United States of America v. Cochran, et al

Filing 24

STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING DISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL - Signed by District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan on 02/22/2013. (Baker, C.)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
EASTERN DIVISION
NO. 4:12-CV-220-FL
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
v.
WILLIAM I. COCHRAN, III;
WRC, LLC;
EKP, LLC;
And EMLAN PROPERTIES, LLC,
Defendants.

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STIPULATION AND
PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING
DISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL
MATERIAL
Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)

STIPULATION
Plaintiff United States of America and Defendants William I. Cochran III, WRC, LLC,
EKP, LLC, and EmLan Properties, LLC (hereinafter “the parties”) have stipulated that discovery
in this action will involve the exchange of sensitive materials, including documents that include
personally identifiable information such as social security numbers, dates of birth, and home
addresses, financial information including tax returns, and other information of a private nature.
The parties intend that certain private information be kept confidential pursuant to the terms of
this Stipulation and Protective Order. The substance of materials and information subject to this
Stipulation and Protective Order shall not be distributed or otherwise disclosed except as
provided herein.
I. Scope of this Stipulation and Order
1. For purposes of this Stipulation and Protective Order, the term “Confidential
Material” refers to any document, tangible thing, testimony, or item, collection, or grouping of

information, or any other material disclosed, or to be disclosed, through formal or informal
discovery or otherwise in the course of this litigation, that contains:
(a) personal identifiers, including, but not limited to, social security numbers,
taxpayer identification numbers, birth dates, the names of individuals know to be minors,
financial account numbers, fingerprints, voiceprints, symbols, or photographs; or
(b) income tax returns, profit and loss statements, or other personal or corporate
financial records; or
(c) the current home or cellular telephone number(s) or home address of any
party, witness, or potential witness in this action; or
(d) information relating to an individual’s education, financial transactions,
medical history, or criminal or employment history.
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2(a); Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. §552a(4).
2. This Stipulation and Protective Order shall not be precedent for adopting any
procedure with respect to the disclosure of information that is beyond the scope of this
Stipulation and Protective Order.
3. This Stipulation and Protective Order does not constitute a ruling on the question of
whether any particular Confidential Material is properly discoverable, relevant, admissible, or
protected by a claim of privilege or other basis of exclusion and does not constitute a ruling on
any potential objection to the discoverability, relevance, admissibility, or claim of privilege or
other basis of exclusion of any particular Confidential Material.
II. Treatment and Disclosure of Confidential Material
4. The parties shall mark Confidential Material with the designation, “CONFIDENTIAL
– SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER.” For any Confidential Material, such as computer

data, the medium of which makes marking individual items impracticable, the parties shall mark
the diskette, case, and/or an accompanying cover letter as “CONFIDENTIAL – SUBJECT TO
PROTECTIVE ORDER.” The parties shall also mark as “CONFIDENTIAL – SUBJECT TO
PROTECTIVE ORDER” any disclosures pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26,
answers to interrogatories, and other responses to discovery requests that contain protected
information derived from Confidential Material, and such disclosures, answers, and/or responses
shall be subject to the limitations on the use of Confidential Material as set forth herein.
5. The parties shall not disclose Confidential Information or any portion thereof to any
other person or entity, except as provided in paragraph six (6), below. The parties and any other
persons or entities to whom Confidential Material is disclosed under this Stipulation and Order
shall use such Confidential Material only for purposes relating to the litigation of this action,
including any subsequent appeals.
6. Except as otherwise ordered by this Court, or otherwise agreed upon in writing by all
parties, any Confidential Material may be disclosed only to the following persons:
(a) parties and counsel for the parties in this action;
(b) partners, associates, secretaries, paralegal assistants, and employees of such
counsel, to the extent reasonably necessary to render professional services in this action;
(c) persons retained by the parties or their counsel to assist in discovery,
preparation for any hearing, or to serve as expert witnesses, provided that such disclosure is
reasonably calculated to aid in litigating this action;
(d) persons with factual knowledge relating to this action who may testify as
witnesses at any hearing or deposition, including individuals identified by the United States as
aggrieved persons in this action, to the extent reasonably necessary to obtain information or

evidence within the scope and limitations of discovery under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
26(b);
(e) custodians of records, to the extent reasonably necessary to obtain information
or evidence within the scope and limitations of discovery under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
26(b);
(f) any deponent in this action during his or her deposition; and
(g) court reporters and videographers privately retained to take depositions.
7. Any person disclosing Confidential Information to any other person under the terms of
this Stipulation and Protective Order shall, prior to such disclosure, advise the receiving person
of the terms of this Order.
8. No summary or copy of any Confidential Material shall be made by any person, other
than at the express direction of a party to this action or that party’s counsel. Any such summary
or copy shall be subject to the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order to the same extent as
the information from which summary or copy is made.
9. Unless otherwise ordered by this Court for good cause shown, no party may disclose
un-redacted Confidential Material:
(a) in open court or at trial, either orally or through the submission of documents
or other exhibits; or
(b) in or as part of a pleading, motion, exhibit, expert report, or other public
filing, unless the party first obtains the Court’s permission prospectively to make the filing under
seal.
10. Each party reserves the right to move to modify the terms of this Stipulation and
Protective Order and to oppose any motion to modify the terms of this Stipulation and Protective

Order, provided that counsel must confer in advance of filing such motion. If any party seeks the
agreement in writing of all parties to disclose Confidential Material to a person other than those
categories of persons listed in paragraph 6, subparagraphs (a) through (g), above, the party
seeking to make the disclosure may, after conferring with counsel, move the Court to order such
disclosure in accordance with the Court’s Scheduling Order in this matter.
11. During all depositions, hearings, trials or other proceedings held in connection with
this action, the parties or their counsel shall designate as confidential any testimony that is then
known to contain Confidential Material, or, if the testimony is not so designated during the
proceedings, the parties or their counsel shall so designate such testimony by transcript page
number within fourteen (14) days after receipt of the transcript of the proceedings. Such
designated pages shall be separately bound and the cover page shall bear the legend:
CONFIDENTIAL – THIS PORTION OF THIS TRANSCRIPT CONTAINS
INFORMATION THAT HAS BEEN DESIGNATED CONFIDENTIAL
MATERIAL UNDER THE STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER IN
THIS ACTION.
III. Destruction of Confidential Material at the Conclusion of Litigation
12. The parties and other individuals receiving Confidential Material under this
Stipulation and Protective Order shall redact, destroy, or obliterate all Confidential Material,
including all summaries and/or copies thereof produced or created in connection with this action,
upon its conclusion, including any subsequent appeals. Within thirty (30) days of the conclusion
of this action and any subsequent appeals, the parties and other individuals receiving
Confidential Material under this Stipulation and Protective Order must certify in writing to the
parties or their counsel that all protected materials, and all summaries or copies thereof, have
been redacted, destroyed, or obliterated, provided, however, that no party is required to redact,
destroy or obliterate any document or copy thereof that has been filed publically with this Court

or with a court of appeals of competent jurisdiction in connection with this action, except to the
same degree as was required before filing.
IV. Unauthorized Disclosure
13. Neither the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice, nor any of its officers,
employees, or attorneys, shall bear any responsibility or liability for any unauthorized disclosure
of any documents, or of any information contained in such documents, that are obtained by the
defendants or their counsel under this Stipulation and Protective Order.
V. Procedure for Filing Confidential Documents
14. Each time a party seeks to file under seal confidential documents, things, and/or
information, said party shall accompany the request with a motion to seal and a supporting
memorandum of law specifying:
(a) the exact documents, things, and/or information, or portions thereof, of which
filing under seal is requested;
(b) where it is necessary for the court to determine the source of the public’s right
to access before a request to seal may be evaluated, whether any such request to seal seeks to
overcome the common law or the First Amendment presumption to access;
(c) the specific qualities of the material at issue which justify sealing such
material, taking into account the balance of competing interests in access;
(d) the reasons why alternatives to sealing are inadequate; and,
(e) whether there is consent to the motion.
Finally, in addition to the motion and supporting memorandum, said party must set out
such findings in a proposed order to seal for the court.

ORDER
Upon consideration of the Parties’ Joint Motion for Entry of a Stipulation and Protective
Order Regarding Disclosure of Confidential Material, and pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties will exchange Confidential Material subject
to the terms and limitations specified in the attached Stipulation, and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. §
552a(b)(11), the United States is authorized to release Records containing Privacy Act-protected
information, without obtaining prior written consent of the individuals to whom the Records
pertain, pursuant to the terms specified in the attached Stipulation.

IT IS SO ORDERED this ______ day of _________________, 2013.
22nd
February
_________________________________
LOUISE W. FLANAGAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE