Secrecy by Stipulation reveals that the “good cause” requirement often fails to prevent dubious protective orders. When parties stipulate that secrecy will facilitate discovery, courts are reluctant to disrupt the agreement. The authors—Nora Freeman Engstrom, David Freeman Engstrom, Jonah B. Gelbach, Austin Peters, and Aaron Schaffer-Neitz—acknowledge that prior scholarship has considered the potential harms of protective orders and the need for careful judicial scrutiny.