Update or 45 days after the filing of any amended complaint, whichever is later. The deadline for the parties to meet and confer pursuant to Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the commenceme nt of discovery, shall be stayed until and including 21 days after the filing of Defendants' answer. Nothing herein shall prevent the parties from requesting permission from the Court to pursue limited discovery before general discovery commences as set forth in this Paragraph. This Order shall remain in place until further order of the Court. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 8/24/2021) (kv) Transmission to Finance Unit (Cashiers) for processing.