West v. United States of America

Filing 13

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER granting 12 Joint Motion for Protective Order. Ordered by Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett. (SMN)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
CHRISTINE WEST, as Special
Administrator of the Estate of
PAUL WEST, Deceased,
Plaintiff,
vs.

8:17CV49
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Defendant.
Upon a showing of good cause in support of the entry of a protective order to control the
discovery and dissemination of confidential or proprietary information in this case (hereafter
collectively referred to as “Confidential Information”),
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1.

Confidential Information will include confidential or proprietary business

information. For purposes of this Order, the following categories of documents and information
will generally be considered “Confidential Information” and subject to this Protective Order:
•
•
2.

Plaintiff, Paul West’s, medical or healthcare records;
Confidential or proprietary business information.

Confidential Information subject to this Protective Order may, depending on the

content, be included in a variety of documents, including but not limited to: Agency records,
documents produced pursuant to written discovery, answers to interrogatories, responses to
requests for admission, deposition testimony, including all copies thereof, and other information
disclosed in the context of discovery of this case by either party or disclosed pursuant to the
discovery procedures created by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

3.

Confidential Information shall not be disclosed or used for any purpose except the

preparation and trial of this case, Christine West, as Special Administrator of the Estate of Paul
West, Deceased, v. United States of America – 8:17CV49.
4.

Confidential Information shall not, without the consent of the party producing it

or further Order of the Court, be disclosed except that such information may be disclosed to:
a.
b.

any person who previously received or authored the materials;

c.

persons regularly employed or associated with the attorneys actively
working on the case;

d.

Plaintiff Christine West, as Special Administrator of the Estate of Paul
West, Deceased;

e.

treating medical providers, expert witnesses, and consultants retained in
connection with this proceeding;

f.

mediators, facilitators, or other persons retained by the parties to assist in
the resolution of this matter, and their staff;

g.

the Court and its employees (“Court Personnel”);

h.

stenographic reporters who are engaged in proceedings necessarily
incident to the conduct of this action; and

i.

deponents, witnesses, or potential witnesses;

j.
5.

attorneys actively working on this case;

at hearings or trial, to the extent admissible.

Prior to disclosing any Confidential Information to any person listed above (other

than counsel, Plaintiff, persons employed by counsel, mediators and facilitators, Court Personnel,
and stenographic reporters), counsel shall inform such person that the document(s) being
provided are subject to the Protective Order.

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6.

Documents shall be designated as Confidential Information by counsel by placing

or affixing on them (in a manner that will not interfere with their legibility) the following notice:
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER” or a substantially similar
designation. If the document did not originate from the party seeking to affix the Confidential
Information label, or was not produced in this action by that party, the Confidential Information
designation will occur upon written notice of that designation provided to all counsel of record
within thirty (30) days after receipt of the information or document containing Confidential
Information. Subject to the procedures in Paragraph 8, upon such notice the document will be
treated as Confidential Information within the meaning of this Protective Order.
7.

Whenever a deposition involves the disclosure of Confidential Information, the

deposition or portions thereof shall be designated as confidential by counsel and shall be subject
to the provisions of this Protective Order. Such designation shall be made on the record during
the deposition whenever possible, but a party may designate portions of depositions as
containing Confidential Information after transcription, provided written notice of the
designation is promptly given to all counsel of record within thirty (30) days after notice by the
court reporter of the completion of the transcript.
8.

A party may object to the designation of Confidential Information by giving

written notice to the party designating the disputed information as Confidential Information. The
written notice shall specifically identify the information to which the objection is made. If the
parties cannot resolve the objection, it shall be the obligation of the party objecting to the
designation as Confidential Information to file an appropriate motion requesting that the Court
determine whether the disputed information should be subject to the terms of this Protective
Order. Such motion must generally be filed within thirty (30) days after submitting written
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objection to the Confidential Information designation. If such a motion is timely filed, the
disputed information shall be treated as Confidential Information under the terms of this
Protective Order until the Court rules on the motion. In connection with a motion filed under
this provision, the party designating the information as Confidential Information shall bear the
burden of establishing that good cause exists for the designated information to be treated as
Confidential Information.
9.

Confidential Information may be filed with the Court to the extent reasonably

necessary to support motions or other matters related to the litigation. If any Confidential
Information must be filed with the Court, such Confidential Information shall be filed under seal,
restricted access or redacted, as appropriate.
10.

At the conclusion of this case, each document and all copies thereof which have

been designated as Confidential Information shall be returned to the party designating them as
confidential. The parties may agree to destroy documents containing Confidential Information
by way of a mutually agreed-upon procedure.
11.

A party or counsel may not unilaterally modify any document so as to remove it

from the protections of this Protective Order. Any document subject to this Protective Order
when produced will remain protected unless the parties agree in writing to remove the
designation, or as otherwise ordered by the Court.

12.

This Protective Order may be amended by written stipulation of the parties, or by

the Court for good cause shown upon notice to all counsel and an opportunity to be heard. This
Protective Order is without prejudice to the right of any party to admit Confidential Information
as evidence or in this action contest the admissibility, discoverability, or privileged status of any
document or information.
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DATED this 20th day of June, 2017.
BY THE COURT:

s/ F.A. Gossett, III
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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