Jensen v. 3M Company

Filing 21

PROTECTIVE ORDER. Ordered by Magistrate Judge Susan M. Bazis. (LAC)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
RICK JENSEN,
Plaintiff,

8:16CV506

vs.
ORDER
3M COMPANY,
Defendant.
This matter is before the Court on the parties’ Stipulated Protective Order. (Filing No.
20.) Having considered the matter, the Stipulation is approved.

IT IS ORDERED that the following conditions are adopted:

1.

As used in the Protective Order, these terms have the following meanings:
“Attorneys” means counsel of record;
“Confidential” documents are documents designated pursuant to paragraph 2;
“Documents” are all materials within the scope of Fed. R. Civ. P. 34;
“Outside Vendors” means messenger, copy, coding, and other clerical-services vendors
not employed by a party or its Attorneys; and
“Written Assurance” means an executed document in the form attached as Exhibit A.

2.

A Party may designate a document “Confidential” to protect information within the scope

of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c).

3.

All Confidential documents, along with the information contained in the documents, shall

be used solely for the purpose of this action, and no person receiving such 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. Any other use is prohibited.

4.

Access to any Confidential document shall be limited to:
(a)

the Court and its staff;

(b)

Attorneys, their law firms, and their Outside Vendors;

(c)

persons shown on the face of the document to have authored or received it;

(d)

court reporters retained to transcribe testimony;

(e)

the parties; and

(f)

outside independent persons (i.e., persons not currently or formerly employed by,

consulting with, or otherwise associated with any party) who are retained by a party or its
Attorneys to provide assistance as mock jurors or focus group members or the like, or to furnish
technical or expert services, and/or to give testimony in this action.

5.

Third parties producing documents in the course of this action may also designate

documents as “Confidential” subject to the same protections and constraints as the parties to the
action. A copy of the Protective Order shall be served along with any subpoena served in
connection with this action. All documents produced by such third parties shall be treated as
“Confidential” for a period of 14 days from the date of their production, and during that period
any party may designate such documents as “Confidential” pursuant to the terms of the
Protective Order.

6.

Each person appropriately designated pursuant to paragraphs 4(f) to receive Confidential

information shall execute a “Written Assurance” in the form attached as Exhibit A. Opposing
counsel shall be notified at least 14 days prior to disclosure to any such person who is known to
be an employee or agent of, or consultant to, any competitor of the party whose designated
documents are sought to be disclosed. Such notice shall provide a reasonable description of the
outside independent person to whom disclosure 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 the party seeking disclosure obtains the prior approval of the Court
or the objecting party.

7.

All depositions or portions of depositions taken in this action that contain confidential

information may be designated “Confidential” and thereby obtain the protections accorded other

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“Confidential” documents. Confidentiality designations for depositions shall be made either on
the record or by written notice to the other party within 14 days of receipt of the transcript.
Unless otherwise agreed, depositions shall be treated as “Confidential” during the 14-day period
following receipt of the transcript. The deposition of any witness (or any portion of such
deposition) that encompasses Confidential information shall be taken only in the presence of
persons who are qualified to have access to such information.

8.

Any party who inadvertently fails to identify documents as “Confidential” shall, promptly

upon discovery of its oversight, provide written notice of the error and substitute appropriatelydesignated documents.

Any party receiving such improperly-designated documents shall

retrieve such documents from persons not entitled to receive those documents and, upon receipt
of the substitute documents, shall return or destroy the improperly-designated documents.

9.

If a party files a document containing Confidential information with the Court, it shall do

so in compliance with the case filing procedures for the District of Nebraska. Prior to disclosure
at trial or a hearing of materials or information designated “Confidential” the parties may seek
further protections against public disclosure from the Court.

10.

Any party may request a change in the designation of any information designated

“Confidential.” Any such document shall be treated as designated until the change is completed.
If the requested change in designation is not agreed to, the party seeking the change may move
the Court for appropriate relief, providing notice to any third party whose designation of
produced documents as “Confidential” in the action may be affected. The party asserting that the
material is Confidential shall have the burden of proving that the information in question is
within the scope of protection afforded by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c).

11.

Within 60 days of the termination of this action, including any appeals, each party shall

either destroy or return to the opposing party all documents designated by the opposing party as
“Confidential” and all copies of such documents, and shall destroy all extracts and/or data taken
from such documents. Each party shall provide a certification as to such return or destruction

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within the 60-day period. However, Attorneys shall be entitled to retain a set of all documents
filed with the Court and all correspondence generated in connection with the action.

12.

Any party may apply to the Court for a modification of the Protective Order, and nothing

in this Protective Order shall be construed to prevent a party from seeking such further
provisions enhancing or limiting confidentiality as may be appropriate.

13.

No action taken in accordance with the Protective Order shall be construed as a waiver of

any claim or defense in the action or of any position as to discoverability or admissibility of
evidence.

14.

The obligations imposed by the Protective Order shall survive the termination of this

action.

Dated this 4th day of April, 2017.
BY THE COURT:
s/ Susan M. Bazis
United States Magistrate Judge

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EXHIBIT A
WRITTEN ASSURANCE
_________________________________________ declares that:
I reside at _______________________________________ in the City of
__________________, County of __________________, State 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. __________, pending in the United States District Court for the District of
Nebraska. I agree to comply with and be bound by the provisions of the Protective Order. I
understand that any violation of the Protective Order may subject me to sanctions by the Court.
I shall not divulge any documents, or copies of documents, designated “Confidential”
obtained pursuant to such Protective Order, or the contents of such documents, 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 possession
designated “Confidential” and all copies, excerpts, summaries, notes, digests, abstracts, and
indices relating to such documents.
I submit myself to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of
Nebraska for the purpose of enforcing or otherwise providing relief relating to the Protective
Order.

Executed on _______________________
(Date)

______________________________
(Signature)

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