Melton Properties, LLC et al v. Illinois Central Railroad Company et al

Filing 48

PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Magistrate Judge Jane M. Virden on 10/17/18. (bfg)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
GREENVILLE DIVISION
MELTON PROPERTIES, LLC; FLOYD
M. MELTON, JR.; FLOYD M. MELTON
III; MOSS B. MELTON; MCMILLAN ACRES;
DANNY HARGETT; JANE HART MCMILLAN
HARGETT; DAVID HARGETT
V.

PLAINTIFFS

CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:18-CV-00079-DMB-JMV

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY;
CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY; UNION
TANK CAR COMPANY, INC.; JOHN DOES 1-5

DEFENDANTS

AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
The Court, being advised that all parties to this action consent to maintaining the
confidentiality of certain documents and information, orders as follows:
1.

Any files or documents containing information regarding personnel,

customers, financial data, or other private, confidential or proprietary information shall
be considered “Confidential Information.”

This Order shall govern all Confidential

Information which is produced by the parties or a testifying witness during the course of
this litigation.
2. This Order shall apply both to the parties to this action and to any third party
who provides or is provided access to discovery materials under the terms of this Order.
3. Except with prior written consent of the party who or which has designated
documents or information as “Confidential Information,” (hereafter “designating party”)
or upon prior order of this Court, a receiving party shall not disclose or use Confidential
Information obtained during discovery for any purpose (including without limitation, any

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business, commercial or personal purpose) other than for the purposes of preparing for
and conducting the litigation of this action and any appellate proceedings in this action.
4. All Confidential Information shall be clearly and prominently marked by placing
on every single-page document, on the initial page or cover of a multi-page document
(including deposition transcripts), and in prominent location on the exterior of any
tangible object, one of the following designations (or a designation containing the same
information but in a different format):
i.

“CONFIDENTIAL”; OR

ii.

“CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION - THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO A
PROTECTIVE ORDER”; OR

iii.

By affixing a “C” prior to the document number.

In lieu of marking the original of documents, the designating party may mark the
copies that are produced or exchanged.
5. If a party intends to use Confidential Information in any Court filing or at trial,
then that party must give no less than seven (7) days’ written notice to the party who
designated the information as Confidential prior to filing it so that the designating party
has an opportunity to ask the Court to either seal the documents or allow them to be
filed in redaction form. The party designating the information as Confidential shall be
responsible for asking the Court to either seal the documents or allow them to be filed in
redacted form. If a ruling is not obtained within the seven (7) day period, the party
designating the material as confidential shall cooperate in requesting extensions to filing
deadlines which the party seeking to use the information wishes to meet.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a party wishes to file a document that has Confidential

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Information embodied in it, the Confidential Information shall be redacted by the filing
party prior to filing the document with the Clerk, to the extent the filing party does not
wish that the Court consider the redacted information. If the Court declines to seal a
document or allow it to be filed in redacted form, then the Party who wishes to use the
Confidential Information may do so unsealed and unredacted, according to the Court
Order.
6. Except with the prior written consent of the designating party or as otherwise
expressly permitted by this Order, the receiving party may disclose Confidential
Information of the designating party only to the following persons:
A.

The Court and Court personnel;

B.

The parties and attorneys for each party; and

C.

Experts retained by the receiving party for consultation or for testimony
after the procedures set forth in Paragraph 7 have been completed.
Confidential information shall not be disclosed to any other persons without the

prior, written consent of the designating party.
7. Prior to disclosure of any Confidential Information to any expert witness or
other person approved by the designating party, other than persons listed in Sections
6A and 6B, counsel for the receiving party shall first provide the person with a copy of
this Order, and shall require the person to execute the appropriate acknowledgment
attached to this Order as Exhibit A.
8. This Order shall bind both parties to this action and all persons signing Exhibit
A.

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9. Sixty (60) days after final termination of this action, including all appeals, any
Confidential Information produced shall be destroyed, to the extent commercially
reasonable to do so, by the receiving party, unless opposing counsel has requested the
return of the Confidential Information. This provision does not apply to the Court and
Court personnel.
10. This Order may be modified in whole or in part at any time upon Motion by
any party.
11. The Court may sua sponte, or upon motion of either party, suspend and/or
amend this Order.
ORDERED this the 17th day of October, 2018.

_/s/ Jane M. Virden_____________
U.S. Magistrate-Judge

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EXHIBIT A
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
GREENVILLE DIVISION
MELTON PROPERTIES, LLC; FLOYD
M. MELTON, JR.; FLOYD M. MELTON
III; MOSS B. MELTON; MCMILLAN ACRES;
DANNY HARGETT; JANE HART MCMILLAN
HARGETT; DAVID HARGETT
V.

PLAINTIFFS

CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:18-CV-00079-DMB-JMV

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY;
CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY; UNION
TANK CAR COMPANY, INC.; JOHN DOES 1-5

DEFENDANTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT OF
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
I, the undersigned, do hereby verify that I am in receipt of the Agreed Protective
Order; that I have read and understand the Agreed Protective Order; and that I agree to
comply fully with all of the provisions set forth in the Agreed Protective Order.

___________________________________
SIGNATURE
___________________________________
PRINTED NAME
___________________________________
TITLE
___________________________________
DATE

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