In trade secret cases, the parties routinely produce confidential and proprietary information to each other. Typically, a protective order is entered that permits the parties to designate information as confidential (which means, inter alia, that it can only be used in the litigation) and states how the information is to be treated.
Super-sensitive information can be designated as “Attorneys Eyes Only,” which means that the attorneys, but not their clients, may review the information.
But what about in-house counsel? Are they permitted to see the information? As the attached article indicates, the answer to this question is not always obvious.