Rhoads v. Standard Insurance Company
Filing
11
STIPULATION AND ORDER OF CONFIDENTIALITY AND PERMITTING FILING OF DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL. Signed by Judge Kristine G. Baker on 10/10/2014. (jak)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
WESTERN DIVISION
CAROL ANN RHOADS
v.
PLAINTIFF
Case No. 4:14-cv-00315 KGB
STANDARD INSURANCE COMPANY
DEFENDANT
STIPULATION AND ORDER OF CONFIDENTIALITY
AND PERMITTING FILING OF DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL
It is hereby STIPULATED AND AGREED by and among the parties hereto that the
following procedures shall govern the production and exchange of all documents, testimony, and
other information produced, given or exchanged by and among the parties in the course of this
action and that such procedures shall apply from the date of execution of this Agreement until
approved or modified by the Court and thereafter as so ordered.
It is hereby AGREED AND ORDERED that:
(1)
All Confidential Information produced or exchanged in the course of this
Litigation shall be used solely for the purpose of this Litigation.
(2)
“Confidential Information” as used herein means any type or classification of
information which is designated as confidential by the supplying party, whether it be a
document, information contained in a document, information revealed during a deposition,
information revealed in any other form of disclosure, discovery or otherwise. In designating
information as confidential, the supplying party will make such designation only as to that
information that it in good faith believes contains (a) information, the disclosure of which would
embarrass or annoy any person, (b) personal financial information, (c) trade secret or (d) other
confidential commercial information. Information or material which is available to the public
shall not be designated as confidential.
(3)
“Qualified Persons” as used herein means:
(a)
Attorneys of records and their party clients to this litigation and attorneys
designated as of counsel in this Litigation and employees of such attorneys to whom it is
necessary that the material be shown for purposes of this litigation.
(b)
Inside counsel of a party working directly on the litigation, including staff
and support personnel who are working directly on the litigation under the direction of counsel
and to whom it is necessary that the material be shown for purposes of this litigation.
(c)
Persons retained by a party or its attorneys of record in this litigation
solely for the purpose of discovery in this litigation or assisting in the preparation of this
litigation for trial, such as independent (i.e. non-employee) technical experts, consultants,
witnesses or prospective witnesses, who have signed the written Confidentiality Agreement
attached hereto as Exhibit “A.”
(d)
Any other person who is designated as a Qualified Person by Order of this
Court after notice to all parties.
(4)
Documents produced by a party may be designated as Confidential Information
by marking the initial page:
“CONFIDENTIAL”
In lieu of marking the original of a document if the original is not produced, the party may mark
the copies that are produced or exchanged.
(5)
Information disclosed at the deposition of a party or of one of its present or
former officers, directors, employees, agents, or independent experts retained by a party for
purposes of this litigation may be designated by that party as Confidential Information by
indicating on the record at the deposition that the testimony is confidential and subject to the
provisions of this order. The party may also designate information disclosed at such deposition
as confidential by notifying all parties in writing, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the
transcript, of the specific pages and lines of the transcript which are confidential. Each party
shall attach a copy of such written statement to the face of the transcript and each copy thereof in
his possession, custody or control. All depositions shall be treated as confidential for a period of
forty-five (45) days after receipt of the transcript.
(6)
Confidential Information shall not be made available to persons other than
Qualified Persons or the party who produced the Confidential Information, or any person or
party who is the proprietor or source of the Confidential Information.
(7)
Nothing shall prevent disclosure beyond the terms of this Agreement and Order to
any local, state or federal governmental or law enforcement agency pursuant to and in
accordance with subpoenas or other lawful directives.
(8)
No party shall be responsible to another party for any use made of information
produced and not designated as “Confidential Information.”
(9)
The inadvertent or unintentional disclosure by the supplying party of Confidential
Information regardless of whether the information was so designated at the time of disclosure,
shall not be deemed a waiver in whole or in part of a party’s claim of confidentiality, either as to
the specific information disclosed or as to any other information relating thereto or on the same
or related subject matter.
(10)
A party shall not be obligated to challenge the propriety of a confidentiality
designation at the time made, and a failure to do so shall not preclude a subsequent challenge
thereto. In the event that any party to this litigation disagrees at any stage of these proceedings
with the designation by the supplying party of any information as confidential, the parties shall
try first to resolve such dispute in good faith on an informal basis. If the dispute cannot be
resolved, the objecting party may seek appropriate relief from this Court. The parties may by
stipulation provide for exceptions to this order and any party may seek an order of this Court
modifying this protective order. This order shall be without prejudice to any party to bring
before the Court at any time the question of whether any particular information is or is not in fact
confidential information as that term may be determined by the Court; upon such hearing the
party asserting Confidential Information shall have the burden of establishing same. Nothing
shall be regarded as Confidential Information if it is information that either:
(a)
document;
is in the public domain at the time of disclosure as evidenced by a written
(b)
becomes part of the public domain, through no fault of the other party, as
evidenced by a written document; or
(c)
the receiving party can show by written document that the information was in its
possession at the time of disclosure.
(11)
The Clerk of this Court is directed to maintain under seal all documents and
transcripts of deposition testimony and any other documents filed in Court in this litigation
which have been designated, in whole or in part, as Confidential Information by a party to this
action.
(12)
In the event that a party wishes to use any Confidential Information in any
affidavits, briefs, memoranda of law, or other papers filed in Court in this litigation, such
Confidential Information shall be maintained under seal by the Court.
(13)
Within sixty (60) days after the conclusion of this litigation, any originals or
reproductions of any documents produced by a party shall be returned to the producing party.
Insofar as the provisions of any protective orders entered in this action restrict the
communication and use of the documents produced thereunder, such orders shall continue to be
binding after the conclusion of this litigation except (a) that there shall be no restriction on
documents that are used as exhibits in Court (unless such exhibits were filed under seal) and (b)
that a party may seek the written permission of the producing party or further order of the Court
with respect to dissolution or modification of such protective orders.
(14)
Nothing in this Order shall bar or otherwise restrict any attorney herein from
rendering advice to his client with respect to this litigation and, in the course thereof, referring to
or relying upon his examination of Confidential Information produced or exchanged herein;
provided, however that in rendering such advice and in otherwise representing his clients, the
attorney shall not disclose the contents of or the source of any Confidential Information produced
by another party herein to a party not represented by him or her which disclosure would be
contrary to the terms of this order.
(15)
Nothing herein shall affect or inhibit the right of any party to offer for admission
into evidence at trial or submit to the Court in connection with any filed pleadings in this case,
any purportedly “Confidential” document provided, however, that “Confidential” documents
shall be submitted under seal in connection with any filed pleadings prior to trial.
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, nothing herein shall prohibit a party from
offering any “Confidential” document into evidence, provided however, if either party desires to
condition or limit the admission into evidence any “Confidential” document, said party shall file
an appropriate motion, no less than thirty (30) days prior to trial, for the Court’s consideration, or
otherwise make an appropriate and timely objection. It is the intention of the parties that this
Stipulation and Order, and the procedure set out herein, not expand, limit or in any way
whatsoever alter the substantive rules otherwise applicable to the admission of evidence in the
trial this case.
SO ORDERED this 10th day of October, 2014.
____________________________________
Kristine G. Baker
United States District Judge
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