Bowen et al v. CSO Financial Inc et al

Filing 17

PROTECTIVE ORDER re 16 Joint MOTION for Protective Order. Signed by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour. (PM)

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THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR 1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 8 9 DUANE BOWEN, et al., 10 Plaintiffs, CASE NO. C17-0677-JCC PROTECTIVE ORDER v. 11 CSO FINANCIAL, INC., et al., 12 13 Defendants. 14 15 This matter comes before the Court on the parties’ stipulated motion to enter a protective 16 order (Dkt. No. 16). The parties stipulate as follows: 17 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 18 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or 19 private information for which special protection may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties 20 hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The 21 parties acknowledge that this agreement is consistent with Local Civil Rule 26(c). It does not 22 confer blanket protection on all disclosures or responses to discovery, the protection it affords from 23 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to 24 confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles, and it does not presumptively entitle 25 parties to file confidential information under seal. 26 PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 1 1 2. “CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL 2 “Confidential” material may include the following documents and tangible things produced 3 or otherwise exchanged: (1) private or personal information regarding any party, (2) non-public 4 medical records created by health care providers, (3) private and personal customer information; 5 (4) trade secrets, (5) proprietary or confidential business information, (6) self-critical analysis, 6 (7) confidential financial information, including tax return documents, balance sheets, and bank 7 statements, and (8) information that is otherwise protected, the disclosure of which would result 8 in material disadvantage. Any information in paper, electronic or other form, may be designated 9 confidential so long as the designating party has a good faith belief that such materials are 10 confidential and should not be disclosed other than in connection with this action and pursuant to 11 this Protective Order. 12 3. SCOPE 13 The protections conferred by this agreement cover not only confidential material (as 14 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from confidential material; (2) all 15 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of confidential material; and (3) any testimony, 16 conversations, or presentations by parties or their counsel that might reveal confidential material. 17 However, the protections conferred by this agreement do not cover information that is in the public 18 domain or becomes part of the public domain through trial or otherwise. 19 4. 20 ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL 4.1 Basic Principles. A receiving party may use confidential material that is disclosed 21 or produced by another party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 22 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Confidential material may be disclosed only to 23 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this agreement. Confidential 24 material must be stored and maintained by a receiving party at a location and in a secure manner 25 that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this agreement. 26 PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 2 1 4.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered 2 by the Court or permitted in writing by the designating party, a receiving party may disclose any 3 confidential material only to 4 5 (a) the receiving party’s counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation; 6 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including in house counsel) of the 7 receiving party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, unless the parties 8 agree that a particular document or material produced is for Attorney’s Eyes Only and is so 9 designated; 10 11 (c) experts and consultants to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (d) the Court, court personnel, and court reporters and their staff; 13 (e) copy or imaging services retained by counsel to assist in the duplication of 14 confidential material, provided that counsel for the party retaining the copy or imaging service 15 instructs the service not to disclose any confidential material to third parties and to immediately 16 return all originals and copies of any confidential material; 17 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 18 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 19 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the designating party or ordered by the Court. Pages of 20 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal confidential material must 21 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 22 under this agreement; 23 24 25 26 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 4.3 Filing Confidential Material. Before filing confidential material or discussing or referencing such material in court filings, the filing party shall confer with the designating party PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 3 1 to determine whether the designating party will remove the confidential designation, whether the 2 document can be redacted, or whether a motion to seal or stipulation and proposed order is 3 warranted. Local Civil Rule 5(g) sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards 4 that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 5 5. 6 DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each party 7 or non-party that designates information or items for protection under this agreement must take 8 care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 9 standards. The designating party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 10 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify, so that other portions of the 11 material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 12 unjustifiably within the ambit of this agreement. 13 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 14 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 15 unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses 16 and burdens on other parties) expose the designating party to sanctions. 17 If it comes to a designating party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 18 protection do not qualify for protection, the designating party must promptly notify all other parties 19 that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 20 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 21 agreement (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 22 ordered, disclosure or discovery material that qualifies for protection under this agreement must 23 be clearly so designated before or when the material is disclosed or produced. 24 (a) Information in documentary form: (e.g., paper or electronic documents and 25 deposition exhibits, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), 26 the designating party must affix the word “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 4 1 confidential material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, 2 the producing party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 3 markings in the margins). 4 (b) Testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings: the 5 parties must identify on the record, during the deposition, hearing, or other proceeding, all 6 protected testimony, without prejudice to their right to so designate other testimony after reviewing 7 the transcript. Any party or non-party may, within fifteen days after receiving a deposition 8 transcript, designate portions of the transcript, or exhibits thereto, as confidential. 9 (c) Other tangible items: the producing party must affix in a prominent place 10 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the word 11 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, 12 the producing party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 13 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 14 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the designating party’s 15 right to secure protection under this agreement for such material. Upon timely correction of a 16 designation, the receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is treated 17 in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. 18 6. 19 CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any party or non-party may challenge a designation of 20 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a designating party’s confidentiality 21 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 22 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a party does not waive its right to 23 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 24 original designation is disclosed. 25 26 6.2 Meet and Confer. The parties must make every attempt to resolve any dispute regarding confidential designations without court involvement. PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 5 Any motion regarding 1 confidential designations or for a protective order must include a certification, in the motion or in 2 a declaration or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith meet and confer conference 3 with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action. The certification 4 must list the date, manner, and participants to the conference. A good faith effort to confer requires 5 a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference. 6 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 7 intervention, the designating party may file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under Local 8 Civil Rule 7 (and in compliance with Local Civil Rule 5(g), if applicable). The burden of 9 persuasion in any such motion shall be on the designating party. Frivolous challenges, and those 10 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 11 other parties) may expose the challenging party to sanctions. All parties shall continue to maintain 12 the material in question as confidential until the Court rules on the challenge. 13 7. 14 PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 15 If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 16 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that party 17 must: 18 19 20 (a) promptly notify the designating party in writing and include a copy of the subpoena or court order; (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 21 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 22 subject to this agreement. Such notification shall include a copy of this agreement; and 23 24 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the designating party whose confidential material may be affected. 25 26 PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 6 1 8. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed confidential 3 material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this agreement, the receiving 4 party must immediately (a) notify in writing the designating party of the unauthorized disclosures, 5 (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the protected material, (c) inform the 6 person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this agreement, 7 and (d) request that such person or persons execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 8 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 9 9. 10 INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 When a producing party gives notice to receiving parties that certain inadvertently 12 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 13 receiving parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision 14 is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order or 15 agreement that provides for production without prior privilege review. Parties shall confer on an 16 appropriate non-waiver order under Federal Rule of Evidence 502. 17 10. NON TERMINATION AND RETURN OF DOCUMENTS 18 Within 60 days after the termination of this action, including all appeals, each receiving 19 party must return all confidential material to the producing party, including all copies, extracts and 20 summaries thereof. Alternatively, the parties may agree upon appropriate methods of destruction. 21 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain one archival copy of all 22 documents filed with the Court, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, correspondence, 23 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work 24 product, even if such materials contain confidential material. 25 26 The confidentiality obligations imposed by this agreement shall remain in effect until a designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise. PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 STIPULATED TO, DATED, AND RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 30th day of July, 2017. TERRELL MARSHALL LAW GROUP PLLC DAVIS ROTHWELL EARLE & XOCHIHUA, P.C. By: s/ Elizabeth A. Adams Beth E. Terrell, WSBA #26759 Email: bterrell@terrellmarshall.com Blythe H. Chandler, WSBA #43387 Email: bchandler@terrellmarshall.com Elizabeth A. Adams, WSBA #49175 Email: eadams@terrellmarshall.com 936 North 34th Street, Suite 300 Seattle, Washington 98103-8869 Telephone: (206) 816-6603 Facsimile: (206) 319-5450 By: s/ Suzanne Pierce Suzanne Pierce, WSBA #22733 Email: spierce@davisrothwell.com Patrick Rothwell, WSBA #23878 Email: prothwell@davisrothwell.com Keith M. Liguori, WSBA 51501 Email: kliguori@davisrothwell.com 520 Pike Street, Suite 2500 Seattle, Washington 98101 Telephone: (206) 622-2295 Facsimile: (206) 340-0724 Sam Leonard, WSBA #46498 Email: sam@seattledebtdefense.com LEONARD LAW 801 2nd Avenue, Suite 1410 Seattle, Washington 98104 Telephone: (206) 486-1176 Facsimile: (206) 458-6028 Paul Arons, WSBA #47599 Email: lopa@rockisland.com LAW OFFICE OF PAUL ARONS 685 Spring Street Friday Harbor, Washington 98250 Telephone: (360) 378-6496 Facsimile: (360) 378-6498 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 22 23 24 25 26 PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 8 Attorneys for Defendant J. Michael Unfred, d/b/a J. Michael Unfred LLC HASSON LAW, LLC By: s/ Jeffrey I. Hasson Jeffrey I. Hasson, WSBA #23741 E-Mail: hasson@hassonlawllc.com 12707 NE Halsey Street Portland, Oregon 97230 Telephone: (503) 255-5352 Facsimile: (503) 255-6124 Attorneys for Defendants CSO Financial, Inc. and Mary Inscore 1 2 ORDER Pursuant to this stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 4 DATED this 7th day of July 2017. A 5 6 7 John C. Coughenour UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 9 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _______________ [print or type full name], of _______________ [print or type full 4 address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 5 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Western 6 District of Washington on ______________ [date] in the case of Duane Bowen et al v. CSO 7 Financial, Inc. et al., 2:17-CV-00677-JCC. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the 8 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 9 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 10 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 11 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions 12 of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 14 Western District of Washington for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 15 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 16 Date: 17 City and State where sworn and signed: 18 Printed name: 19 Signature: 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 PROTECTIVE ORDER PAGE - 10

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