What is the protective order granted to Blake Lively? Judge's decision in the Justin Baldoni case explained

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle got an update, with the Judge granting Lively a protective order, but it's a modified one with a limited scope of restrictions than she initially sought. Judge Lewis J. Liman finally made a decision on Thursday, March 13, 2025, regarding the request made by the actress' camp on March 6 for a stricter layer of protection for "already non-public information."

In Blake Lively's modified protective order, Judge Liman reinforced the "Attorneys' Eyes Only" designation, ruling that certain confidential materials will remain protected, but there are some limitations to its use. There's an extent to the AEO designations as opposed to Lively's initial broad confidentiality order, which the Judge "granted in part and denied in part." Judge Liman said:

"The Court has narrowed the provision stated that information may be marked AEO only if its disclose is 'highly likely to cause a significant business, commercial, financial, or privacy injury.'"

In the Judge's modified protective order ruling, the kinds of information he designated as AEO include "trade secrets" or "confidential business plans." It also includes other information about parties and third parties, like their "security measures taken" and "medical information."

Other information that will be kept confidential is "highly personal and intimate information," unless they are "directly relevant to the truth or falsity of any allegation in the complaint in this case."

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Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's lawyers comment on the Judge's protective order decision

Following Judge Lewis J. Liman's ruling on Blake Lively's request for stricter safeguards on sensitive information in her case against Justin Baldoni to prevent media leaks, both camps' legal teams shared their opinions.

While Lively's request was slightly modified by Judge Liman, her legal team shared their gratitude over the ruling. They said in a statement, per People:

"Today, the Court rejected the Wayfarer Parties' objections and entered the protections needed to ensure the free flow of discovery material without any risk of witness intimidation or harm to any individual's security."

Her legal team also shared that with the Judge granting the AEO, they will "move forward with the discovery process" and compile even more evidence to "prove" Blake Lively's claims in court.

As for Justin Baldoni's attorneys, they said that they are "fully in agreement" with the court's decision not to grant the full scope of Blake Lively's initial request, which they previously called excessive. Baldoni's main attorney, Bryan Freedman, said following the Judge's ruling on March 13 via People:

"We are fully in agreement with the Court's decision to provide a narrow scope of protections to categories such as private mental health records and personal security measures that have never been of interest to us..."

Freedman claims that the scope of Blake Lively's initial request was "exceedingly overboard," noting that she was requesting security of information for a 2.5-year period, which "the court rightly quashed."

In Judge Liman's ruling, the protective order will not be extended once the lawsuit arrives at its trial phase. He noted that the court is unlikely to afford confidential treatment to any discovery material that is being introduced as evidence, even if they were previously sealed and designated as confidential.

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Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's trial date is set for March 2026.