Neylon et al v. County of Inyo et al

Filing 32

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 12/21/2016. (Hall, S)

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Mark E. Merin (State Bar No. 043849)
Paul H. Masuhara (State Bar No. 289805)

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LAW OFFICE OF MARK E. MERIN

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1010 F Street, Suite 300
Sacramento, California 95814
Telephone:
[phone]
Facsimile:
[phone]
E-Mail:
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
MELISSA M. NEYLON and
SHAWN P. NEYLON

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A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
Carl L. Fessenden, SBN 161494
Jeffrey A. Nordlander, SBN 308929
350 University Avenue, Suite 200
Sacramento, California 95825
TEL: [phone]
FAX: [phone]

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Attorneys for Defendants
COUNTY OF INYO, BILL LUTZE,
and DOUGLAS RICHARDS

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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FRESNO DIVISION

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MELISSA M. NEYLON, et al.,

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Plaintiffs,

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vs.

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COUNTY OF INYO, et al.,

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Case No. 1:16-cv-00712-AWI-JLT
[PROPOSED] STIPULATED
PROTECTIVE ORDER

Defendants.

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1.

(Doc. 31)

PURPOSE AND LIMITATIONS

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Disclosure and discovery activity in this action could potentially to involve production of

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confidential or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for

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any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby

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stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties

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acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Neylon v. County of Inyo; United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:16-cv-00712-AWI-JLT

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discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited

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information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). The parties

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further acknowledge that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential

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information under seal; E.D. Cal. L.R. 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the

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standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal.

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2.

DEFINITIONS

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2.1

Challenging Party: a Party to this litigation that challenges the designation of information or

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items under this Order.
2.2

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“CONFIDENTIAL” Information or “CONFIDENTIAL” Item: information or tangible things that
qualify for protection under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c).

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2.3

Counsel (without qualifier): Counsel of Record (as well as their support staff).

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2.4

Designating Party: a Party to this litigation that designates information or items that it produces in
disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

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2.5

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Disclosure Material or Discovery Material: any item or information that is produced or generated
in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

2.6

Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the litigation

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who has been retained by a Party to this litigation or its Counsel to serve as an expert witness or

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as a consultant in this action.

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2.7

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experts, and Counsel of Record (and their support staff).
2.8

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Party: any Party to this litigation, including its officers, directors, employees, consultants, retained

Producing Party: a Party to this litigation that produces Disclosure Material or Discovery Material
in this action.

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Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services

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(e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and

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organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and

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subcontractors.

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2.10

Protected Material: any Disclosure Material or Discovery Material that is designated as
“CONFIDENTIAL” by a Producing Party.
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Neylon v. County of Inyo; United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:16-cv-00712-AWI-JLT

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2.11

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Receiving Party: a Party to this litigation that receives Disclosure Material or Discovery Material
from a Producing Party.

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SCOPE
The protections conferred by this Stipulated Protective Order cover not only Protected Material,

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but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) copies, excerpts,

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summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations

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by a Party or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

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The protections conferred by this Stipulated Protective Order do not cover the following
information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving

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Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of

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publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through

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trial or otherwise; or (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained

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by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and

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under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial

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shall be governed by a separate agreement or order.

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4.

DURATION

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The confidentiality obligations imposed by this Stipulated Protective Order shall remain in effect

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until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a Court order otherwise directs. Final disposition

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shall be deemed to be the later of (a) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this action, with or without

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prejudice; or (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings,

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remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications

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for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.

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5.

DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

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5.1

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection: Each Party that designates

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information or items for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order must take care to limit any

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such designation to specific material that qualities under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). The Designating Party

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must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written

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communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Neylon v. County of Inyo; United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:16-cv-00712-AWI-JLT

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for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Stipulated

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Protective Order.
A party may only designate as “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items which it has determined

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in good faith to be sufficient to justify the Court’s entry of a protective order pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P.

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26(c) and E.D. Cal. L.R. 141.1.

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Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be

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without substantial justification or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to impose

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unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) shall subject the Designating Party to sanctions.

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If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for

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protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that

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it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.

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5.2

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Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure Material or Discovery Material that qualifies for

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protection under this Stipulated Protective Order must be clearly designated before the material is

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disclosed or produced. In the absence of substantial unfairness, economic burden, or a significant

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disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to designate material as

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“CONFIDENTIAL” by not doing so before disclosure or production upon a showing of reasonable

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cause.

Manner and Timing of Designations: Except as otherwise provided in this Stipulated Protective

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Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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(a)

for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but excluding

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transcripts of depositions or other pre-trial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix the legend

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“CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the

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material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected

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portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). A Party that makes original documents

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or materials available for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting

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Party has indicated which material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before

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the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.”

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After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Neylon v. County of Inyo; United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:16-cv-00712-AWI-JLT

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Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Stipulated

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Protective Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the

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“CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of

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the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the

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protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

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(b)

for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that the

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Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other proceeding

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all protected testimony.

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(c)

for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other tangible

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items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in

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which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of

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the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party shall identify the protected portion(s).

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5.3

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Protected Material.

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6.

CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

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6.1

Timing of Challenges: Any Party may challenge a designation of confidentiality at any time.

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Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid

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foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of

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the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to

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mount a challenge promptly after the original designation is disclosed.

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6.2

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challenge to the Producing Party’s designation, the Producing Party must move for a protective order

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pursuant to E.D. Cal. L.R. 251, if it seeks to maintain the Protected Material’s designation as

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“CONFIDENTIAL” and subject to this Stipulated Protective Order. If the Producing Party fails to move

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for a protective order within the specified ten (10) calendar days, the Producing Party automatically

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waives each challenged Protected Material’s designation as “CONFIDENTIAL” and subject to this

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Stipulated Protective Order.

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6.3

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Non-Designation: A Party’s non-designation of any information or item implies that it is not

Timing of Motion for Protective Order: Within ten (10) calendar days of a Challenging Party’s

Judicial Intervention: If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without Court intervention, the
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Neylon v. County of Inyo; United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:16-cv-00712-AWI-JLT

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Producing Party’s motion for protective order must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming

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that the movant has complied with section 5.1 of this Stipulated Protective Order (“Exercise of Restraint

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and Care in Designating Material for Protection”). Nothing in Stipulated Protective Order precludes a

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Challenging Party from filing a separate or parallel motion challenging a confidentiality designation at

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any time, if there is good cause for doing so.
Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order changes or modifies the Designating Party’s burden of

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persuasion or substantive or procedural obligation in any such confidentiality challenge proceeding,

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pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) and E.D. Cal. L.R. 141.1. Unless the Designating Party has waived the

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confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion for protective order, as described above, all parties

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shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the

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Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

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7.

ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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7.1

Basic Principles: A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by

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another Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this

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litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the

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conditions described in this Stipulated Protective Order. Protected Material must be stored and

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maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to

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the persons authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order.

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7.2

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or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item

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designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Unless otherwise ordered by the Court

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(a)

the Receiving Party’s Counsel of Record in this action;

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(b)

the officers, directors, and employees/staff of the Receiving Party;

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(c)

Experts of the Receiving Party;

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(d)

the Court and its personnel;

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(e)

Court reporters and their employees/staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock

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jurors, and Professional Vendors;
(f)

witnesses in the action, during their deposition, unless otherwise agreed by the
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Neylon v. County of Inyo; United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:16-cv-00712-AWI-JLT

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Designating Party or ordered by the Court; and
(g)

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the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other
person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.

IT IS SO STIPULATED.
Dated: December 20, 2016

Respectfully Submitted,

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/s/ Mark E. Merin

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By: __________________________________
Mark E. Merin
Paul H. Masuhara

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LAW OFFICE OF MARK E. MERIN

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1010 F Street, Suite 300
Sacramento, California 95814

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Attorneys for Plaintiffs
MELISSA M. NEYLON and
SHAWN P. NEYLON

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Dated: December 19, 2016

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Respectfully Submitted,
/s/ Jeffrey A. Nordlander
(as authorized on December 19, 2016)
By: __________________________________
Carl L. Fessenden
Jeffrey A. Nordlander

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350 University Avenue, Suite 200
Sacramento, California 95825

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Attorneys for Defendants
COUNTY OF INYO, BILL LUTZE, and
DOUGLAS RICHARDS

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

December 21, 2016

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Neylon v. County of Inyo; United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:16-cv-00712-AWI-JLT