Hill et al v. Public Advocate of the United States

Filing 36

PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya on 12/11/2012. (kmtcd)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 12-cv-02550-WYD-KMT
KRISTINA HILL,
BRIAN EDWARDS, and
THOMAS PRIVITERE,
Plaintiffs,
v.
PUBLIC ADVOCATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
a District of Columbia corporation,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
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.

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3. Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be information that is confidential and
implicates common law and statutory privacy interests of Plaintiffs or Defendant. Information
may only be designated as CONFIDENTIAL after review and upon certification by counsel that
the designation is based on a good faith belief that the information is CONFIDENTIAL or
otherwise entitled to protection. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall not be disclosed or
used for any purpose except the preparation and trial of this case
4. 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 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 in this case;

(c)

the parties, including designated representatives for the entity defendant;

(d)

expert witnesses and consultants retained in connection with this proceeding, to the
extent such disclosure is necessary for preparation, trial or other proceedings in this
case;

(e)

the Court and its employees (“Court Personnel”);

(f)

stenographic reporters who are engaged in proceedings necessarily incident to the
conduct of this action;

(g)

an author of the CONFIDENTIAL material or persons who had prior knowledge of
it but only to the extent necessary to assist counsel in the prosecution or defense of
this action;

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(h)

deponents, witnesses, or potential witnesses; and

(i)

other persons by written agreement of the parties.

5. Prior to disclosing any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION to any person listed above (other
than counsel, persons employed by counsel, Court Personnel and stenographic reporters),
counsel 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.
6. Documents are designated as CONFIDENTIAL by placing or affixing on them (in a manner
that will not interfere with their legibility) the following or other appropriate notice:
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
7. 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 portions of depositions as
CONFIDENTIAL after transcription, provided written notice of the designation is promptly
given to all counsel of record within thirty (30) days after Case notice by the court reporter of the
completion of the transcript.
8. 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 fourteen (14) days after the time the notice is received, it shall be the obligation

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of the party designating 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. If such a motion is timely filed, the disputed information shall be
treated as CONFIDENTIAL under the terms of this Protective Order until the Court rules on the
motion. If the designating party fails to file such a motion within the prescribed time, the
disputed information shall lose its designation as CONFIDENTIAL and shall not thereafter be
treated as CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with this Protective Order. In connection with a
motion filed under this provision, the party designating the information as CONFIDENTIAL
shall bear the burden of establishing that good cause exists for the disputed information to be
treated as CONFIDENTIAL.
9. If a party wishes to use any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION in any affidavit, brief,
memorandum, oral argument, or other paper filed in this Court in this case, the filing party shall
make reasonable efforts to provide advance notice to the party who designated the information as
CONFIDENTAL in order to provide the designating party an opportunity to evaluate whether
such information should be filed under seal under D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2. In the event the filing
party and the designating party cannot agree regarding the need to file the information under
seal, it is the designating party’s burden to file an appropriate motion to seal with the Court. The
party filing the documents with the Court shall file them through the ECF system with restricted
access preventing disclosure pending the filing of the motion to seal by the designating party.
10. Upon termination of this litigation, including any appeals, each Party’s counsel shall
continue to hold the information confidential. Further, the termination of this action shall not
relieve counsel or other persons obligated hereunder from their responsibility to maintain the
confidentiality of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION pursuant to this Protective Order, and the

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Court shall retain continuing jurisdiction to enforce the terms of this Protective Order, even after
this action is terminated.
11. 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 11th day of December, 2012

BY THE COURT:

United States Magistrate Judge

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