Johnson v. Law Offices of Brachfeld & Associates et al

Filing 46

PROTECTIVE ORDER- Upon stipulation of the parties 44 for an order pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). Ordered by Senior Judge Lyle E. Strom. (MKR)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA N a th a n ie l Johnson, On Behalf of Himself, a n d All Others Similarly Situated, ) ) ) P l a in tif f , ) ) v. ) ) L a w Offices of Brachfeld & Associates, ) L V N V Funding, LLC, Alegis Group, LLC, ) a n d Resurgent Capital Services, LP, ) ) D e f e n d a n ts . ) C A S E NO. 8:09-cv-00336 P R O T E C T I V E ORDER U p o n stipulation of the parties for an order pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that confidential information be disclosed only in d e s ig n a te d ways: 1. A s used in the Protective Order, these terms have the following meanings: " A tto r n e ys " means any counsel of the parties; " C o n f id e n tia l" documents are documents designated pursuant to paragraph 2; " D o c u m e n ts " are all materials within the scope of Fed. R. Civ. P. 34; " O u ts id e Vendors" means messenger, copy, coding, and other clerical-services v e n d o rs not employed by a party or its Attorneys: and " W ritten Assurance" means an executed document in the form attached as Exhibit A. 2. A Party may designate a document "Confidential", to protect information w ith in the scope of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). 3. A ll Confidential documents, along with the information contained in the d o c u m e n ts , shall be used solely for the purpose of this action, and no person receiving s u c h documents shall, directly or indirectly, use, transfer, disclose, or communicate in any way the documents or their contents to any person other than those specified in paragraph 4 . Any other use is prohibited. 4. (a ) (b) (c ) (d ) (e) (f) A c c es s to any Confidential document shall be limited to: the Court and its staff; Attorneys, their law firms, and their Outside Vendors; p e rso n s shown on the face of the document to have authored or received it; c o u rt reporters retained to transcribe testimony; the parties; outside independent persons (i.e., persons not currently or formerly e m p lo ye d by, consulting with, or otherwise associated with any party) who are retained b y a party or its Attorneys to provide assistance as mock jurors or focus group members o r the like, or to furnish technical or expert services, and/or to give testimony in this a c tio n . 5. T h ird parties producing documents in the course of this action may also d e sig n a te documents as "Confidential", subject to the same protections and constraints as th e parties to the action. A copy of the Protective Order shall be served along with any su b p o en a served in connection with this action. All documents produced by such third p a rties shall be treated as "Confidential" for a period of 14 days from the date of their p ro d u c ti o n , and during that period any party may designate such documents as " C o n f id e n tia l" pursuant to the terms of the Protective Order. 6. E a c h person appropriately designated pursuant to paragraphs 4(f) to receive C o n f id e n tia l information shall execute a "Written Assurance" in the form attached as 1560091v1 Exhibit A. Opposing counsel has to be notified at least 14 days prior to disclosures to any s u c h persons who are known to be an employee or agent of, or consultant to, any c o m p e tito r of the party whose designated documents are sought to be disclosed. Such n o tic e shall provide a reasonable description of the outside independent person to whom d is c lo s u re is sought sufficient to permit objection to be made. If a party objects in writing to such disclosure within 14 days after receipt of notice, no disclosure shall be made until th e party seeking disclosure obtains the prior approval of the Court or the objecting party. 7. A ll depositions or portions of depositions taken in this action that contain C o n f id e n tia l information may be designated "Confidential" and thereby obtain the p ro te c tio n s accorded other "Confidential" documents. Confidentiality designations for d e p o sitio n s shall be made either on the record or by written notice to the other party w ith in 14 days of receipt of the transcript. Unless otherwise agreed, depositions shall be tre a te d as "confidential" during the 14-day period following receipt of the transcript. The d e p o sitio n of any witness (or any portion of such deposition) that encompasses C o n f id e n tia l information shall be taken only in the presence of persons who are qualified to have access to such information. 8. A n y party who inadvertently fails to identify documents as "Confidential" s h a ll, promptly upon discovery of its oversight, provide written notice of the error and s u b s titu te appropriately-designated documents. Any party receiving such improperly- d e sig n a te d documents shall retrieve such documents from persons not entitled to receive th o s e documents and, upon receipt of the substitute documents, shall return or destroy the im p ro p e rly-d e s ig n a te d documents. 1560091v1 9. If a party files a document containing Confidential information with the C o u rt, it shall do so in compliance with the Electronic Filing Procedures for the District o f Nebraska for filing documents containing Confidential information or filed under seal w i th the Court. Prior to the disclosures at trial or hearing of materials or information d e s ig n a te d "Confidential", the parties may seek further protections against public d is c lo s u re from the Court. 10. A n y party may request a change in the designation of any information d e sig n a te d "Confidential". Any such document shall be treated as designated until the c h a n g e is completed. If the requested change in designation is not agreed to, the party s e e k in g the change may move the Court for appropriate relief, providing notice to any th ird party whose designation of produced documents as "Confidential" in the action may b e affected. The party asserting that the material is Confidential shall have the burden of p ro v in g that the information in question is within the scope of protection afforded by Fed. R . Civ. P. 26(c). 11. W ith in 60 days of the termination of this action, including any appeals, each p a rty shall either destroy or return to the opposing party all documents designated by the o p p o sin g party as "Confidential", and all copies of such documents, and shall destroy all e x tra c ts and/or data taken from such documents. Each party shall provide a certification a s to such return or destruction within the 60-day period. However, Attorneys shall be e n title d to retain a set of all documents filed with the Court and all correspondence g e n e ra te d in connection with the action. 1560091v1 12. A n y party may apply to the Court for a modification of the Protective O rd e r , and nothing in this Protective Order shall be construed to prevent a party from s e e k in g such further provisions enhancing or limiting confidentiality as may be a p p ro p ri a te . 13. N o action taken in accordance with the Protective Order shall be construed a s a waiver of any claim or defense in the action or of any position to discoverability or a d m is s ib ility of evidence. 14. T h e obligations imposed by the Protective Order shall survive the te rm in a tio n of this action. D A T E D this 23rd day of March, 2010. BY THE COURT: /s/ Lyle E. Strom ___________________________ LYLE E. STROM, Senior Judge United States District Court 1560091v1 EXHIBIT A W R IT T E N ASSURANCE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ declares that: I reside at _________________________________ County of in the City State of of _______________________, ___________________, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . My telephone number is ______________________________. I am currently employed by _______________________________, located at _______________________________, and my current job title is _________________________________________. I have read and I understand the terms of the Protective Order dated _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , filed in Case No.: 8:09-CV-336, pending in the United States D is tric t Court for the District of Nebraska. I agree to comply with and be bound by the p ro v is io n s of the Protective Order. I understand that any violation of the Protective Order m a y subject me to sanctions by the Court. I shall not divulge any documents, or copies of documents, designated " C o n f id e n tia l" obtained pursuant to such Protective Order, or the contents of such d o cu m en ts, to any person other than those specifically authorized by the Protective Order. I shall not copy or use such documents except for the purposes of this action and pursuant to the terms of the Protective Order. As soon as practical, but no later than 30 days after final termination of this action, I shall return to the attorney from whom I have received them, any documents in my 1560091v1 possession designated "Confidential", and all copies, excerpts, summaries, notes, digests, a b s tra c ts , and indices relating to such documents. I submit myself to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the D istric t of Nebraska for the purpose of enforcing or otherwise providing relief relating to th e Protective Order. Executed on _________________, 20 (Date) . ___________________________ ( S i g n a tu r e ) 1560091v1

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