Mills v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company
Filing
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PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya on 4/19/2013. (kmtcd)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Case No. 13-CV-00321-PAB-KMT
WILLIAM R. MILLS,
Plaintiff,
v.
AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Upon a showing of good cause in support of the entry of a Protective Order by and
between Plaintiff William R. Mills and Defendant American Family Mutual Insurance Company
to protect the discovery and dissemination of confidential information or information that 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 any party or third
party to these proceedings. CONFIDENTIAL information shall not be disclosed or used for any
purpose except the preparation and trial of this case. Third-parties disclosing any
CONFIDENTIAL information may designate such CONFIDENTIAL information as
CONFIDENTIAL per this Protective Order and any party to this Protective Order may designate
CONFIDENTIAL information produced by a third-party as CONFIDENTIAL per this Protective
Order.
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;
(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;
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(g) persons whom counsel reasonably believes to be the authors, senders, addressees, and
copy recipients of, persons mentioned in such CONFIDENTIAL information, current or former
employees of the producing person and other persons with knowledge relating to the information
contained therein so long as (i) those persons have been identified in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)
disclosures (or amendments thereto) and (ii) have agreed to abide by the terms of this Protective
Order pursuant to Paragraph 6, below;
(h) deponents, witnesses, or potential witnesses;
(i) other persons by written agreement of the parties; and
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.
Responses to discovery requests are designated as CONFIDENTIAL by
imprinting the word "CONFIDENTIAL" next to or above the response.
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8.
Any information designated by a party as CONFIDENTIAL will first be reviewed
by counsel who will certify that the designation as CONFIDENTIAL is based on a good faith
belief that the information is confidential or otherwise entitled to protection.
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 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 notice by the court reporter of the
completion of the transcript.
10.
Any request to restrict access must comply with the requirements of D.C.
COLO.L.CivR 7.2.
11.
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 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
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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.
12.
In the event of an inadvertent disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL information, or
privileged documents or information, by any party to this agreement, the parties agree that the
right to designate such materials as CONFIDENTIAL or to assert privilege will not be waived
where the producing party notifies the other party of the inadvertent disclosure within a
reasonable period of time following discovery of the inadvertent disclosure. Upon notification of
an inadvertent disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL or privileged documents or information, the
producing party shall notify the receiving party of the inadvertent disclosure. Upon notification,
the receiving party shall promptly return or destroy the requested privileged materials and any
copies thereof.
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. Where the parties agree to destroy CONFIDENTIAL documents,
the destroying party shall provide all parties with an affidavit confirming the destruction.
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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.
SO ORDERED this 19th day of April, 2013.
BY THE COURT:
___________________________
United States Magistrate Judge
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