Wooten et al v. General Motors, LLC
Filing
15
PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Honorable Susan O. Hickey on February 27, 2014. (mll)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
TEXARKANA DIVISION
VIRGINIA GAYLE WOOTEN, HEIR AT
LAW AND AS SPECIAL
ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE
OF JAMES REDFEARN, DECEASED;
TOMMY REDFEARN, HEIR AT LAW;
JAMES STEVEN REDFEARN, HEIR AT
LAW; AND SHARON KELLY, HEIR AT
LAW
Plaintiffs,
v.
GENERAL MOTORS, LLC
Defendant.
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§ CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:13-cv-4094
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AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion for Entry of Protective Order. (ECF No. 14).
Upon consideration, the Court finds that the motion should be and hereby is GRANTED.
This Protective Order is issued to facilitate document disclosure and production under the
Local Rules of this Court and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Unless modified pursuant to
the terms contained in this Order, this Order shall remain in effect through the conclusion of this
litigation.
In support of this order, the Court finds that:
1.
Documents or information containing confidential proprietary and business information
and/or trade secrets (“Confidential Information”) that bear significantly on the parties’
claims or defenses is likely to be disclosed or produced during the course of discovery in
this litigation;
2.
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 place that party at a competitive
disadvantage;
3.
Counsel for the party or parties receiving Confidential Information are presently without
sufficient information to accept the representation(s) made by the party or parties
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
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producing Confidential Information as to the confidential, proprietary, and/or trade secret
nature of such Confidential Information; and
4.
To protect the respective interests of the parties and to facilitate the progress of disclosure
and discovery in this case, the following Order should issue:
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT:
1.
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 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.
2.
Protected Documents shall not include (a) advertising materials, (b) materials that on their
face show that they have been published to the general public, or (c) documents that have
submitted to any governmental entity without request for confidential treatment.
3.
At any time after the delivery of Protected Documents, counsel for the party or parties
receiving the Protected Documents may challenge the Confidential designation of all or
any portion thereof by providing written notice thereof 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 party or parties receiving
the Protected Documents shall certify to the Court that the parties cannot reach an
agreement as to the confidential nature of all or a portion of the Protected Documents.
Thereafter, the party or parties disclosing or producing the Protected Documents shall have
ten (10) days from the date of certification to file a motion for protective order with regard
to any Protected Documents in dispute. The party or parties producing the Protected
Documents shall have the burden of establishing that the disputed Protected Documents
are entitled to confidential treatment. If the party or parties producing the Protected
Documents do not timely file a motion for protective order, then the Protected Documents
in dispute shall 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.
4.
Confidential Treatment. Protected Documents and any information contained therein
shall not be used or shown, disseminated, copied, or in any way communicated to anyone
for any purpose whatsoever, except as provided for below.
5.
Protected Documents and any information contained therein shall be disclosed only to the
following persons (“Qualified Persons”):
A.
Counsel of record in this action for the party or party receiving Protected
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
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B.
Documents or any information contained therein;
Employees of such counsel (including experts) assigned to and necessary to assist
such counsel in the preparation and trial of this action; and
C.
The Court.
Protected Documents and any information contained therein shall be used solely for the
prosecution of this litigation.
6.
Counsel of record for the party or parties receiving Protected Documents may create an
index of the Protected Documents and furnish it to attorneys of record representing or
having represented parties involved in litigation involving the claims alleged in this suit
against the party or parties disclosing or producing the Protected Documents. The index
may only identify the document, date, author, and general subject matter of any Protected
Document, but may not reveal the substance of any such document. Counsel for the party
or parties receiving Protected Documents shall maintain a current log of the names and
addresses of persons to whom the index was furnished
7.
The term “copy” as used herein means any photographic, mechanical or computerized
copy or reproduction of any document or thing, or any verbatim transcript, in whole or in
part, of such document or thing.
8.
To the extent that Protected Documents or information contained therein are used in
depositions, at hearings, or at trial, such documents or information shall remain subject to
the provisions of this Order, along with the transcript pages of the deposition testimony
and/or trial testimony referring to the Protected Documents or information contained
therein.
9.
Any court reporter or transcriber who reports or transcribes testimony in this action shall
agree that all “confidential” information designated as such under this Order 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 such testimony (and any accompanying
exhibits) will be retained by the reporter or delivered to counsel of record.
10.
Inadvertent or unintentional production of documents or information containing
Confidential Information which are not designated “confidential” shall not be deemed a
waiver in whole or in part of a claim for confidential treatment.
11.
The party or parties receiving Protected Documents shall not under any circumstances sell,
offer for sale, advertise, or publicize Protected Documents or any information contained
therein.
12.
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 Protected Documents for enforcement of the provisions of this Order
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
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following termination of this litigation.
13.
Upon termination of this action by dismissal, judgment, or settlement, counsel for the party
or parties receiving Protected Documents shall return the Protected Documents to the
counsel for the party or parties disclosing or producing the Protected Documents. The
party or parties receiving the Protected Documents shall keep their attorney work product
which refers or relates to any Protected Documents. Attorney work product may be used
in subsequent litigation provided that such use does not disclose Protected Documents or
any information contained therein.
14.
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.
IT IS SO ORDERED, this 27th day of February, 2014.
/s/ Susan O. Hickey
Susan O. Hickey
United States District Judge
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
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