Norford et al v. United States of America

Filing 23

STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER...regarding procedures to be followed that shall govern the handling of confidential material... SO ORDERED. (Signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Willis on 11/26/2024) (tg)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA,

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Defendant.
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X

DANE NORFORD and
ROBERT PANTON,
Plaintiffs,
against

24 CIV 602
(JW)

STIPULATION AND
PROPOSED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

WHEREAS, Plaintiffs Dane Norford and Robert Panton and Defendant United States of
America (together, the “Parties”) having agreed to the following terms of confidentiality, and
the Court having found that good cause exists for the issuance of an appropriately tailored
protective order pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, it is hereby
ORDERED that the following restrictions and procedures shall apply to the information
and documents exchanged by the parties in connection with the pre-trial phase of this action:
1.

Counsel for any party may designate any document or information, in whole
or in part, as Subject to Protective Order if counsel determines, in good faith,
that such designation is necessary to protect the interests of the client in
information that is proprietary, a trade secret or otherwise sensitive non-public
information, or records that are subject to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b).
Information and documents designated by a party as Subject to Protective Order
will be stamped “Subject to Protective Order.”

2.

The disclosed discovery material designated Subject to Protective Order will be
held and used by the person receiving such information solely for use in
connection with the action.

3.

In the event a party challenges another party’s designation of Subject to
Protective Order, counsel shall make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute,
and in the absence of a resolution, the challenging party may seek resolution by
the Court. Nothing in this Protective Order constitutes an admission by any party
that discovery material designated Subject to Protective Order disclosed in this

case is relevant or admissible. Each party reserves the right to object to the use
or admissibility of the discovery material designated as Subject to Protective
Order.
4.

The parties should meet and confer if any production requires a designation
of “For Attorneys’ or Experts’ Eyes Only.” All other documents designated
as “Subject to Protective Order” shall not be disclosed to any person, except:
a. The requesting party and counsel, including in-house counsel;
b. Employees of such counsel assigned to and necessary to assist in
the litigation;
c. Consultants or experts assisting in the prosecution or defense of the
matter, to the extent deemed necessary by counsel; and
d. The Court (including the mediator, or other person having access
to any discovery material designated as Subject to Protective Order
by virtue of his or her position with the Court).

5.

Prior to disclosing or displaying the discovery material designated Subject
to Protective Order to any person, counsel must:
a. Inform the person of the confidential nature of the information or documents;
b. Inform the person that this Court has enjoined the use of the information
or documents by him/her for any purpose other than this litigation and has
enjoined the disclosure of the information or documents to any other
person; and
c. Require each such person to sign an agreement to be bound by
this Order in the form attached hereto.

6.

The disclosure of a document or information without designating it as
“Subject to Protective Order” shall not constitute a waiver of the right to designate
such document or information as Subject to Protective Order. If so designated,
the document or information shall thenceforth be treated as Subject to Protective
Order and subject to all the terms of this Stipulation and Order.

7.

Any Personally Identifying Information (“PII”) (e.g., social security numbers,
financial account numbers, passwords, and information that may be used for
identity theft) exchanged in discovery shall be maintained by the receiving party
in a manner that is secure and confidential and shared only with authorized
individuals in a secure manner. The producing party may specify the minimal
level of protection expected in the storage and transfer of its information. In
the event the party who received PII experiences a data breach, it shall
immediately notify the producing party of same and cooperate with the
producing party to address and remedy the breach. Nothing herein shall preclude
the producing party from asserting legal claims or constitute a waiver of legal

rights and defenses in the event of litigation arising out of the receiving party’s
failure to appropriately protect PII from unauthorized disclosure.
8.

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502, the production of privileged or workproduct protected documents or communications, electronically stored
information (“ESI”) or information, whether inadvertent or otherwise, shall not
constitute a waiver of the privilege or protection from discovery in this case or
in any other federal or state proceeding. This Order shall be interpreted to
provide the maximum protection allowed by Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d).
Nothing contained herein is intended to or shall serve to limit a party’s right to
conduct a review of documents, ESI or information (including metadata) for
relevance, responsiveness and/or segregation of privileged and/or protected
information before production.

9.

Notwithstanding the designation of information as “Subject to Protective Order”
in discovery, there is no presumption that such information shall be filed with the
Court under seal. The parties shall follow the Court’s procedures with respect to
filing under seal.

10.

At the conclusion of litigation, discovery material designated subject to
Protective Order and any copies thereof shall be promptly (and in no event later
than 30 days after entry of final judgment no longer subject to further appeal)
returned to the producing party or certified as destroyed, except that the parties’
counsel shall be permitted to retain their working files on the condition that
those files will remain protected.

11.

Nothing herein shall preclude the parties from disclosing material designated to
be Subject to Protective Order if otherwise required by law or pursuant to a valid
subpoena.

12.

Nothing herein shall prevent the disclosure of materials designated to be Subject
to Protective Order to government authorities for purposes of enforcement of
criminal laws or in furtherance of civil enforcement or regulatory proceedings.

13.

Nothing herein shall prevent the Government from disclosing material designated
to be Subject to Protective Order to the extent required by the Freedom of
Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552. In the event that the Government
determines that materials designated as Subject to the Protective Order is required
to be produced under FOIA, the United States shall provide the producing party
with written notifications at least 14 days prior to the production of such
materials.

SO STIPULATED AND AGREED.

/s/ Anthony Hirschberger

Dated: November 6, 2024

/s/ Danielle J. Marryshow

Dated: November 6, 2024

SO ORDERED.
JENNIFER
JENN
NIFER E. WILLIS, U.S.M.J.
Dated: November 26, 2024
New York, New York

Agreement

I have been informed by counsel that certain documents or information to be
disclosed to me in connection with the matter entitled have been designated as Subject to
Protective Order. I have been informed that any such documents or information labeled
“Subject to Protective Order” are confidential by Order of the Court.
I hereby agree that I will not disclose any information contained in such documents to
any other person. I further agree not to use any such information for any purpose other
than this litigation.
DATED:
Signed in the presence of:

(Attorney)