Ramsey v. Receivables Performance Management, LLC

Filing 27

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Judge Susan J. Dlott on 9/13/17. (wam)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION (CINCINNATI)
PHILLIP RAMSEY, an individual,

: Case No. 1:16-cv-1059
:
: Judge Susan J. Dlott
:
:
: STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
:
:
:
:
:
:

Plaintiff,
v.
RECEIVABLES PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT, LLC, a Washington
corporation,
Defendant.

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Plaintiff, Phillip Ramsey (hereinafter
referred to as “Plaintiff”) and Defendant, Receivables Performance Management, LLC
(hereinafter referred to as “Defendant”) through their respective attorneys of record, as follows:
WHEREAS, the parties expect that discovery in this action may encompass confidential
and proprietary documents and trade secrets of one or more parties, including without limitation
financial data such as sales data, revenues, costs, pricing structure, customer information,
purchasing information, tax returns, business strategies, and potentially other non-public
information, such as personal income, credit and other confidential information of Plaintiff or
Plaintiff’s witnesses.
THEREFORE, it is hereby stipulated, and the parties hereby request, that the Court enter
a protective order as follows:
I.

SCOPE:
A.

This Protective Order shall limit the use and/or disclosure of any and all
documents, which embody or disclose any information, designated hereunder as
“CONFIDENTIAL” or as “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”
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1.

All documents designated in accordance with this Protective Order and all
information contained therein;

2.

Portions of deposition testimony and transcripts and exhibits thereto which
include, refer, or relate to any designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” information;

3.

All information, copies, extracts, and complete or partial summaries
prepared or derived from information that was designated
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES
ONLY”;

4.

Portions of briefs, memoranda, or any writing filed with or otherwise
supplied to the Court under seal, which include or refer to any information
designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’
EYES ONLY”; and

5.

Any document exchange in connection with, or related to, any mediation,
or proposed mediation.

B.

Any person (i.e., any individual or entity) designating documents, testimony, or
other information as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’
EYES ONLY” hereunder asserts that he, she, or it believes in good faith that such
material is his, her, or its Confidential Information which is not otherwise
available to the public generally, or is Confidential Information which the person
believes is or may be encompassed by a pre-existing confidentiality agreement
with any other person.

C.

“Confidential Information” for purposes of this Stipulation Protective Order is
defined as documents, material, or testimony that is private or constitutes and/or
relates to:
1.

Trade secrets;

2.

Business strategies, decisions, and/or negotiations;
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3.

Financial, budgeting, and/or accounting information;

4.

Customer/Consumer information, including prospective customers; and

5.

Marketing studies, pro-formas, projections, and similar information
relating to the value and/or potential value of stock, science and
technology, and/or other assets or liabilities.

D.

Confidential Information ordinarily should be designated as “CONFIDENTIAL”
rather than “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” A
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” designation is appropriate
only where the Confidential Information is so extremely sensitive in the context
of this case that there is a real danger that the party producing the information
could be prejudiced if the information is disclosed under the protection provided
by a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation. Examples of information warranting a
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” designation are documents
which contain, disclose, or reflect settlement agreements and settlement
agreement terms, trade secrets, sensitive customer/consumer information,
business and marketing plans and information, or similarly competitively
sensitive information.

E.

Nothing in this Order and no party’s designation of any document or information
as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”
shall be construed to constrain, preclude, or otherwise affect in any manner the
independent research and development, marketing, product development, or other
technical activities of the parties.

F.

Nothing in this Order and no party’s designation of any document as
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” shall
be construed to constrain, preclude, or otherwise affect the use (including the
ability to include the document or information in papers not filed under seal) of
another party’s documents which are duplicates of such designated documents
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provided that such duplicate documents were lawfully obtained by such party
through means independent of the discovery process.
G.

A party’s failure to designate a document as its Confidential Information where
the document was produced by another party and designated by the producing
party as that party’s Confidential Information shall not be construed to waive the
non-designating party’s claim, with respect to present and future litigation
between these or other parties, that the document contains the non-designating
party’s Confidential Information.

II.

DESIGNATION OF DOCUMENTS AND DEPOSITIONS AS “CONFIDENTIAL”
OR “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”:
A.

Designation of a document as “CONFIDENTIAL” by the producing party shall
be made by conspicuously stamping or writing “CONFIDENTIAL” on each page
thereof.

B.

Designation of a document as “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES
ONLY” by the producing party shall be made by conspicuously stamping or
writing “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” on each page thereof.

C.

Designation of a deposition or other pretrial testimony, or portions thereof, as
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” shall
be made by a statement on the record by counsel for the party or other person
making the claim of confidentiality at the time of such testimony. The portions of
depositions so designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” shall be taken only in the presence of persons
qualified to receive such information pursuant to the terms of this Protective
Order, the court reporter, the deponent, and the deponent’s attorney. Failure of
any person to comply with a request to leave the deposition room will constitute
sufficient justification for the witness to refuse to answer any question calling for
disclosure of Confidential Information so long as persons not entitled by this
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Protective Order to have access to such information are in attendance. Thereafter,
any counsel may reopen the deposition into areas which the witness refused to
answer after contacting the Court to resolve whether the person who refused to
leave the deposition should be allowed to be present during questioning. After
resolving the issue counsel shall be allowed to continue said deposition with
respect to the questions, and lines of questioning, which the deponent refused to
answer, though the court may order that the deposition continue outside the
presence of the person who refused to leave the initial deposition. The applicable
portions of such deposition transcripts shall be clearly marked
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” on
each page containing the Confidential Information.
D.

Any party may designate documents or portions of deposition transcripts as
containing Confidential Information even if not initially marked as
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” in
accordance with the terms of this Protective Order by so advising counsel for each
party in writing within thirty (30) calendar days of the receipt of the document or
deposition transcript which he, she, or it wishes to designate as Confidential
Information. Thereafter, each such document or transcript shall be treated in
accordance with the terms of this Protective Order. Any person served with
written notice of any such designation of previously produced documents or
deposition transcripts as containing Confidential Information shall thereafter treat
such information as if it had been designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” at the time he, she, or it first
received it in connection with this action and shall mark all copies of such
documents in his, her, or its possession accordingly.

III.

LIMITATIONS ON DISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION:
A.

No Confidential Information shall be disclosed by anyone receiving such
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information to anyone other than those persons designated herein, and in no event
shall Confidential Information be used, either directly or indirectly, by anyone
receiving such information for any business, commercial or competitive purpose
or for any purpose whatsoever other than the preparation for or trial of this action
in accordance with the provisions of this Protective Order.
B.

Confidential Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL” shall not be disclosed
by any person who has received such information through discovery in this action
to any other person except to:
1.

The parties hereto, and their present officers, directors and employees;

2.

Retained counsel for any party to this action and their respective
associates, clerks and employees involved in the conduct of this litigation,
but not including in-house counsel to either party, defined as counsel
regularly employed or paid by, or associated with, a party, and/or whose
offices are located within any premises of a party;

3.

Outside experts and consultants retained by a party for the purpose of
preparing or assisting in this litigation, and their respective clerks and
employees involved in assisting them in this litigation, to the extent
deemed necessary by counsel;

4.

Any person who actually was involved in the preparation of the document
or who appears on the face of the document as the author, addressee, or
other recipient or currently is affiliated with the party that produced or
appears to have prepared said document;

5.

Court reporters and similar personnel, provided all Confidential
Information having met Court approval to be filed under seal and any
pleading or other paper containing Confidential Information having met
Court approval to be filed under seal shall be filed under seal pursuant to
the Local Rules of this District Court;
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6.

Deponents with respect to whom the attorney for the examining party
believes in good faith that disclosure of Confidential Information should
be made in order to conduct relevant examination of such deponent on
topics about which the attorney in good faith believes the deponent may
have relevant information. In the case of a deponent who was not an
author or recipient of the Confidential Information, and who has not
previously agreed to be bound by the terms of this Order, the attorney
conducting the examination shall limit disclosure of confidential
information by any means practicable (i.e., redaction or severance of nonrelevant portions) to only that which is in good faith required to conduct a
meaningful examination of the witness, and shall show all counsel a copy
of said redacted document before showing it to the witness. Any violation
of this provision, or objection by counsel to showing the document to the
witness, shall entitle the objecting party to suspend the deposition as to the
Confidential Information at issue and any lines of questioning relating to
the Confidential Information at issue, and contact the Court to resolve the
issue;

7.

Any other person, either with the prior written consent of the party who
has designated such information as confidential or pursuant to a Court
order; and

8.
C.

The jury, judge and court personnel at time of trial.

Confidential Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES
ONLY” shall not be disclosed by any person who has received such information
through discovery in this action to any other person except to:
1.

Retained counsel for any party to this action and their respective
associates, clerks and employees involved in the conduct of this litigation,
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but not including in-house counsel to either party, defined as counsel
regularly employed or paid by, or associated with, a party, and/or whose
offices are located within any premises of a party;
2.

Outside experts and outside consultants assisting in this litigation, and
their respective clerks and employees involved in assisting them in this
litigation, to the extent deemed necessary by counsel;

3.

Any person who actually was involved in the preparation of the document
or who appears on the face of document as the author, addressee, or other
recipient, or is currently affiliated with the party that produced or appears
to have prepared said document;

4.

Court reporters and similar personnel, provided all Confidential
Information having met Court approval to be filed under seal and any
pleading or other paper containing Confidential Information having met
Court approval to be filed under seal shall be filed under seal pursuant to
the Local Rules of this District Court;

5.

Deponents with respect to whom the attorney for the examining party
believes in good faith that disclosure of Confidential Information should
be made in order to conduct relevant examination of such deponent on
topics about which the attorney in good faith believes the deponent may
have relevant information. In the case of a deponent who was not an
author or recipient of the Confidential Information, and who has not
previously agreed to be bound by the terms of this Order, the attorney
conducting the examination shall limit disclosure of confidential
information by any means practicable (i.e., redaction or severance of nonrelevant portions) to only that which is in good faith required to conduct a
meaningful examination of the witness, and shall show all counsel a copy
of said redacted document before showing it to the witness. Any violation
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of this provision, or objection by counsel to showing the document to the
witness, shall entitle the objecting party to suspend the deposition as to the
Confidential Information at issue and any lines of questioning relating to
the Confidential Information at issue, and contact the Court to resolve the
issue;
6.

Any other person, either with the prior written consent of the party who
has designated such information as confidential or pursuant to a Court
order; and

7.
D.

The jury, judge and court personnel at time of trial.

Before any person described in §§ III(B)(1), (3), (6) & (7), III(C)(2), (5) & (6)
may receive, or is shown any document or information designated as confidential
pursuant to § II, supra, each person must:
1.

Be given a copy of this Protective Order;

2.

Must agree in writing, in the form of the “Agreement to be Bound By
Terms Of The Protective Order” attached hereto as Exhibit A, to be bound
by the terms hereof;

3.

The original of each such Acknowledgment and Agreement shall be
maintained by counsel, and transmitted via E-Mail to all other counsel of
record at least 5 Court Days in advance of receiving, or shown any
document or information designated as confidential pursuant to § II,
supra.

4.

If any counsel objects to showing the signatory documents subject to this
Order, the objecting party shall give E-Mail notice of its objections and
the grounds therefore and shall have five Court Days after the date it gives
notice pursuant to § III(D)(3) to contact the Court to resolve the issue.
a.

If no objection is raised between counsel of record for the parties
or with the Court, all objections shall be waived and the signatory
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may receive and/or be shown the documents subject to this Order.
5.

If the person does not so agree, the person may not receive and/or be
shown the document until after a determination by the Court.

E.

Nothing in this Protective Order shall prevent counsel for either party from
summarizing or discussing in general terms the nature of documents designated as
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” with
representatives of their respective clients, outside experts and consultants,
deponents or potential witnesses, provided such summary or discussion does not
disclose, in any way, the substance of the document so designated, the
Confidential Information contained therein, and/or trade secret information of
another party.

IV.

PROCEURES FOR FILING UNDER SEAL:
A.

All Confidential Information having met Court approval to be filed under seal and
any pleading or other paper containing Confidential Information having met Court
approval to be filed under seal shall be filed under seal pursuant to the Local
Rules of this District Court.

V.

CHALLENGE TO CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATION:
A.

Any party who disagrees with the designation by a party of a document or other
information as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’
EYES ONLY” may contact the Court and bring the issue before the Court
requesting that the Court find that the document or other information is, in fact,
not confidential.

B.

Prior to contacting the Court pursuant to § V(A), a party who objects to any other
party’s designation of documents or other information as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” shall notify the other party in
writing of the objection at least 10 Court Days prior to contacting the Court.
1.

The interested parties or other persons shall attempt to resolve such
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disagreements before contacting the Court.
C.

Pending resolution of any dispute concerning such designation, all parties and
persons governed by this Protective Order shall continue to treat as
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” all
documents and information previously designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” under the terms of this
Protective Order.

D.

If a party challenges the confidentiality designation, the party or person asserting
that a document or other information is properly designated as
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” shall
bear the burden of proving that the document or other information is Confidential
Information.

E.

If the Court is not contacted pursuant to § V(A), the Parties shall not argue in any
other filing or submission that any document(s) designated as confidential
information pursuant to § III were improperly designated.

VI.

SURVIVAL OF ORDER - RETURN OF DOCUMENTS:
A.

The provisions of this Order shall continue in effect until otherwise ordered by the
Court after notice and an opportunity to be heard is afforded to the parties to this
action.

B.

The final determination or settlement of this action shall not relieve any person
who has received Confidential Information or agreed to be bound by the terms of
this Protective Order of his, her, or its obligations hereunder.

C.

This Court shall retain jurisdiction after such final determination or settlement to
enforce the provisions of this Order.

D.

Upon completion of the litigation, all documents (including copies of documents)
containing Confidential Information shall be destroyed or returned to counsel for
the producing party, except that the parties’ respective attorneys of record may
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retain one copy of each such document for use in connection with any disputes
which may arise under the Court’s retention of jurisdiction as provided for herein.
E.

Within sixty days of the conclusion of this litigation, the attorneys for the
receiving party shall notify the attorneys for the producing party that such return
or destruction occurred.

VII.

USE OF OWN DOCUMENTS BY PRODUCING PARTY:
A.

Nothing in this Protective Order shall limit the use by any party or other person of
his, her or its own document(s) or information, or any other documents or
information obtained independently of discovery, even if such document(s) or
information have been designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”

VIII. APPLICATIONS TO COURT:
A.

This Protective Order shall not preclude or limit any party’s right to oppose or
object to discovery on any ground which otherwise would be available. This
Protective Order shall not preclude or limit any party’s right to seek in camera
review or to seek further and additional protection against or limitation upon
production or dissemination of information produced in response to discovery,
including documents and their contents.

B.

Any person to or by whom disclosure or inspection is made in violation of this
Protective Order, and who has knowledge of this Protective Order, shall be bound
by the terms hereof.

C.

Any Person subject to the terms of this Order agrees that this Court shall retain
jurisdiction over it and them for the purposes of enforcing this Order.

IX.

NO ADMISSIONS:
A.

Neither entering into this Stipulation for Protective Order nor receiving any
documents or other information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” shall be construed as an
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agreement or admission:
1.

That any document or information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” is in fact Confidential
Information;

2.

As to the correctness or truth of any allegation made or position taken
relative to any matter designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY;” or

3.

As to the authenticity, competency, relevancy, or materiality of any
information or document designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”

B.

This Order is not intended to modify or waive the provisions of the Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure or the Federal Rules of Evidence.

C.

This Order does not require the production of documents or information that
would otherwise be non-discoverable.

X.

SUBPOENA BY OTHER COURTS OR AGENCIES:
A.

If another court or an administrative agency subpoenas or orders production of
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”
documents which a party has obtained under the terms of this Order, before
complying with such subpoenas or orders, such party shall promptly notify the
party or other person who designated the documents of the pendency of such
subpoena or order.

XI.

MODIFICATION - FURTHER AGREEMENTS:
A.

The Parties may modify this Order only in writing prior to Court approval.

B.

After Court approval of this Order, the Parties may only modify the Order with
permission of the Court. No purported modifications, even in writing, shall be
enforceable without Court permission to modify the Order.

C.

Further, nothing contained herein shall preclude the Court from making any sua
13 

sponte modification of the Order in the interests of justice and/or for public policy
reasons.
XII.

COUNTERPARTS:
A.

This Stipulation for Protective Order may be executed in counterparts, each of
which shall be deemed an original and which together shall constitute one
instrument.

FOR GOOD CAUSE shown by the preceding, and in light of the agreement of Counsel
of record for the Parties as indicate below, the Court approves this Order.

IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: September 13, 2017

S/Susan J. Dlott
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

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We, the Counsel of Record for the Parties to this Action, hereby consent on behalf of
ourselves and our respective clients to the form and substance of this agreement to the entry of
our agreement as an Order of this Court.

DATED: September 13, 2017

GORDON & REES, LLP

By: /s/ Sean P. Flynn (via 9/12/2017 email authorization)
Sean P. Flynn
Attorneys for Defendant
DATED: September 13, 2017

LAW OFFICES OF SADLOWSKI & BESSE LLC
By: /s/ Adam V. Sadlowski
Adam V. Sadlowski
Attorneys for Plaintiff

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EXHIBIT A
AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY TERMS OF THE PROTECTIVE ORDER
I, _________________________, have received a copy of the Stipulation for Protective
Order and Protective Order entered in the action entitled:
Phillip Ramsey v. Receivables Performance Management, LLC, (U.S.D.C., Southern
District of Ohio, Case No. 1:16-cv-1059.
I have carefully read and understand the provisions of the Protective Order. I agree that I
will comply with all provisions of the Protective Order and will use any “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” information only for purposes of this action.
At the end of this litigation or my involvement in this litigation, whichever occurs first, I will
either destroy or return to counsel for the party by whom I am employed or retained all such
“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” documents or
information that comes into my possession.

Dated: _____________, 2017

__________________________________
Name

1130547/34097446v.3 

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