Byrd v. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America et al

Filing 20

PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya on 3/23/2012. (kmtcd)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No.: 11-cv-3410-WJM-KMT
TRENSON L. BYRD,
Plaintiff,
v.
THE GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, and
BERKSHIRE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA,
Defendants.

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

Upon a showing of good cause in support of the entry of a protective order to
protect the discovery and dissemination of confidential information or information which
will improperly annoy, embarrass, or oppress any party, witness, or person providing
discovery in this case, IT IS ORDERED:
1.

This Protective Order shall apply to all documents, materials, and

information, including without limitation, documents produced, answers to
interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, deposition testimony, and other
information disclosed pursuant to the disclosure or discovery duties created by the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

2.

As used in this Protective Order, “document” is defined as provided in

Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a). A draft or non-identical copy is a separate document within the
meaning of this term.
3.

This Protective Order "requires that a lawyer designate information as

confidential only after a review of the information and based on a good faith belief that it
is confidential or otherwise entitled to protection." Gillard v. Boulder Valley School Dist.,
196 F.R.D. 382, 386 (D. Colo. 2006).
4.

Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be information that

implicates the personal or business-related privacy interests of Plaintiff, Defendants, or
others and/or information contained in Plaintiff’s, Defendants’, or others’ confidential and
proprietary or personal business records, documents, materials, and communications,
including, but not limited to, financial information, medical records, and tax returns.
CONFIDENTIAL information shall not be disclosed or used for any purpose except this
litigation, including the preparation and trial of this case.
5.

CONFIDENTIAL documents, materials, and/or information (collectively

“CONFIDENTIAL Information”) shall not, without the consent of the party producing it or
further Order of the Court, be disclosed except that such information may be disclosed
to:
(a)

attorneys who are actively working on this case;

(b)

persons regularly employed or associated with the attorneys

actively working on the case whose assistance is required by said attorneys in the
preparation for trial, at trial, or at other proceedings;

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(c)

officers and directors of the parties actively involved in decision

making for the present litigation, or, in the case of an individual party, that individual;
(d)

expert witnesses and consultants retained in connection with this

proceeding, to the extent such disclosure is necessary for preparation, trial, or other
proceedings;
(e)

the Court in this case and its employees (“Court Personnel”);

(f)

stenographic reporters who are engaged in proceedings

necessarily incident to the conduct of this case;
(g)

deponents and witnesses identified in the F.R.C.P. 26 disclosures

in this case, including any supplemental disclosures;
(h)
(i)
was filed; and
(j)
6.

any person who authored the information in whole or in part;
any person who properly received the information before this case
other persons by written agreement of the parties.

Prior to disclosing any CONFIDENTIAL Information to any person listed

above (other than counsel, persons employed by counsel, Court Personnel, and
stenographic reporters), the parties shall provide such person with a copy of this
Protective Order and obtain from such person a written acknowledgment stating that he
or she has read this Protective Order and agrees to be bound by its provisions. All such
acknowledgments shall be retained by counsel and shall be subject to in camera review
by the Court if good cause for review is demonstrated by opposing counsel.
7.

Documents are designated as CONFIDENTIAL by placing or affixing on

them (in a manner that will not interfere with their legibility) the term “CONFIDENTIAL,”

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or by designating them as “CONFIDENTIAL” in correspondence from counsel to the
party producing documents.
8.

Documents designated as CONFIDENTIAL should be filed in accordance

with the procedures for “Sealed Document Filing in Public Cases” as set forth in the
United States District Court – District of Colorado Electronic Case Filing Procedures
(Civil Cases), Version 4.0 (effective December 1, 2010) at ECF Rule 6.1(B), and should
be filed in accordance with D.C.COLO.LCivR. 7.2.
9.

Whenever a deposition involves the disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL

Information, the deposition or portions thereof shall be designated as CONFIDENTIAL
and shall be subject to the provisions of this Protective Order. Such designation shall
be made on the record during the deposition whenever possible, but a party may
designate all or any portion of depositions as CONFIDENTIAL after transcription,
provided written notice of the designation is given to all counsel of record within thirty
(30) days after notice by the court reporter of the completion of the transcript.
10.

A party may object to the designation of particular CONFIDENTIAL

Information by giving written notice to the party designating the disputed information.
The written notice shall identify the information to which the objection is made. If the
parties cannot resolve the objection within ten (10) business days after the time the
notice is received, it shall be the obligation of the party objecting to designation of the
information as CONFIDENTIAL to file an appropriate motion requesting that the Court
determine whether the disputed information should be subject to the terms of this
Protective Order. The disputed information shall be treated as CONFIDENTIAL under

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the terms of this Protective Order until the Court rules on the motion. If the party
objecting to designation fails to file such a motion within the prescribed time, the
disputed information shall be deemed CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with this
Protective Order. In connection with a motion filed under this provision, the party
asserting the designation of the information as CONFIDENTIAL shall bear the burden of
establishing that the disputed information should be treated as CONFIDENTIAL.
11.

This Protective Order does not prohibit a party from disclosing discovery

materials independently obtained from non-confidential sources or sources that do not
designate the information as CONFIDENTIAL (unless such sources owe an obligation
of confidentiality to the party asserting that the discovery materials are confidential).
12.

Neither this Protective Order nor a party’s designation of particular

discovery materials as CONFIDENTIAL shall be deemed or construed in any way to
affect or to establish the admissibility or to waive any right to object to the admissibility
at trial of any discovery materials covered by this Protective Order.
13.

At the conclusion of this case, unless other arrangements are agreed

upon, each document and all copies thereof which have been designated as
CONFIDENTIAL, shall be returned to the party that designated it CONFIDENTIAL, or
the parties may elect to destroy CONFIDENTIAL documents; provided, however, that
counsel for each party may retain one copy of the CONFIDENTIAL documents for the
sole purpose of maintaining a complete file, and all such retained documents will not be
released, disclosed, or utilized except upon express permission of this Court after
written notice to counsel for the party that produced the documents. Where the parties

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agree to destroy CONFIDENTIAL documents, the destroying party shall provide all
parties with an affidavit confirming the destruction.
14.

This Protective Order may be modified by the Court at any time for good

cause shown following notice to all parties and an opportunity for them to be heard.

Dated this 23rd day of March 2012.

SO ORDERED:

Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya

Respectfully submitted,

MASTIN HOFFMAN & CREWS LLC

HOLLAND & HART LLP

s/S. Kato Crews
_______________________________
S. Kato Crews
Mastin Hoffman & Crews LLC
7000 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 320
Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111
303.217.4876

s/Rachel A. Yates
_________________________________
Rachel A. Yates
Holland & Hart LLP
6380 S. Fiddler’s Green Circle, Suite 500
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
303.290.1087

Attorneys for Plaintiff

Attorneys for Defendants

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this 22nd day of March, 2012, I filed the foregoing
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER via the CM/ECF electronic filing system, which
will send notification of such filing to the following:
Rachel Yates
6380 South Fiddler's Green Cir., Suite 500
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
[phone]
[e-mail]

s/ Kerrie Wilson

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