United States of America et al v. STABL, Inc.

Filing 57

PROTECTIVE ORDER granting 56 Motion for Protective Order. Ordered by Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett. (ADB)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and
THE STATE OF NEBRASKA,

CIVIL NO. 8:11 CV 00274

Plaintiffs,
PROTECTIVE ORDER

v.
STABL, INC. (f/k/a Nebraska ByProducts, Inc.),
Defendant.

Pursuant to an agreement between the parties (filing 56), a Protective Order is
hereby entered as follows:
1.

DEFINITIONS.

Limitations under this Protective Order on the use or

disclosure of documents, deposition testimony or other discovery designated as
"Confidential" shall apply to (a) all information, copies, extracts and complete or partial
summaries prepared or derived from such documents or testimony; (b) portions of
deposition transcripts, answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions,
responses to requests for production, initial disclosures and exhibits thereto which
directly refer or directly relate to any such information, documents, copies, extracts or
summaries; and (c) portions of briefs, memoranda or any other writing filed with the
Court and exhibits thereto which directly relate to any such information, documents,
copies, extracts or summaries.
2.

CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION.

Defendant seeks to

protect from disclosure certain confidential and proprietary information regarding the
business of the Defendant. Before produced documents are copied or inspected, the

producing party may stamp as "Confidential" or similar notation on any document or
deposition testimony which contains sensitive information. Documents may also be
designated as "Confidential" by written notice to opposing counsel which identifies the
documents so designated by Bates number.

Documents designated "Confidential,"

deposition testimony so designated, and information derived therefrom will be retained
by counsel and will not be used for any purpose other than this litigation and will not be
disclosed except pursuant to court order entered after notice, to anyone except:
(1)

Counsel who have signed this Order approving it as to form and
content, attorneys who are employed by Plaintiffs, retained outside
counsel, in house counsel, law clerks, secretaries or paralegal
directly involved in the conduct of this litigation;

(2)

Experts and consultants retained by a party to this action for
purposes of assisting in the preparation or presentation of claims or
defenses;

(3)

Any deposition or trial witness, during the course of deposition or
trial testimony, when necessary to the testimony of such witness;

(4)

Any person who was involved in the preparation of the document;

(5)

The Court, Court personnel, court reporters and similar personnel;

(6)

The named parties to this case, excluding their agents and/or
representatives except those identified at Paragraph 2(a) above;

(7)

Any other person with the prior written consent of the party
producing the document, pleading or deposition testimony.

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Prior to receiving or being shown such documents or deposition testimony,
persons failing in the categories listed above in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (f) and (g)
shall be shown a copy of, and shall agree in writing, or on the record during trial or
deposition, to be bound by the terms of this Protective Order. During a deposition, any
party asserting confidentiality of any of its documents shall ask the deponent on the
record to accept the terms of this Order. If the deponent refuses to assent, disclosure of
the documents during deposition shall not constitute a waiver of confidentiality. Under
such circumstances, the witness shall sign the original deposition transcript in the
presence of the court reporter and no copy of the transcript or exhibits shall be given to
the deponent.
3.

DOCUMENTS ALREADY PRODUCED. Within ten days of the entry of

this Order, parties may inform the party to whom documents have been produced that it
considers certain documents already produced as being subject to this Order as
"Confidential".
4.

THIRD PARTY WITNESSES. A copy of this Protective Order shall be

served with a subpoena or Notice of Deposition on each third party deponent. A third
party witness may designate a document as "Confidential" pursuant to this Order by
stamping it with such notice prior to production or so identifying it on the record during
the deposition of that third party. Either party may also designate documents produced
by a third party as being "Confidential" pursuant to the terms of this Order within ten
(10) days of being made aware of the content of such documents. Any document
produced by a third party shall be treated as "Confidential" pursuant to the terms of this
Order for such ten (10) day period and thereafter if designated as "Confidential" by

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either party or by the third party which produces it. The "Confidential" restrictions of this
Order shall no longer apply to any document produced by a third party which ahs not
been designated as "Confidential" by the third party or by a party within such ten (10)
day period.
5.

CHALLENGE TO DESIGNATION.

Any party may challenge the

"Confidential" designation of any document, by moving the Court for an Order allowing
disclosure. The party challenging the "Confidential" designation of any document shall
give all other parties at least ten (10) days notice before filing a motion with the Court
and the parties shall attempt to resolve any disagreement before submitting it to the
Court.

If a party challenges the "Confidential" designation of the document(s), the

document(s) at issue shall continue to be treated as "Confidential" pursuant to the terms
of this Order until such time as the Court has made a ruling with respect to the motion.
6.

RETURN OF DOCUMENTS.

Upon completion of the litigation, all

documents and copies of the same designated "Confidential" shall be destroyed or
returned to counsel for the producing party with a signed statement reflecting the
disposition. This Order shall not termination upon the conclusion of this action, but shall
continue until the further order of the Court or until the party claiming confidentiality has
waived the same in writing.
7.

USE OF DOCUMENTS. Documents produced by any party, including, but

not limited to, "Confidential" documents and information from any documents acquired
in discovery in this litigation shall not be used for any purpose except in connection with
the litigation pending in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, Civil
No. 8:11 CV 00274 styled U.S. v. STABL, Inc.. Nothing in this Order shall limit any

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party or person in its use of its own documents or from disclosing its own documents
and information.

This Order or production of any documents shall not affect the

admissibility of any such documents or be deemed a waiver of any objection to the
admissibility of such documents.
8.

EXCEPTIONS. The restrictions embodied in this Order shall be binding

on the party to whom "Confidential" information is disclosed unless and until there is a
showing that:
(1)

Such information was or has become public knowledge absent a
breach of this Protective Order; or

(2)

The party to whom such disclosure was made had already learned
such information from a third party who himself has not breached
any confidential relationship which may have existed or exists
between such third party and the party making the disclosure.

9.

NON-EXCLUSIVITY. This Order does not affect the right of a party to

seek to compel disclosure or production of a document or to seek an order modifying or
limiting this Order in any aspect. The obligations and prohibitions under this Order are
not exclusive. All other ethical, legal and equitable obligations are unaffected by this
agreement.
10.

WAIVER. Any waiver under this Order must be made in writing or, if at a

deposition or in Court, on the record.
11.

ENFORCEMENT.

Any party or person subject to the obligations and

prohibitions of this Order who is determined by the Court to have violated its terms is

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subject to sanctions imposed by the Court pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED November 29, 2012.
BY THE COURT:

S/ F.A. Gossett
United States Magistrate Judge

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