Collins v. Seeco Inc et al

Filing 25

PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Judge D. P. Marshall Jr. on 5/16/12. (kpr)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS

WESTERN DIVISION

RODNEY D. COLLINS, on Behalf of
Himself and All Others Similarly Sitauted

v.

PLAINTIFF

No. 4:11-cv-761-DPM

SEECO, INC.; DESOTO GATHERING
COMPANY, LLC; SOUTHWESTERN ENERGY
PRODUCTION COMPANY; SOUTHWESTERN
ENERGY COMPANY; and SOUTHWESTERN
ENERGY SERVICES COMPANY

DEFENDANTS

PROTECTIVE ORDER
I

Joint motion for protective order, Document No. 24, granted. The Court

approves the parties proposed protective order with minor changes. The
Court issues this Order to facilitate document disclosure and production
under the Local Rules and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Unless
modified under the terms of this Order, this Order shall remain in effect
through the conclusion of this litigation.
1.

IIConfidential Information" means documents or information

containing confidential proprietary and business information, trade secrets,
of information pertaining to persons not parties to this action that a party
reasonably believes may only be disclosed with restriction in order to avoid

violating the privacy or confidentiality rights of those non-parties.

Confidential information that bears significantly on the parties' claims or
defenses is likely to be disclosed or produced during the course of discovery
in this litigation.
/'

The parties to this litigation may assert that public dissemination and
disclosure of confidential information could severely injure or damage the
party disclosing or producing the confidential information and could expose
that party to potential liability or place that party at a competitive
disadvantage.

At this time, Counsel for a party receiving confidential

information is without sufficient information to accept the representations
made by a party producing confidential information as to the confidential,
proprietary, or trade secret nature of the confidential information.
2.

To protect the respective interests of the parties and to facilitate

the progress of disclosure and discovery in this case, the Court orders as
follows:
A.

Documents or discovery responses containing confidential

information disclosed or produced by any party in this litigation are referred
to as "protected documents." Except as otherwise indicated below, all

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documents or discovery responses designated by the producing party as
confidential and which are disclosed or produced to the attorneys for the
other parties to this litigation are protected documents and are entitled to
confidential treatment as described below.
Protected documents shall not include advertising materials, materials
that on their face show that they have been published to the general public,
of documents that have submitted to any governmental entity without
request for confidential treatment.
B.

At any time after the delivery of protected documents, counsel for

the parties receiving the protected documents may challenge the confidential
designation of all or part of the documents by providing written notice to
counsel for the party disclosing or producing the protected documents. If the
parties are unable to agree as to whether the confidential designation of
discovery material is appropriate, the parties receiving the protected
documents shall certify to the Court that the parties cannot reach an
agreement. The party disclosing or producing the protected documents shall
then have ten days to file a motion for protective order with regard to the
protected documents in dispute.

The party producing the protected

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documents has the burden of establishing that the disputed documents are
,
entitled to confidential treatment. If the party producing the protected
documents does not timely file a motion for protective order, then the
documents in dispute will no longer be subject to confidential treatment as
provided in this Order.
All protected documents are entitled to confidential treatment pursuant
to the terms of this Order until and unless the parties formally agree in
writing to the contrary, a party fails to timely move for a protective order, or
a ,contrary determination is made by the Court as to whether all or a portion
of a protected document is entitled to confidential treatment.
C.

Protected documents and any information they contain shall be

used solely for the prosecution of this litigation and shall be disclosed only to
qualified persons. Otherwise, they shall not be used, shown, disseminated,
copied, or in any way communicated to anyone for any purpose whatsoever.
Qualified persons include:

(a)

,

Representatives of the party receiving the protected documents
who are involved in the management of the lawsuit;

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(b)

Counsel of record in this action for the party receiving protected

documents or any information they contain;

(c)

Employees of that counsel (including experts and investigators)
assigned to and necessary to assist counsel in the preparation and

,

trial of this action; and
(d)

The Court.

D.

Counsel of record for the party or parties receiving protected

documents may create an index of the documents and furnish it to attorneys
of record who represent or have represented parties involved in litigation
about the claims alleged in this suit against the party disclosing or producing
the protected documents. The index may only identify the document, date,
author, and general subject matter of any protected document, but it may not
reveal the substance of the document. Counsel for the party receiving
protected documents shall maintain a current log of the names and addresses
of persons to whom the index was furnished.
E.

The term

II

copy" means any photographic, mechanical or

computerized copy or reproduction of any document or thing, or any
verbatim transcript, in whole or in part, of that document or thing.

,

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F.

To the extent that protected documents or the information they

contain are used in depositions, at hearings, or at trial, those documents and
information shall remain subject to the provisions of this Order, along with
the transcript pages of the deposition testimony or trial testimony referring
to the protected documents or information
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Any court reporter or transcriber who reports or transcribes testimony

in this action shall agree that all designated confidential information
designated shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed by them,
except pursuant to the terms of this Order, and that any notes or
transcriptions of that testimony (and any accompanying exhibits) will be
retained by the reporter or delivered to counsel of record.
G.

Nothing in this Order shall require production of information that

a party contends is protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege
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work-product immunity. If information subject to a claim of attorney­

client privilege or work-product immunity is inadvertently produced, that
production shall in no way prejudice or otherwise constitute a waiver or
estoppel as to any privilege or immunity. If any party inadvertently produces
materials protected under the attorney-client privilege or work-product

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,
immunity, the holder of that privilege or immunity may obtain the return of
those materials by complying with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
26(b)(5)(B). Nothing in this Order shall prevent the receiving party from
challenging the propriety of the attomey-client privilege or work-product
immunity by complying with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B).
Notwithstanding this provision, no person is required to delete information
that may reside on the respective person's electronic back-up systems that are
over-written in the normal course of business. Further, inadvertent or
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unintentional production of documents or information containing confidential
information that are not designated confidential shall not be deemed a waiver
in whole or in part of a claim for confidential treatment.
H.

The party receiving protected documents shall not under any

circumstances sell, offer for sale, advertise, or publicize protected documents
or any information contained therein.
I.

After termination of this litigation, the provisions of this Order

shall continue to be binding, except with respect to those documents and

,
information that become a matter of public record. This Court retains and
shall have continuing jurisdiction over the parties and recipients of the

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protected documents for enforcement of the provisions of this Order for a
I'

period of three years after termination of this litigation.

J.

Upon termination of this action by dismissal, judgment, or

settlement, counsel parties receiving protected documents shall return them
to the counsel for the party disclosing or producing the protected documents
or, alternatively, certify to counsel for the producing party that the protected
documents have been destroyed. The party or parties receiving the protected
documents shall keep their attorney work product that refers or relates to any
protected documents. Attorney work product may be used in subsequent
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litigation provided that this use does not disclose protected documents or any
information contained therein.
K.

This Order shall be binding upon the parties and their attorneys,

successors, executors, personal representatives, administrators, heirs, legal
representatives, assigns,

subsidiaries,

divisions,

employees,

agents,

independent contractors, or other persons or organizations over which they
have control.
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L.

This Order may be modified with leave of Court and upon a

showing of good cause by one or more parties.

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So Ordered.

D.P. Marshall Jr.
#
United States District Judge

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