Jenkins v. Messerli & Kramer, P.A.
Filing
37
PROTECTIVE ORDER - This matter is before the Court on the Joint Motion and Stipulation for Protective Order. (Filing No. 36 .) The motion is granted, and a protective order is entered. Ordered by Magistrate Judge Susan M. Bazis. (LKO)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
Lee A. Jenkins, individually and on
behalf of himself and all other similarly
situated,
Plaintiff,
v.
Messerli & Kramer, P.A.
Defendant.
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Case No. 8:17-CV-207
PROTECTIVE ORDER
This matter is before the Court on the Joint Motion and Stipulation for
Protective Order. (Filing No. 36.) The motion is granted, and a protective order is
entered as follows:
1.
PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve
production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
protection from public disclosure and from use for any other purpose other than
prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby
stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective
Order. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that
this Stipulated Protective Order entitles them to file confidential information under
seal; subject to the provisions of Local Rule NECivR 7.5 and General Rule
NEGenR 1.3(c).
2.
DEFINITIONS
2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
of information or items under this Order.
2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things is defined
as information that the producing party designated in good faith and
has been previously maintained in a confidential manner and should be
protected from disclosure and use outside the litigation because its
disclosure and use is restricted by statute or could potentially cause
harm to the interests of the disclosing party or nonparties. For purposes
of
this
Order,
the
parties
will
limit
their
designation
of
“CONFIDENTIAL” information or items to the following categories of
information or documents:
2.3 Proprietary or commercial information relating to any party’s personal,
business, personal or confidential financial information; medical
records; and records restricted or prohibited by statute.
2.4 This Order is entered based on the representations and agreements of
the parties and for the purpose of facilitating discovery. Nothing in this
Order will be construed or presented as a judicial determination that
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any document or material designated as Confidential Information by
counsel or the parties is entitled to protection under Fed. R. Civ. P.
26(c) or otherwise until such time as the court may rule on a specific
document or issue.
2.5 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House
Counsel (as well as their support staff).
2.6 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.7 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained
(including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible
things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to
discovery in this matter.
2.8 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its
counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this action.
2.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action.
House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any
other outside counsel.
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2.10
Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,
or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
2.11
Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
party to this action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this
action and have appeared in this action on behalf of that party.
2.12
Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors,
employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of
Record (and their support staffs).
2.13
Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
Discovery Material in this action.
2.14
Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
support
services
(e.g.,
photocopying,
videotaping,
translating,
preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or
retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and
subcontractors.
2.15
Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.14
Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
Material from a Producing Party.
3.
SCOPE
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The protections conferred by this Motion and Order cover not only
Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the
following information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time
of disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a
violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial
or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party after the
disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no
obligation of confidentially to the Designating Party. Any use of Protected
Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order.
4.
DURATION
Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations
imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be
deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this action,
with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and
exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action,
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including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extensions of
time pursuant to applicable law.
5.
DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection:
Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection
under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material
that qualifies under the appropriate standards. To the extent practicable, the
Designating Party must designate for production only those parts of material,
documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify – so that other
portions of the material documents, items, or communications for which protection
is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
If it comes to a Party’s or a non-party’s attention that information or items
that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating
Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken
designation.
5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations: Except as otherwise provided in
this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for
protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is
disclosed or produced.
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
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(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
proceedings), that the Producing Party affixes the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to
each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the
material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
margins).
A Party or non-party that makes original documents or materials available
for inspection need not designate them for production until after the inspecting
Party has indicated which material it would like copied and produced. During the
inspection and before designation, all of the material made available for inspection
shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
document it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine
which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order.
Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix
the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If
only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by
making appropriate markings in the margins).
(b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial
proceedings, A party intending to present another party’s or non-party’s
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confidential document at a hearing or trial must promptly notify the other party or
the non-party so that the other party or the non-party may seek relief from the
Court.
(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary
and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent
place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or
item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent
practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate: A party or non-party who discloses
or produces a confidential document not designated as confidential may, within 7
days after discovery the error, provided notice of the error and produce a copy of
the document designated as confidential.
6.
CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
6.1 Timing of Challenges: Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
designation of confidentiality within 60 days from receipt of the documents
designated confidential. In the event the information designated confidential is
later produced in some publicly available format, the sixty (60) day period for
challenging the designated confidential information starts again from the date of
publication.
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6.2 Meet and Confer: The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
resolution process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging
and describing the basis for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a
challenge has been made, the written notice must recite that the challenge to
confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph of the
Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith
and must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue;
other forms of communication are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of
service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for
its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the
Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider
the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis
for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of
the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or
establishes that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and
confer process in a timely manner.
6.3 Judicial Intervention: If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without
court intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain
confidentiality under Fed.R.Civ.P. 5.2 (and in compliance with NECivR 7.5 and
NEGenR 1.3(c), if applicable) within 21 days of initial notice of challenge or
within 14 days of the parties agreeing that the meet and confer process will not
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resolve their dispute, whichever is earlier. Each such motion must be accompanied
by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet
and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by the
Designating Party to make such a motion including the required declaration within
21 days (or 14 days, if applicable) shall automatically waive the confidentiality
designation for each challenged designation. In addition, the Challenging Party
may file a motion challenging a confidentiality designation at any time if there is
good cause for doing so, including a challenge to the designation of a deposition
transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to this provision
must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has
complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed by the preceding
paragraph.
The burden of persuasion in any challenge proceeding shall be on the
Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
(e.g. to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has
waived the confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion to retain
confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material
in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
Party’s designation until the court rules on the challenge.
7.
ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
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7.1 Basic Principles: A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-party in connection with this
case only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such
Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under
the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has been terminated, a
Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
DISPOSITION).
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
authorized under this Order.
7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Unless
otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
Receiving
Party
may
disclose
any
information
or
item
designated
“CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of record in this action, as
well as employees of said Outside Counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to
disclose the information for this litigation and who have signed the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit
A;
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
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litigation and who signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound”
(Exhibit A);
(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to
whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed
the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A);
(d) the court and its personnel;
(e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial
consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is
reasonably
necessary
for
this
litigation
and
who
have
signed
the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A);
(f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom
disclosure is reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment
and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the
Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition
testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be
separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order;
(g) the author of the document containing the information or a
custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.
8.
PROTECTED
MATERIAL
PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
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SUBPOENAED
OR
ORDERED
If a Party is served with a subpoena or an order issued in other litigation
that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as
“CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such
notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall
include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served
with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in
this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which
the subpoena or order is issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating
Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of
seeking protection in the court of its confidential material – and nothing in these
provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in
this action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
9.
A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
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(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
Non-Party in this action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
confidential information, the Party shall:
(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the NonParty that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
agreement with a Non-Party;
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
Protective Order in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a
reasonably specific description of the information requested; and
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
Non-Party.
(c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court
within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the
Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive
to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the
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Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that
is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a
determination by the court. [The purpose of this provision is to alert the interested
parties to the existence of confidentiality rights of a Non-Party and to afford the
Non-Party an opportunity to protect its confidentiality interests in this court.]
Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
10.
UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a)
notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its
best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform
the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the
terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A).
11.
INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
PROTECTED MATERIAL
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
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Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of
disclosures of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client
privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement
in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
12.
MISCELLANEOUS
12.1 Right to Further Relief: Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections: By stipulating to the entry of this
Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in
this Motion and Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on
any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective
Order.
12.3 Filing Protected Material: A Party that seeks to file under seal any
Protected Material must comply with Local Rule NECivR 7.5, NEGenR 1.3(c) and
the terms of this agreement. Protected Material may only be filed under seal
pursuant to court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at
issue.
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13.
FINAL DISPOSITION
Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in
paragraph 4, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all
Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and
any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether
the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a
written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity,
to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category,
where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and
(2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain a
copy of any confidential document submitted to the court. Any such copies that
contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as
set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 24th day of May, 2018.
BY THE COURT:
S/ Susan M. Bazis
United States Magistrate Judge
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ATTACHMENT A
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
AND
AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
The undersigned hereby acknowledges that he/she has read the Protective Order
dated _______________ in the case captioned, Jenkins v. Messerli & Kramer, P.A., Case
No. 8:17-CV-207, and attached hereto, understands the terms thereof, and agrees to be
bound by its terms. The undersigned submits to the jurisdiction of the United States
District Court for the District of Nebraska in matters relating to this Protective Order and
understands that the terms of the Protective Order obligate him/her to use materials
designated as Confidential Information in accordance with the order solely for the
purposes of the above-captioned action, and not to disclose any such Confidential
Information to any other person, firm, or concern, except in accordance with the
provisions of the Protective Order.
The undersigned acknowledges that violation of the Protective Order may result
in penalties for contempt of court.
Name:
Job Title:
Employer:
Business Address:
Date:
Signature
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