Chambers v. The Board of County Commissioners of the County of Eagle, Colorado et al

Filing 101

PROTECTIVE ORDER. By Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty on 10/27/2014.(alowe)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 13-cv-00393-REB-MEH

STAN CHAMBERS,
Plaintiff,
v.
HEATH MOSNESS, Eagle County Deputy Sheriff, in his individual and official
capacities,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________
PROTECTIVE ORDER
______________________________________________________________________
Pursuant to the parties’ Joint Stipulated Motion for Protective Order, the Court
hereby Orders as follows:
1.
information,

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

without

limitation,

documents

produced,

answers

to

interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, deposition testimony, and other
information disclosed by either party in this civil action 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 by

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

One who provides, serves, discloses, or files any nonpublic documents or

information in connection with this civil action, and who in good faith believes such
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documents or information are protected by a statutory, regulatory, or common law right
of privacy or protection, or otherwise contain nonpublic personal, medical, personnel,
employment, private, financial, or other information implicating privacy interests,
proprietary interests, or safety and security concerns of either party, or any other
person, may designate such documents or information as “Confidential.”

The

documents or information so designated shall be deemed “Confidential Material” subject
to this Protective Order.
4.

Confidential Material shall be subject to the following restrictions.

Confidential Material shall be used only for the limited purpose of preparing for and
conducting this civil action (including any appeals), and not for any other purpose
whatsoever, and shall not, without the consent of both parties or their attorneys, or
further Order of the Court, be disclosed in any way to anyone except those specified in
this paragraph:
(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, or at other proceedings in this case; however, this does not include contract
employees, other persons hired on a temporary basis, or outside agencies,
organizations, or institutions;
(c)

the parties and designated representatives of Defendant;

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(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)

witnesses in the course of deposition or trial testimony where a party has

a reasonable and good faith belief that examination with respect to the document is
necessary in legitimate discovery or trial purposes in this case, and any person who is
being prepared to testify where a party has a reasonable and good faith belief that such
person will be a witness in this action and that his or her examination with respect to the
document is necessary in connection with such testimony; and
(h)

other persons by agreement of both parties.

5.

Prior to disclosing any “Confidential” information to any person listed in

Paragraphs 4(d), 4(f), 4(g), and 4(h) listed above, a party or party’s counsel shall
provide such person with a copy of this Protective Order and have such person sign an
acknowledgement that he or she has read this Protective Order and agrees to be bound
by its provisions, as set forth in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A.
6.

This Protective Order shall not prohibit or restrain any party from

performing the tasks necessary to prepare for trial; however, any re-disclosure or
communication of the information covered by this Protective Order, except as
specifically allowed by this Protective Order for the purposes of this litigation only, is
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strictly prohibited. The objective of this Protective Order is that none of the information
revealed in connection with such protections shall be used for any purpose other than in
relation to this litigation and that no one shall be allowed to use any information
produced pursuant to this Protective Order in connection with any other issue, dispute,
litigation, or charge against any of the parties, whether currently pending or
contemplated in the future.
7.

No reproduction of information disclosed in reliance on this Protective

Order is authorized, except to the extent copies are required to prepare the case for
trial. All copies or excerpts shown or given to those authorized hereby and according to
the provisions hereof, shall be stamped to indicate the protected and Confidential nature
of the disclosed information.

Review of Confidential Material by counsel, experts, or

consultants for the litigation will not constitute any waiver of the confidentiality of the
document or of any objections to production. Additionally, by designating information as
Confidential and producing that information pursuant to this Protective Order’s terms,
the parties do not waive any objections or statutory exemptions that may otherwise be
asserted.

The inadvertent, unintentional, or in camera disclosure of Confidential

Material shall not, under any circumstances, be deemed a waiver, in whole or in part, of
any claims of confidentiality.
8.

Counsel to the parties are required to advise, instruct, and supervise all

associates, staff, and employees of counsel to keep designated Confidential Material
confidential in the strictest possible fashion.

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9.

Documents are designated as Confidential Material by placing or affixing

on them (in a manner that will not interfere with their legibility) the following or other
appropriate notice: “CONFIDENTIAL.”
10.

Whenever a deposition involves the disclosure of Confidential Material,

the deposition or portions thereof may be designated as Confidential and subject to 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 the
other party within thirty (30) days after notice by the court reporter of the completion of
the transcript. The cover page and those portions of the original transcript that contain
Confidential

Material shall

bear

the

legend

“CONFIDENTIAL—SUBJECT

TO

PROTECTIVE ORDER,” and shall be bound separately from the non-confidential
portions of the transcript. Any deposition exhibits designated as Confidential shall also
be bound separately.
11.

A party may object to the designation of particular documents as

Confidential by giving written notice to the other party. The written notice shall identify
the information to which objection is made and the limitations in scope to which
objection is made where relevant. 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 a motion with the Court
requesting the Court to determine whether the disputed information should be subject to
the terms of this Protective Order. If this procedure is timely followed, the disputed
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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 timely follow such

discovery dispute procedures, 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 any dispute raised 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.

If a party inadvertently discloses information that was not designated as

Confidential but later determines the disclosed information should be designated as
Confidential, the disclosing party shall promptly notify the other non-disclosing party of
the error and furnish properly designated copies of the disclosed information. Upon
learning of the improperly-designated disclosure, the non-disclosing party shall treat all
copies of the disclosed information as if they were originally designated as Confidential.
13.

Nothing in this Protective Order is intended to or does affect the

presentation of evidence at trial. If either party wishes to seek one or more Orders
closing the courtroom to the public during the trial of this matter or restricting access to
any evidence presented therein, that party must make a motion to so close the Court or
restrict access to evidence in accordance with D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2.
14.

At the conclusion of this case, including any appeals, unless other

arrangements are agreed upon, each document and all copies thereof designated as
Confidential shall be promptly returned to the party designating the material as
Confidential, or the parties may elect to promptly destroy confidential documents.
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Where the parties agree to destroy confidential documents, the destroying party shall
provide the other party with an affidavit confirming the destruction. However, this does
not require any party to destroy any documents that would normally be maintained in its
records, as part of a case file or required to be kept by law.
15.

Stamped Confidential documents shall not be filed with the clerk except

when required in connection with motions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 or 56, motions to
determine confidentiality under the terms of this Protective Order, motions in limine, and
motions related to discovery disputes if the Confidential documents are relevant to the
motion. A party contemplating filing Confidential Material protected by this Protective
Order with the Court shall have the Confidential information filed under restricted
access, or otherwise restricted from public access, pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2.
16.

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.
17.

Nothing in this Protective Order shall prevent any party or other person

from seeking modification of this Protective Order or from objecting to discovery that the
party or other person believes to be improper. Nothing in this Protective Order shall
prejudice the right of any party to contest the alleged relevancy, admissibility, or
discoverability of Confidential documents or information sought.

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Dated at Denver, Colorado this 27th day of October, 2014.
BY THE COURT:

Michael E. Hegarty
United States Magistrate Judge

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 13-cv-00393-REB-MEH

STAN CHAMBERS,
Plaintiff,
v.
HEATH MOSNESS, Eagle County Deputy Sheriff, in his individual and official
capacities,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________
EXHIBIT A -- TO PROTECTIVE ORDER – CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
______________________________________________________________________

I, _________________________, the undersigned, being duly sworn, hereby
acknowledges that I have read the Protective Order issued by the Court in the above
captioned civil action and I understand the terms and conditions of such Protective
Order governing the restricted use of information and materials obtained from the
parties and provided to me for the sole purposes of the above captioned action, and
hereby agree to keep all such information and materials strictly and absolutely
confidential, and in all other respects to be bound by the terms of the Protective Order.
My current address and telephone number is:

Signature

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STATE of
COUNTY of

)
) ss:
)

The foregoing Confidentiality Agreement was sworn and acknowledged to me by
_________________________ on this ____ day of _____________________, 201__.

Witness my hand and official seal.

[S E A L]

Notary Public

My commission expires:_________________________

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