Fountain Valley Investment Partners, LLC v. Continental Western Insurance Company

Filing 31

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION entered by Magistrate Judge Nina Y. Wang on 4/29/15. (bsimm, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No. 1:14-cv-01906-MSK-NYW
FOUNTAIN VALLEY INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.
CONTINENTAL WESTERN INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant.

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant’s Unopposed Motion for Entry of a
Protective Order. Plaintiff does not opposed the entry of the Protective Order pursuant to Fed. R.
Civ. P. 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure concerning the treatment of Confidential
Information (as hereinafter defined), and, as grounds therefor, state as follows:
1.

In this action, at least one of the Parties has sought and/or is seeking Confidential

Information (as defined in paragraph 2 below). Defendant asserts the disclosure of such
information outside the scope of this litigation could result in significant injury to its business or
privacy interests. Defendant requests the Court to enter the within Protective Order for the
purpose of preventing the disclosure and use of Confidential Information, except as set forth
herein.
2.

"Confidential Information" means any document, file, portions of files,

transcribed testimony, or response to a discovery request, including any extract, abstract, chart,
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summary, note, or copy made – not made available to the public – and designated by one of the
Parties in the manner provided in paragraph 3 below as containing confidential financial,
banking, proprietary, and/or personal information.
3.

Where Confidential Information is produced, provided, or otherwise disclosed by

a Party, it will be designated in the following manner: by imprinting the word "Confidential" on
the first page or cover of any document produced.
4.

All Confidential Information provided by a Party shall be subject to the following

restrictions:
a.

It shall be used only for the purpose of this litigation and not for any
business or other purpose whatsoever; and

b.

It shall not be communicated or disclosed by any Party's counsel or a Party
in any manner, either directly or indirectly, to anyone outside this
litigation and for purposes of this case, and unless an Acknowledgment in
the form of Exhibit A has been signed.

5.

Individuals authorized to review Confidential Information pursuant to this

Protective Order shall hold the Confidential Information in confidence and shall not divulge the
Confidential Information, either verbally or in writing, to any other person, entity, or government
agency unless authorized to do so by court order.
6.

The Party's counsel who discloses Confidential Information to an individual

authorized to review Confidential Information pursuant to this Protective Order shall advise such
individual of the terms of the Protective Order, admonish each such individual to abide by the
terms of the Protective Order, shall obtain and retain the original Acknowledgements signed by

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authorized recipients of Confidential Information, and shall maintain a list of all individuals to
whom any Confidential Information is disclosed. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this
Stipulated Protective Order contemplates the execution of any Acknowledgments by the court or
its staff.
7.

During the pendency of this action, opposing counsel may upon court order or

agreement of the Parties inspect the list maintained by counsel pursuant to paragraph 6 above
upon a showing of substantial need in order to establish the source of an unauthorized disclosure
of Confidential Information and opposing counsel are unable to otherwise identify the source of
the disclosure. If counsel disagrees with opposing counsel's showing of substantial need, then
counsel may seek a court order requiring inspection under terms and conditions deemed
appropriate by the Court.
8.

No copies of Confidential Information shall be made except by or on behalf of

counsel or the court in this litigation, and such copies shall be made and used solely for purposes
of this litigation.
9.

During the pendency of this litigation, counsel shall retain custody of Confidential

Information and copies made, pursuant to paragraph 8 above.
10.

If opposing counsel objects to the designation of certain information as

Confidential Information, he or she shall inform the other Parties' counsel in writing of the
specific grounds of objection to the designation. All counsel shall then, in good faith and on an
informal basis, attempt to resolve such dispute. If after such good faith attempt all counsel are
unable to resolve their dispute, opposing counsel may move for a disclosure order consistent
with this order.

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11.

Any Party who inadvertently produces a document(s) and fails to identify a

document(s) as "Confidential" shall, promptly upon discovery of its oversight, provide written
notice of the error to the Parties' counsel. Any Party, counsel, or authorized recipient of such
improperly produced or designated documents shall return the original and all copies and
permanently destroy any electronic copy of such document(s). If the document(s) should be
classified as Confidential, such document(s) shall be returned to the producing Party for proper
designation and marking.
12.

In the event Confidential Information is used in any court filing or proceeding in

this action, including but not limited to its use at trial, it shall not lose its confidential status as
between the Parties through such use. Confidential Information and pleadings or briefs quoting
or discussing Confidential Information cannot be filed with the Court, except by court order
issued upon motion of the Party seeking to file the documents under seal. Any motion
requesting leave to file documents under seal shall demonstrate that the Confidential Information
at issue is entitled to protection under the standards articulated in Nixon v. Warner
Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598-602 (1978)(applied in United States v. Hickey, 767
F.2d 705, 708 (10th Cir. 1985) and Crystal Grower's Corp. v. Dobbins, 616 F.2d 458, 461 (10th
Cir. 1980)) and comply with the court’s requirements pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2..
13.

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 Court shall retain continuing jurisdiction to enforce the
terms of this Protective Order.

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14.

By agreeing to the entry of this Protective Order, the Parties adopt no position as

to the authenticity or admissibility of documents produced subject to it.
15.

Upon termination of this litigation, including any appeals, each Party's counsel

shall upon request promptly return to the producing party all Confidential Information provided
subject to this Protective Order, together with all extracts, abstracts, charts, summaries, notes or
copies made.
16.

Nothing in this Protective Order shall preclude any Party from filing a motion

seeking further or different protection from the Court under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure, or from filing a motion with respect to the manner in which
Confidential Information shall be treated at trial.
SO ORDERED Dated THIS 29th OF April, 2015.
BY THE COURT

s/ Nina Y. Wang
_____________________________________
United States District Judge Magistrate Judge

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I, ________________________________________, hereby acknowledge that I have
read and understood the terms of the foregoing Stipulated Protective Order Regarding
Confidential Information ("Order") and will abide by the terms of the Order. I also agree that I
will not disclose any Confidential Information or the contents contained therein to any person or
use the Confidential Information for any purpose other than this civil action. I understand that
unauthorized disclosure of any of the Confidential Information or its contents to any
unauthorized person will constitute contempt of court.

____________________________________

Dated:____________________________________

EXHIBIT A

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