Brown v. West Corporation
Filing
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ORDER granting 18 Motion for Protective Order. Ordered by Senior Judge Lyle E. Strom. (SLP)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
REX BROWN,
Plaintiff,
vs.
WEST CORPORATION,
A Delaware Corporation,
Defendant.
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Civil Action No. 8:11-cv-284
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Upon request of all the parties for a Protective Order, pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1.
All Classified Information produced or exchanged in the course of this litigation
shall be used solely for the purpose of preparation and trial of this litigation and
for no other purpose and shall not be disclosed to any person except in accordance
with the terms hereof.
2.
“Classified Information,” as used herein, means any information of any type, kind
or character which is designated as “Confidential,” including but not limited to
documents, information revealed during a deposition, information revealed in an
interrogatory answer or otherwise. The parties shall make such designation only
as to the information that it in good faith believes contains confidential
information.
3.
“Qualified Persons,” as used herein means:
a.
Attorneys of record for the parties in this litigation and employees of such
attorneys to whom it is necessary that the material be shown for purposes of
this litigation;
b.
Actual or potential independent technical experts or consultants who have
agreed to be bound by the terms of this protective order;
c.
The party or party representatives (in cases where the party is a legal entity)
to whom it is necessary that the material be shown for purposes of
litigation;
d.
Any deponent and/or witness in this litigation; provided however that any
deponent or witness who is shown confidential information (1) must be
instructed to keep the information confidential consistent with the terms of
this protective order and (2) may not be provided with copies of the
confidential information except in the course of a deposition or in the
context of meeting with attorneys of record for the parties in this litigation
and employees of such attorneys.
e.
Any other person may be designated as a Qualified Person by order of this
Court after notice and hearing to all parties.
4.
Documents produced in this action shall be designated as “Confidential”
information by marking each page of the document(s) with a stamp stating
“Confidential”.
5.
Information disclosed at the deposition of a party or one of its representatives,
including former officers or agents, or the deposition of a third party (which
information pertains to a party), may be designated by any party as “Confidential.”
Once the party receives the transcript of the deposition, they shall notify all of the
parties in writing within thirty (30) days of the specific pages and lines of the
transcript which should be treated as “Confidential” thereafter. Each party shall
attach a copy of such written notice or notices to the face of the transcript and each
copy thereof in his possession, custody or control. All deposition transcripts shall
be treated as “Confidential” for a period of thirty (30) days after the receipt of the
transcript.
6.
“Confidential” information shall not be disclosed or made available by the
receiving party to persons other than Qualified Persons.
7.
Documents unintentionally produced without designation as “Confidential” may
be retroactively designated in the same manner and shall be treated appropriately
from the date written notice of the designation is provided to the receiving party.
8.
Nothing herein shall prevent disclosure beyond the terms of this order if each
party designating the information as “Confidential” consents to such disclosure or,
if the court, after notice to all affected parties, orders such disclosures. Nor shall
anything herein prevent any counsel of record from utilizing “Confidential”
information in the examination or cross-examination of any person who is
indicated on the document as being an author, source or recipient of the
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“Confidential” information, irrespective of which party produced such
information.
9.
A party shall not be obligated to challenge the propriety of a designation as
“Confidential” at the time made, and a failure to do so shall not preclude a
subsequent challenge thereto. If a party wishes to challenge the “Confidential”
designation, the parties shall first try to resolve such dispute in good faith on an
informal basis, such as by production of redacted copies.
If the dispute cannot be resolved, the objecting party may object to the designation
in writing to the party who has designated the document or information as
“Confidential”. The designating party must then move the Court for an order
preserving the designated status of such information within fourteen (14) days of
receipt of the written objection, and failure to do so shall constitute a termination
of the restricted status of such item.
The parties may, by stipulation, provide for exceptions to this order and any party
may seek an order of this Court modifying this Protective Order.
10.
Nothing shall be regarded as “Confidential” information if it is information that
either:
a.
is in the public domain at the time of disclosure, as evidenced by a written
document;
b.
becomes part of the public domain through no fault of the other party, as
evidenced by a written document;
c.
the receiving party can show by written document that the information was
in its rightful and lawful possession at the time of disclosure; or
d.
the receiving party lawfully receives such information at a later date from a
third party without restriction as to disclosure, provided such third party has
the right to make the disclosure to the receiving party.
11.
In the event a party wishes to use any “Confidential” information in any affidavits,
briefs, memoranda of law, or other papers filed in Court in this litigation, such
“Confidential” information used therein shall be filed under seal with the Court.
12.
The Clerk of this Court is directed to maintain under seal all documents and
transcripts of deposition testimony and answers to interrogatories, admissions and
other pleadings filed under seal with the Court in this litigation which have been
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designated in whole or in part as “Confidential” information by a party to this
action.
13.
Within one hundred twenty (120) days after conclusion of this litigation and any
appeal thereof, any document and all reproductions of documents produced by a
party in the possession of any of the persons qualified under Paragraphs 3(a)
through (d) shall be returned to the producing party. As far as the provisions of
any protective orders entered in this action restrict the communication and use of
the documents produced, such orders shall continue to be binding after the
conclusion of this litigation.
14.
This order shall not bar any attorney herein in the course of rendering advice to his
client with respect to this litigation from conveying to any party client his
evaluation in a general way of “Confidential” information produced or exchanged
herein; provided, however, that in rendering such advice and otherwise
communicating with his client, the attorney shall not disclose the specific contents
of any “Confidential” information produced by another party herein, which
disclosure would be contrary to the terms of this Protective Order.
15.
Any party designating any person as a Qualified Person shall have the duty to
reasonably ensure that such person observes the terms of this Protective Order and
shall be responsible upon breach of such duty for the failure of such person to
observe the terms of this Protective Order.
16.
This Order shall be subject to modification by the Court at any time.
SIGNED this the 26th day of March, 2012.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Lyle E. Strom
______________________________
LYLE E. STROM, Senior Judge
United States District Court
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AGREED:
WEISBART SPRINGER HAYES, LLP
212 Lavaca Street, Suite 200
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 652-5780
(512) 682-2074 Fax
By: /s/ Julie A. Springer
Julie A. Springer
jspringer@scottdoug.com
Texas Bar No. 18966770
ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT
WEST CORPORATION
DYER LAW, PC, LLO
10730 Pacific Street, Suite 111
Omaha, Nebraska 68114
(402) 393-7529
(402) 391-2289 Fax
By: /s/ Kelly K. Brandon
Kelly K. Brandon
kelly@dyerlaw.com
Nebraska Bar No. 20734
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF
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