Kovach-Howarth v. UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust

Filing 13

STIPULATED CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTIVE ORDER Signed by District Judge Robert H. Cleland. (LWag)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION

DAWN KOVOCH-HOWARTH,
Plaintiff,
Case No. 14-12534
vs
Hon. Robert H. Cleland
UAW RETIREE MEDICAL BENEFITS
TRUST,
Defendant.

LOGAN, HUCHLA & WYCOFF, P.C.
Cassandra L. Booms (P71998)
13900 Sibley Rd., P.O. Box 2148
Riverview, MI 48193
[phone]
[e-mail]
Attorney for Plaintiff

JACKSON LEWIS P.C.
Marlo Johnson Roebuck (P65640)
Tiffany A. Buckley-Norwood (P69807)
2000 Town Center, Suite 1650
Southfield, MI 48075
[phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Defendant

STIPULATED CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTIVE ORDER
WHEREAS, parties and non-parties to this action ("Litigation"), have been
or may be requested in the course of discovery or other proceedings to produce or
disclose testimony, documents, or other information ("Discovery Material") that
they consider private, confidential, or proprietary; and
WHEREAS, Defendant UAW RETIREE MEDICAL BENEFITS TRUST

(“Defendant”), and Plaintiff DAWN KOVOCH-HOWARTH ("Plaintiff") have
agreed, by their undersigned attorneys, to set forth procedures for, and rules
governing, the use of such Discovery Material;
1.

IT IS ORDERED that all Discovery Material produced, or depositions

taken in discovery in the Litigation, shall be used solely for purposes of the
Litigation and for no other purpose.

If, in the course of discovery or other

proceedings in this action, Defendant or Plaintiff or any party to the Litigation, or
any third party discloses Discovery Material they deem private, confidential, or
proprietary, the producing entity may designate such Discovery Material as
"Confidential." Discovery Material designated as Confidential, and all copies,
summaries, or extracts thereof, shall be referred to herein as "Confidential
Material," and shall be subject to all the terms of this Stipulation and Protective
Order ("Order"). A producing party may also designate Discovery Material for
"Attorneys' Eyes Only" or "Attorneys' Possession Only," where appropriate.
2.

Documents may be designated “Confidential” or "Attorneys Eyes” or

“Attorneys’ Possession Only" by stamping each page of the document with the
corresponding legend. Deposition testimony may be designated “Confidential” or
"Attorneys' Eyes/Possession Only" by so indicating orally on the record during the
deposition, or by subsequent designation in writing by the deponent or his/her
attorney, or an attorney for any party. The designated pages of the transcript of

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any such deposition shall be marked by the court reporter with the appropriate
legend.
3.

Any person in possession of Discovery Material shall maintain it in a

reasonable and appropriate manner so as to avoid disclosure of its contents in any
manner not permitted by this Order.
4.

Confidential Material shall not be disclosed, except as provided in

paragraphs 5 and 6 below, except upon prior written consent of the designating
party.
5.

Confidential Material may be disclosed only to the extent reasonably

necessary for the conduct of the Litigation and only to the following:
(a)

the Court (including any appellate court) and Court personnel;

(b)

court reporters in connection with the taking of a deposition or
the transcription of court proceedings;

(c)

attorneys (including in-house and outside counsel) of the parties
to the Litigation (or the corporate parent of a party to the
Litigation) and such attorneys' employees;

(d)

parties to the Litigation and their officers, directors, trustees,
and employees – with the exception of documents denoted for
Attorneys' Eyes Only which may not be disclosed to any of the
foregoing except by the express consent of the producing party;

(e)

the creator and addressees of such Confidential Material and
persons who received a copy thereof prior to its production in
the Litigation;

(f)

anticipated and actual fact witnesses other than the parties to the
Litigation, provided that counsel has a good-faith basis to
disclose such information to such witness; and
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(g)
6.

experts, advisors, consultants, and other persons engaged to
assist directly in the Litigation.

Material designated “Attorneys’ Eyes Only,” may be disclosed only to

attorneys of the parties who are directly involved in the litigation.

Material

designated as "Attorneys' Possession Only" may be disclosed to attorneys of the
parties who are directly involved in the Litigation, as well as those individuals set
forth in Paragraph 5(c), and may be viewed or inspected by the parties themselves.
Material designated as "Attorneys' Possession Only," or any copies or
reproductions thereof, shall not, however, at any time leave the possession of the
attorney to whom the material was disclosed. Nor may any compilation of the
information ascertained from the material be retained or held within the possession
of anyone aside from the attorney to whom the material was disclosed.
7.

With respect to persons specified in paragraph 5(f) and (g) above,

such counsel shall obtain that person's written agreement to be bound by the terms
of this Order. With respect to persons specified in paragraph 5(f) and (g) above,
any testimony concerning Confidential Material shall itself be deemed Confidential
Material. The requirement of obtaining written agreement may be satisfied by
obtaining the signature of such person at the foot of a copy of this Order to such
person. A person's written agreement to be bound by the terms of this Order is also
an agreement to submit to the jurisdiction of the Court solely for purposes of
enforcing this Order. Counsel of record for each of the parties to the Litigation
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shall maintain a file of executed agreements, and such file shall be made available
for inspection by counsel for any person claiming confidentiality upon order of the
Court following a showing of good cause.
8.

In the event that counsel for any signatory to this Order at any time

believes that Confidential Material, Attorneys’ Eyes Only or Attorneys’ Possession
Only material should cease to be so designated, such counsel shall so notify
counsel for the designating party. Counsel for the challenging and designating
parties shall confer in good faith within ten business days of such notification in an
effort to resolve the matter by agreement. If agreement is not reached within ten
business days thereafter, the designating party shall have the burden of moving and
may move upon proper notice within thirty days to obtain an appropriate protective
order. In the event that such a motion is made, any disputed Discovery Material
shall remain subject to and protected by this Order until such motion is resolved.
9.

Compliance with the terms of the Order shall not be deemed an

admission that any Discovery Material is not otherwise protected from disclosure
or admissible in evidence and shall not constitute a waiver of the right of any
person to object to the production of any Discovery Material for any reason
whatsoever.
10.

This Order shall have no effect upon a designating party's use of its

own Confidential Material.

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11.

The inadvertent failure to designate Discovery Material as

Confidential, Attorneys’ Eyes Only or Attorneys’ Possession Only shall be
corrected by supplemental written notice to the receiving party as soon as
practicable, and the receiving party shall make all reasonable efforts to retrieve all
copies, if any, of such documents disclosed to persons other than those listed in
paragraph 5 hereof and to prevent further use or disclosure of Confidential
information contained therein by such persons.
12.

The inadvertent production of any Discovery Material in this action

shall not prejudice any claim that such Discovery Material is protected from
discovery by the attorney-client privilege or attorney work-product doctrine and no
person shall be held to have waived any rights by such inadvertent production.
Any Discovery Material so produced and subsequently made subject to a claim of
privilege or work-product shall immediately be returned to the producing person,
and all copies or summaries thereof immediately destroyed, and such Discovery
Material shall not be introduced into evidence in this or any other proceeding by
any person or order of the Court, nor will such Discovery Material be subject to
production in any other proceeding by virtue of the fact that it was inadvertently
produced in this proceeding. The production of any Discovery Material in this
action, which, absent such production, would have been in whole or in part
privileged under the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work-product

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doctrine, will not waive the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work-product
doctrine as to any material not produced, regardless of its subject matter.
13.

If any person in possession of Confidential, Attorneys’ Eyes Only or

Attorneys’ Possession Only Material is served with any legal process or other
request seeking production of such material, such person shall give the designating
party (a) prompt written notice of the receipt of such request; (b) a copy of any
proposed response to such request at least two business days prior to furnishing
such response; and (c) written notice of any hearing or other proceeding relating to
such request at least five business days prior to such hearing or other proceeding
(unless such person receives less than five business days' notice, in which event
notice shall be given the same day as such person receives notice). Nothing herein
shall be construed as requiring the person served with any legal process or other
request seeking production of any Discovery Material to refuse to comply with its
legal obligations regarding such process or request.
14.

Nothing in this Order shall be deemed in any way to restrict the use of

Discovery Material that is publicly available or has been or could be legally
obtained independent of formal discovery in the Litigation, whether or not the
same material has also been obtained through formal discovery in the Litigation.
15.

To the extent that there is any conflict between the terms of this Order

and rules of the Court, the rules of the Court will govern.

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16.

Upon request of the designating party, and following the termination

of this action and any related proceedings and appeals, any person in possession of
Confidential, Attorneys’ Eyes Only or Attorneys’ Possession Only Material shall
either (1) return such material to counsel for the designating party; or (2) certify to
counsel for the designating party that all such material and copies, summaries, and
extracts thereof have been destroyed, provided, however, that the signatories to this
Order and their counsel may retain copies of attorney work-product and briefs,
pleadings, and other papers filed with or sent to the Court that incorporate, append,
or refer to such material, with such papers remaining subject to the terms and
conditions of this Order.
17.

In the event that any person shall violate or threaten to violate any of

the terms of the Order, the aggrieved party may seek an appropriate remedy from
the Court, and no signatory to this Order shall raise as a defense to a request for
injunctive relief that the aggrieved party possesses an adequate remedy at law.
18.

The terms of this Order shall be effective and the parties and their

counsel shall be bound by the terms of this Order on the date the Order is signed by
the parties' counsel.
19.

The terms of this Order shall not terminate at the conclusion of the

Litigation.
20.

Prior to the time this Order is entered by the Court, Confidential

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Material shall be subject to the terms of this Order to the same extent as though the
Order has been entered by the Court.
21.

Filing Protected Documents. In the event that documents designated

as Confidential, Attorneys’ Eyes Only, or Attorneys’ Possession Only are filed,
they are to be sealed in accordance with the applicable court rules.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
October 27, 2014
Date

S/Robert H. Cleland
Hon. Robert H. Cleland

WE HEREBY STIPULATE TO ENTRY OF THE ABOVE ORDER:

/s/ Marlo Johnson Roebuck
Marlo Johnson Roebuck (P65640)
Tiffany Buckley-Norwood (P69807)
JACKSON LEWIS P.C.
Attorneys for Defendant
2000 Town Center, Suite 1650
Southfield, MI 48075
248-936-1900
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

/s/Cassandra L. Booms, w/consent
Cassandra L. Booms (P71998)
LOGAN, HUCHLA & WYCOFF, P.C.
Attorney for Plaintiff
13900 Sibley Rd., P.O. Box 2148
Riverview, MI 48193
[phone]
[e-mail]

Dated: October 27, 2014
4817-8711-8112, v. 1

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