Gill v. Credit Bureau of Carbon County

Filing 24

PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya on 1/30/15. (sgrim)

IN UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No.: 14-CV-1888-WJM-KMT
THOMAS GILL,
Plaintiff,

CREDIT BUREAU OF CARBON COUNTY
D/B/A COLLECTIONCENTER, INC.,
Defendant.

PROTECTIVE ORDER

1. For the purposes of this Protective Order, “Confidential Information” shall mean
Plaintiff’s Protected Health Information, as that term is defined by 45 C.F.R. § 160.103,
and Defendant’s commission rates for Poudre Valley Hospital.

2. Confidential information shall be designated by stamping “CONFIDENTIAL” on the
copies of the document produced. Stamping “CONFIDENTIAL” on the cover of any
multipage document shall designate all pages of the document as Confidential Material,
unless otherwise stated by the producing party. In the case of deposition testimony, a
party may designate any portion of a deposition as “CONFIDENTIAL” after
transcription of the deposition, provided that 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.
3. Information shall be designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only after counsel for the party
making the designation has reviewed the information and believes, in good faith, that the
information is confidential or otherwise entitled to protection.
4. The confidential information discussed in ¶ 2 above, and all tangible embodiments
thereof, all copies thereof, the substance thereof, and all information contained therein
(hereinafter collectively referred to as “Confidential Material”):
(a) shall not be disclosed or distributed by counsel, or any other person receiving,
viewing or hearing the Confidential Material (“Receiving Person”) to any person
other than to
(1) counsel for either party as identified in ¶8 below,
(2) insurance carriers for either party,
(3) partners, employees and agents of counsel for either party,

(4) court reporters,
(5) any consulting or testifying experts hired by counsel for either party, who are
assisting counsel in preparation of this action for trial (subject to ¶3(c) below),
(6) the Court and its employees, and
(7) Plaintiff (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant (the “Defendant”), its officers, directors and
employees;

(b) shall be filed with the Court, should filing be required by stipulation or order and,
(c) shall not be disclosed to any consulting or testifying expert unless the party making
the disclosure follows the provisions of ¶5 of this Protective Order.
4. By agreeing to the limited disclosure permitted under this Protective Order, no party
waives its claim that Confidential Material is confidential. All parties agree that a disclosure
in accordance with this Protective Order does not constitute a waiver of a party’s claim or
position that the information so disclosed is confidential.
5. Before disclosing any Confidential Material to any consulting or testifying expert, counsel
for the disclosing party or parties shall have the consulting or testifying expert read this
Protective Order and shall explain the contents of this Protective Order to that person. The
consulting or testifying expert shall agree to be bound to the terms of this Protective Order
and shall execute a declaration identical to that attached hereto.
6. During any deposition or at any hearing, Confidential Material may be disclosed to any
deponent or witness. Before that disclosure is made, the disclosing party shall advise the
deponent or witness (as well as counsel, if any, representing the deponent or witness) that
the information about to be disclosed is subject to this Protective Order and that any further
disclosure of the Confidential Material by the deponent or witness (or by his or her counsel)
shall constitute a violation of the Protective Order.
7. Before trial, the parties will address the method for protecting the confidentiality of the
Confidential Material during trial.
8. In accordance with this Protective Order, counsel for the parties are:
A. In the case of Plaintiff: Daniel Vedra, Esq. and Ahson Wali, Esq.
B. In the case of Defendant: Alan Greenberg, Esq.
It is the responsibility of the attorneys whose signatures appear below to ensure that their
partners, employees and agents who may have access to Confidential Information shall be
apprised of, and adhere to, this Protective Order.
9. A party may object to the designation of particular Confidential Material 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, the party
designating the information as CONFIDENTIAL shall have the right, but not the
obligation, 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.

10. The termination of proceedings in this action shall not relieve any person to whom
Confidential Material was disclosed from the obligation of maintaining the confidentiality of
such material in accordance with the provisions of this Protective Order.
11. Upon final termination of this action, including any appeal, each party shall assemble and
shall destroy all items designated as Confidential Material by the other party. Written
verification of destruction shall be given immediately after such destruction. This shall not
apply to a deposition transcript.
12. This Protective Order shall be without prejudice to the right of the parties:
a) to bring before the Court at any time the question of whether any particular
document or information is Confidential Material or whether its use should be
restricted; or,
b) to present a motion to the Court under any applicable rule for a separate
protective order as to any particular document or information, including
restriction differing from those as specified herein.
13. This Protective Order shall not be deemed to prejudice the parties in any way from
making future application to this Court for modification of this Order.
14. This Protective Order is entered solely for the purpose of facilitating the exchange of
documents and information between the parties to this action without unnecessarily
involving the Court in the process. Nothing in this Protective Order, nor the production of
any information or document under the terms of this Protective Order, nor any proceeding
pursuant to this Protective Order shall be deemed to be an admission or waiver by either
party, or to be an alteration of the confidentiality or non-confidentiality or the discoverability
or non-discoverability or the admissibility or inadmissibility of any such document or
information, or to be an alteration of any existing obligation of any party or the absence of
any such obligation.
15. The existence of this Protective Order, including the fact that it was entered into by the
parties shall not be admissible at trial of the present action. Any party responding to a
subpoena or discovery request seeking Confidential Information shall promptly inform the
other party to the pendency of such request.
16. To the extent that any discovery is taken from any person who is not a party to

this action (“Third Party”), and in the event such Third Party contends the discovery sought
involves Confidential Material, then such Third Party may agree to execute and be bound by
this Protective Order.

Dated: January 30, 2015
BY THE COURT:

_______________________________
Kathleen M. Tafoya
United States Magistrate Judge

ACCEPTED AND APPROVED AS TO FORM:
VEDRA WALI, LLC

GREENBERG & SADA PC

_/s/ Daniel Vedra

Daniel Vedra, Esq.
1435 Larimer Street, Suite 302
Denver CO 80202
Telephone [phone]
Attorneys for Plaintiff

_/s/ Alan Greenberg

Alan Greenberg
770 W Hampden Ave., #227
Englewood, CO 80110
Telephone: [phone]
Attorneys for Defendant