Wilson v. Davis et al
Filing
26
CONSENT PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Magistrate Judge Dennis Howell on 9/18/2018. (ejb)
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
ASHEVILLE DIVISION
Civil Action No.: 1:17-cv-00252-MR-DLH
LOANN MEEKINS, as Guardian Ad
Litem, for T.W.,
)
)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
)
SHANE DAVIS; and THE CITY OF )
KINGS MOUNTAIN,
)
)
Defendants.
)
CONSENT PROTECTIVE
ORDER
Pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and upon
agreement of counsel, and deeming it just and proper to do so, the Court enters the
following Order: This Order governs the handling and disclosure of all materials
produced,
given
or
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
filed
For
herein
purposes
by
of
the
this
parties
and
Order,
designated
as
CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION includes, but is not limited to, confidential personnel information
pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-168 and medical information which is not
generally accessible to the public.
WHEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1.
“CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION” as used herein means:
a. All information and documents made confidential by N.C. Gen.
Stat. § 160A-168;
b. Any documents or information which are contained in a
personnel file maintained by any party;
c. Any documents or information of medical, financial or personal
nature which are not generally accessible to the public; and
d. Any documents or information that any party has designated as
confidential in the normal course of business.
2.
Any party producing documents may designate the documents as
Confidential
Information
by
marking
each
page
of
the
document
“CONFIDENTIAL.” Alternatively, when producing a multi-page document, all of
which it contends is Confidential Information, a party may designate the entire
document
as
Confidential
Information
by
marking
the
cover
page
“CONFIDENTIAL.” The confidential documents shall be disclosed only for official
use in this action, and for no other purpose. In consideration for the agreement
to permit documents to be designated as confidential without a document by
document analysis by the Court, the parties agree that they will not withhold
documents on the basis of confidentiality, except with respect to documents falling
under a privileged recognized under federal law.
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3.
Certain information disclosed at the deposition of any witness,
including any party, may be designated as Confidential Information by indicating
on the record at the deposition that the specific testimony is Confidential
Information subject to the provisions of this Order. Alternatively, a party or
witness may designate information disclosed at such deposition as Confidential
Information by notifying all parties in writing, within thirty (30) days of receipt of
the transcript or other date as agreed upon by the parties, of the specific pages and
lines of the transcript which are deemed Confidential Information. Each party
shall attach a copy of such written statement to the face of the transcript and each
copy thereof in its possession, custody or control. All depositions shall be treated
as Confidential Information for a period of thirty (30) days after a full and complete
transcript of the deposition is available or other date as agreed upon by the parties.
4.
The CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall not be otherwise
reviewed, disclosed or released to anyone other than:
a. Any party to this action;
b. Counsel for any party, the legal associates, clerical or other
support staff of such counsel assisting in preparation of this
action;
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c. Agents, representatives and employees of either party, as is
necessary to prepare this case for litigation;
d. Subject to the provision of ¶ 5 below, independent experts
employed by counsel for the purpose of assisting in this action;
e. The court, appellate court, court reporter and courtroom
personnel at any deposition, pretrial hearing, or other
proceedings held in connection with this action;
f. Subject to ¶ 5 below, any potential witness as necessary to
prepare this case for litigation; provided, that no such person
shall be permitted to maintain a copy of any document
designated as Confidential Information; and that no Confidential
Information may be disclosed to any person under this paragraph
– except during a deposition, at trial, or when such witness is
otherwise testifying -- until such person has read and signed
a copy of this Order, thereby indicating his/her willingness to be
bound by its provisions, which shall be maintained in confidence
by the disclosing party subject to any order of disclosure by the
court;
g. Any other person or entity to whom the Court orders or allows
disclosure after notice and opportunity for hearing.
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5.
Disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION pursuant to this
Order shall be handled as follows:
a. Any person described in subparagraphs 4(a), (b), (c), (e), and (g) of
this Order is bound by the provisions of this Order without the
necessity of executing a separate confidentiality agreement;
b. Prior to making disclosures to any person under the terms set forth in
subparagraph 4(d) and (f) of this Order, the party disclosing the
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall inform any persons to
whom disclosure is made that CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
shall be used for the purposes of the prosecution or defense of this
action only, and that said person shall be bound by the terms of this
Order and shall execute an Agreement to be bound by the this Order.
The parties shall obtain from such persons a written statement in the
form of Exhibit A, attached hereto. A record of all persons to whom
disclosures are made shall be kept and all the written statements signed
by those persons shall be retained in the possession, custody, and
control of counsel by whom the person is retained; provided,
however, the disclosing party shall have no obligation to disclose such
records to the opposing party or any other person unless ordered to do
so by the Court. All CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, and any
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documents containing information derived therefrom, including copies
of such documents, shall be returned to counsel by persons given
access to them as soon as practicable, but excluding any materials
which in good faith judgment of counsel are work product materials.
Counsel shall be permitted to maintain a file copy of all the documents
subject to the terms of this Order.
6.
The production or disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
pursuant to the terms of this Order by the producing party shall not be construed as
prohibiting or restricting the use of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION during
depositions, any hearing, the trial of this matter, or any appellate proceeding.
Similarly, no party shall be deemed to have waived any objections as to the
relevancy, admissibility, discoverability or any other objection under the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure or the Federal Rules of Evidence in connection with any
proceeding in this action.
7.
No CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION produced pursuant to this
Order shall be used for any purpose other than for relevant and proper conduct of
this litigation.
8.
If any such confidential documents or information are used in
connection with a deposition or other discovery or documents filed with the court,
or are quoted or referenced in any memorandum, pleading or other paper filed with
6
the court, the deposition transcript, filing or paper shall be submitted to the court
with a request that the document be placed under seal and appropriately marked to
indicate that the transcript, filing or paper is subject to the terms of this Order, or
redacted so as to eliminate sensitive personal information.
9.
The designation of documents or information as “CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION” shall not be conclusive for purposes of the substantive issues in
this case. In addition, any party is entitled to challenge, through an appropriate
Motion to the Court, any designation herein by any other party at any time during
this litigation. If a confidentiality designation is challenged, the party seeking to
designate a document as confidential shall have the burden of proof with regard to
that designation.
10.
The inadvertent, unintentional or in camera disclosure of confidential
documents and information shall not, under any circumstances, be deemed a
waiver, in whole or in part, of any party’s claims of confidentiality.
11. Within fifteen (15) days after the entry of final judgment or dismissal in
this litigation (including appeals or petitions for review), the parties’ counsel, their
staff, and all experts and/or consultants for the parties shall return all confidential
documents produced pursuant to this Order (including all xeroxed copies of the
same) to the party producing said documents or shall destroy the same with a
written certification by the party's counsel of record that all such documents and
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copies of the same have, in fact, been returned or destroyed; provided, counsel
shall be permitted to maintain such documents for their case files, which shall
continue to be subject to the terms of this Order.
WE CONSENT:
This the 14th day of September, 2018.
BY: /s/ Patrick H. Flanagan
Patrick H. Flanagan, NC Bar #17407
Attorney for Defendants
Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP
Post Office Box 30787
Charlotte, North Carolina 28230
Telephone (704) 332-8300
Facsimile (704) 332-9994
E-Mail: phf@cshlaw.com
BY: /s/ Geraldine Sumter
Geraldine Sumter, NC Bar #11107
Attorney for Plaintiff
Ferguson Chambers & Sumter, P.A.
309 East Morehead Street, Suite 110
Charlotte, North Carolina 28204
Telephone: 704-375-8461
Facsimile: 980-938-4867
Email: gsumter@fergusonsumter.com
Signed: September 18, 2018
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EXHIBIT A
Agreement concerning materials covered by a Protective Order entered in the
United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
The Undersigned acknowledges that she/he has read the Protective Order
entered by the Court dated
, 2018, in the Civil Action
No. 1:17-CV-001252 and understands the terms thereof, and agrees to be bound by
such terms. The undersigned hereby acknowledges that she/he is subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Western District of North
Carolina with regard to this Protective Order and understands (1) the violation of
the Order shall subject the offender to such penalties, damages and other relief as
may be permitted by law, and (2) that the jurisdiction of the Court regarding this
Order survives any settlement, discontinuance, dismissal, judgment, or other
disposition of this action.
(Date)
(Signature)
Subscribed and sworn before me,
This
day of
, 20
NOTARY PUBLIC
My commission expires:
9
.
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