Shepard v. Trans Union, LLC et al
Filing
31
AGREED MUTUAL PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by District Judge Matthew F. Leitman. (HMon)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
ALEIGHCIA SHEPARD,
Plaintiff,
Case No. 17-cv-11745
Hon. Matthew F. Leitman
v.
TRANS UNION, LLC, et al.,
Defendants.
__________________________________________________________________
AGREED MUTUAL PROTECTIVE ORDER
__________________________________________________________________
Plaintiff, Defendant Experian Information Solutions, Inc. and Defendant
Merchants & Medical Credit Corporation, Inc. hereby stipulate and agree to the
following Protective Order.
BACKGROUND
A.
Documents and information have been and may be sought, produced
or exhibited by and among the parties to this action relating to trade secrets,
confidential research, development, technology and other proprietary information
belonging to the Defendants and/or personal income, credit and other confidential
information of Plaintiff.
B.
The parties desire to enter into a mutual agreement regarding the
confidentiality of this information and governing the production and use of this
information.
NOW THEREFORE, this matter having come before the Court and the
Court, being first duly advised, now finds and orders as follows:
1.
Right to Designate Information as "Confidential". Counsel for
any party (or for a nonparty witness or deponent which shall be included in the
term “Designating Party”) may designate as “Confidential” any document,
testimony or other discovery material that contains confidential commercial or
financial information or trade secret information to which they in good faith
believe access should be limited to litigation counsel presently of record for the
parties, or subsequently substituted.
2.
Definition of “Confidential” Information. The term “Confidential”
means information so designated by a Designating Party in writing (or orally if
recorded as part of a deposition or court record), whether revealed during a
deposition, in a document, in an interrogatory answer, by production of tangible
evidence or otherwise.
3.
Definition of Designated Information.
designated as “Confidential” is Designated Information.
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Any information that is
4.
Identification of Designated Information.
Counsel for the
Designating Party shall inform the other counsel which materials are considered
“Confidential” Information designated as “Confidential” shall be identified
“Confidential,” or the like, by a code upon which all parties agree. Such words or
code shall be placed on or affixed to each document and page thereof which
contains Designated Information, and in the case of an interrogatory answer, the
specific portion of such answer which contains Designated Information. When
information not initially designated as “Confidential” is so designated later in
writing, each party shall make a reasonable effort to retrieve documents containing
the later-Designated Information and otherwise ensure that persons to whom the
Designated Information has been disclosed will treat it as “Confidential.”
However, no sanctions shall be imposed upon a party for any disclosure of the later
- Designated Information made prior to the party’s receiving written notification of
the later designation of the information as confidential.
5.
Protection of Designated Information. Designated Information and
any notes, summaries, memoranda, exhibits or other documents which include or
describe Designated Information shall be retained by counsel for the Recipient
Party, and, except as required by law, governmental agency or court order and
except as provided herein, shall not be disclosed to any person (except those
persons described in paragraphs 6 through 7 of this Order) or used by counsel for
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any party or by any party other than in connection with this action (the
“Litigation”). Persons to whom access to Designated Information is given pursuant
to this Order shall keep such information and any copies, abstracts, or summaries
thereof secure in accordance with the purposes and intent of this Order and shall
adopt and employ all suitable precautions to cure continued confidentiality, nonuse and nondisclosure including, without limitation, such precautions as
precautions against copying and provision for safekeeping.
6.
Counsel's and Others' Access to Designated Information. Except
as provided in paragraph 7 below, the persons or entities entitled to have access to
Designated Information produced by another person shall be restricted to (a) the
Court and its employees and any reporter transcribing testimony at any hearing,
trial, deposition or other formal proceeding in the Litigation including but not
limited to any appeal therefrom; and (b) the counsel and client for any party who
are charged with the responsibility for, or are actively engaged in, preparation for
trial or the trial of the Litigation and employees of such counsel who are assisting
counsel in connection with the Litigation.
7.
Disclosure of Designated Information to Outside Experts. Counsel
for a Recipient Party may disclose any “Confidential” Information to an outside
expert who is to assist that counsel in preparation for the trial in the litigation, or
who is expected to testify at the trial in the litigation. The outside expert shall read
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a copy of this Order and sign the attached Agreement before receiving Designated
Information.
8.
Limitation on Copying.
No copies, summaries, or abstracts of
Designated Information shall be made by a party or its counsel for distribution or
use by persons other than those described in paragraphs 6 through 7.
9.
Depositions.
Any deposition or portion thereof during which
“Confidential” Information is being disclosed shall be taken in camera without any
persons in attendance other than the witnesses and those persons described in
paragraphs 6 through 7.
10.
Time for Designation of Deposition Designated Information. At
the time of the deposition if possible, but not later than 30 days after receipt of the
deposition transcript, counsel shall designate those portions of the deposition
testimony which they deem “Confidential” Information. Counsel shall designate
these portions of answers to interrogatories and responses to requests for admission
that they deem confidential when the answers and responses are served.
11.
Dispute as to Confidentiality.
Any party may contest the
designation of any information as “Confidential.” A failure to challenge a claim of
Designated Information shall not constitute agreement that such claim is valid and
shall not prejudice any party or person. If any party disagrees with any designation
of any information as “Confidential” they shall notify counsel for the Designating
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Party, and they shall attempt to resolve the dispute. If the dispute is not so
resolved, the party contesting the designation shall place the dispute before the
Court, demonstrating the designation incorrect, and the information shall continue
to be kept Confidential unless and until the Court rules otherwise.
12.
Subjects Not Covered.
a.
Each party reserves the right to oppose on any grounds disclosure of
any Designated Information to persons not designated in paragraphs 6 through 7.
Nothing herein shall affect in any way the admissibility or inadmissibility of any
document, testimony or other evidence at trial. Nothing herein shall constitute a
waiver of any applicable privilege or limit in any way a party's use of its own
Designated Information.
b.
Subject to the exceptions stated in paragraph 6 and the preceding
section of this paragraph, this Order shall preclude a party from opposing
production of any information or documents on the ground that it is or contains
Designated Information, but this order shall not limit a party's right to oppose
discovery on any other ground.
13.
Voluntary Waiver. At any time after any information is designated
“Confidential,” the Designating Party may agree that the Designated Information
may be disclosed to specified persons, and the Designating Party may waive to any
extent the protections of this Order. Any such agreement or waiver must be in
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writing or by statement made on the record at a deposition.
14.
Retained Jurisdiction. The Court retains jurisdiction to make such
amendments, modifications and additions to this Order as the Court may from time
to time deem appropriate. The Court shall further retain jurisdiction to resolve any
disputes concerning the disposition of materials containing Designated Information
at the termination of this action.
15.
Amendment. This Order may be amended by the written agreement
of counsel for the parties in the form of a stipulation that shall be approved by the
Court.
16.
Disposition of Designated Information.
Within 60 days after
termination of the Litigation, counsel shall destroy or return all Designated
Information and copies (including excerpts and summaries of any materials
provided to experts pursuant to paragraph 8) to counsel for the producing party or
entity.
17.
Notice.
If any party is served with a subpoena or other notice
compelling the disclosure of Designated Information, that party shall give written
notice to the Designating Party, as far in advance of the requested production date
as is reasonably possible, so that the Designating Party shall have an opportunity to
object to the disclosure.
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18.
Non-Parties. The terms of this Order shall apply to information
produced by nonparties for use in the Litigation.
19.
Survival. The terms of this Order shall survive the termination of the
Litigation.
20.
Inadvertent Production.
The inadvertent production of any
document or information during discovery in the Litigation shall be without
prejudice to any claim that such material is privileged under the attorney-client or
other privilege, or protected from discovery as work product. No party or entity
shall be held to have waived any rights by such inadvertent production so long as
the Recipient Party is notified within 30 days of the discovery of such inadvertent
production.
Upon written request by the inadvertently producing party, the
Recipient Party shall (even if the Recipient Party disagrees that the document is
privileged) return all copies of the document and not use the information in the
document for any purpose until further order of the Court.
21. Motion must be filed prior to filing documents under seal - This
order does not authorize the filing of any documents or other matter under seal.
Documents or other matter may be sealed only if authorized by statute, rule, or
order of the Court. A party seeking to include Designated Information in a filing
with the court must either (1) file and serve a motion pursuant to Local Rule 5.3
seeking to file the Designated Information under seal, or (2) provide at least 10
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business days’ notice to the Designating Party of the intent to file the Designated
Information in the court record so that the Designating Party has the opportunity to
move the court to file the Designated Information under seal. A party shall not file
or otherwise tender to the Clerk any item proposed for sealing unless the Court has
granted the motion required by this section.
A party seeking to file such items
under seal shall file and serve a motion that sets forth (i) the authority for sealing;
(ii) an identification and description of each item proposed for sealing; (iii) the
reason that sealing each item is necessary; (iv) the reason that means other than
sealing are not available or unsatisfactory to preserve the interest advanced by the
movant in support of sealing; (v) a memorandum of legal authority supporting
sealing. See Local Rule 5.3.
s/Matthew F. Leitman
MATTHEW F. LEITMAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: September 27, 2017
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AGREED TO:
/s/ Carl Schwartz (by consent)
Carl Schwartz (P70335)
Attorney for Plaintiff
(248) 353-2882
carl@micreditlawyer.com
/s/ Tamara E. Fraser
Tamara E. Fraser (P51997)
Attorney for Defendant Experian
Information Solutions, Inc.
(248) 642-0333
tefraser@wwrplaw.com
/s/ Charity A. Olson (by consent)
Charity A. Olson (P68295)
Attorney for Merchants & Medical
Credit Corporation, Inc.
(734) 222-5179
charity.olson@brockandscott.com
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AGREEMENT CONCERNING MATERIAL COVERED BY
A PROTECTIVE ORDER ENTERED
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN
DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
I, the undersigned, hereby acknowledge that I have read the attached
Protective Order entered in the United States District Court for the Eastern District
of Michigan Court in Case No. 2:17-cv-11745 pending therein, and understand the
terms thereof and agree to be bound by all such terms. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, I agree not to disclose to any person or entity not
authorized to receive “Confidential” Designated Information under the terms of
said Protective Order, any document or information designated as or constituting
“Confidential” or any other copies or extracts of information derived therefrom,
which have been disclosed to me.
I further agree to use any “Confidential”
information disclosed to me solely for the purpose of the action and for no other
purpose.
I hereby submit myself to the jurisdiction of the aforementioned Court for
the purpose of enforcing said Protective Order.
Date:
Signature:
Type or Print Name
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