A court order preventing certain information from being disclosed in a lawsuit in response to an objection to a discovery request which seeks information of a sensitive nature, which is not relevant, or is harassing in nature.  A common example is medical information that is clearly irrelevant to the injuries claimed, will not lead to admissible evidence, and which is of a sensitive, prejudicial, or privileged nature.  The court may grant a protective order upon the motion of a party allowing a party or witness to disregard a discovery request for that information.  In some instances, protective orders may allow the defense attorney to review the information, but will dictate how the information is to be stored, who has access to it, and what happens to the information once the case concludes.