Eshom v. King County

Filing 36

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Judge Jamal N Whitehead. (KRA)

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THE HONORABLE JAMAL N. WHITEHEAD 1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 8 9 JENIFER ESHOM, Plaintiff, 10 11 12 13 vs. KING COUNTY, a Washington municipal corporation, Defendant. 14 15 16 17 18 19 JOSEPH ESHOM, Plaintiff, vs. KING COUNTY, a Washington municipal corporation, Defendant. 20 21 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. 2:23-cv-00028-JNW STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER No. 2:24-cv-00007-JNW 22 23 24 25 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW - 1 CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 1 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve productions of confidential, proprietary, or 3 private information for which special protection may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties 4 stipulate and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order (SPO). The 5 parties acknowledge this agreement is consistent with LCR 26(c). This SPO consequently does 6 not confer blanket protection on all disclosures or responses to discovery, the protection it affords 7 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to 8 confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles, and this SPO does not presumptively 9 entitle parties to file confidential information under seal. 10 2. “CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL 11 “Confidential” material shall include the following documents, tangible, and intangible 12 things, produced or exchanged in discovery: (a) Plaintiffs’ financial, medical, or other information, 13 that if publicly disclosed, might subject Plaintiffs to undue embarrassment, or invasions of their 14 actual or ostensible privacy rights; and, (b) documents or information maintained by King County 15 (County), or any subdivision thereof (e.g., the King County Sherriff’s Office (KCSO)), that 16 concern current or former County or KCSO personnel (other than Plaintiffs), implicate ongoing 17 County or KCSO investigations, or would compromise any County or KCSO investigative 18 technologies, techniques, methods, or operational capabilities. 19 3. SCOPE 20 The protections conferred by this agreement cover not only confidential material (as 21 defined above), but also (a) any information copied or extracted from confidential material; (b) all 22 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of confidential material; and (c) any testimony, 23 conversations, or presentations by parties or their counsel that might reveal confidential material. 24 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 2 25 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 However, the protections conferred by this agreement do not cover information that is in 1 2 the public domain or becomes part of the public domain through trial or otherwise. 3 4. 4 ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL 4.1 Basic Principles. A receiving party may use confidential material that is disclosed 5 or produced by another party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 6 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Confidential material may be disclosed only to the 7 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this agreement. Confidential material 8 must be stored and maintained by a receiving party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures 9 that access is limited to the persons authorized under this agreement. 10 4.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered 11 by the court or permitted in writing by the designating party, a receiving party may disclose any 12 confidential material only to: 13 14 15 (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; (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including in-house counsel) of the 16 receiving party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, unless a particular 17 document or material produced is for Attorney’s Eyes Only, and is so designated, in which case 18 that document or material may not be reviewed by the receiving party; 19 20 (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); 21 (d) the court, court personnel, and court reporters and their staff; 22 (e) copy or imaging services retained by counsel to assist in the duplication of 23 confidential material, provided that counsel for the party retaining the copy or imaging service 24 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 3 25 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 1 instructs the service not to disclose any confidential material to third parties and to immediately 2 return all originals and copies of any confidential material; (f) 3 during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 4 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 5 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the designating party or ordered by the court. Pages of 6 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal confidential material must 7 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 8 under this agreement; (g) 9 10 11 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 12 referencing such material in court filings, the filing party shall confer with the designating party, 13 in accordance with Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(A), to determine whether the designating party will 14 remove the confidential designation, whether the document can be redacted, or whether a motion 15 to seal or stipulation and proposed order is warranted. During the meet and confer process, the 16 designating party must identify the basis for sealing the specific confidential information at issue, 17 and the filing party shall include this basis in its motion to seal, along with any objection to sealing 18 the information at issue. Local Civil Rule 5(g) sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 19 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material 20 under seal. A party who seeks to maintain the confidentiality of its information must satisfy the 21 requirements of Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(B), even if it is not the party filing the motion to seal. 22 Failure to satisfy this requirement will result in the motion to seal being denied, in accordance with 23 the strong presumption of public access to the Court’s files. 24 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 4 25 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 1 2 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each party 3 or non-party that designates information or items for protection under this agreement must take 4 care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 5 standards. The designating party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 6 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify, so that other portions of the 7 material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 8 unjustifiably within the ambit of this agreement. 9 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 10 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 11 unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses 12 and burdens on other parties) expose the designating party to sanctions. 13 If it comes to a designating party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 14 protection do not qualify for protection, the designating party must promptly notify all other parties 15 that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 16 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 17 agreement (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(b) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 18 ordered, disclosure or discovery material that qualifies for protection under this agreement must 19 be clearly so designated before or when the material is disclosed or produced. 20 (a) Information in documentary form: (e.g., paper or electronic documents and 21 deposition exhibits, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), 22 the designating party must affix the word “CONFIDENTIAL” to each document or page that 23 contains confidential material. 24 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 5 25 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 (b) 1 Testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial proceedings: the parties 2 and any participating non-parties must identify on the record, during the deposition or other pretrial 3 proceeding, all protected testimony, without prejudice to their right to so designate other testimony 4 after reviewing the transcript. Any party or non-party may, within fifteen days after receiving the 5 transcript of the deposition or other pretrial proceeding, designate portions of the transcript, or 6 exhibits thereto, as confidential. If a party or non-party desires to protect confidential information 7 at trial, the issue should be addressed during the pre-trial conference. (c) 8 Other tangible items: the producing party must affix in a prominent place 9 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the word 10 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, 11 the producing party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 5.3 12 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 13 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the designating party’s 14 right to secure protection under this agreement for such material. Upon timely correction of a 15 designation, the receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is treated 16 in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. 17 6. 18 CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any party or non-party may challenge a designation of 19 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a designating party’s confidentiality 20 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 21 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a party does not waive its right to 22 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 23 original designation is disclosed. 24 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 6 25 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 6.2 1 Meet and Confer. The parties must make every attempt to resolve any dispute 2 regarding confidential designations without court involvement. Any motion regarding confidential 3 designations or for a protective order must include a certification, in the motion or in a declaration 4 or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith meet and confer conference with other 5 affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action. The certification must list 6 the date, manner, and participants to the conference. A good faith effort to confer requires a face- 7 to-face meeting or a telephone or video conference. 6.3 8 Judicial Intervention. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 9 intervention, the designating party may file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under Local 10 Civil Rule 7 (and in compliance with Local Civil Rule 5(g), if applicable). The burden of 11 persuasion in any such motion shall be on the designating party. Frivolous challenges, and those 12 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 13 other parties) may expose the challenging party to sanctions. All parties shall continue to maintain 14 the material in question as confidential until the court rules on the challenge. 15 7. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that party must: (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 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 7 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 1 subject to this agreement. Such notification shall include a copy of this agreement; and (c) 2 cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 3 the designating party whose confidential material may be affected. 4 8. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed confidential 6 material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this agreement, the receiving 7 party must immediately (a) notify in writing the designating party of the unauthorized disclosures, 8 (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the protected material, (c) inform the 9 person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this agreement, 10 and (d) request that such person or persons execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 11 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 12 9. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL When a producing party gives notice to receiving parties that certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the receiving parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order or agreement that provides for production without prior privilege review. The parties agree to the entry of a non-waiver order under Fed. R. Evid. 502(d) as set forth herein. 10. NON TERMINATION AND RETURN OF DOCUMENTS Within 60 days after the termination of this action, including all appeals, each receiving party must return all confidential material to the producing party, including all copies, extracts and summaries thereof. Alternatively, the parties may agree upon appropriate methods of destruction. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 8 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 1 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain one archival copy of all 2 documents filed with the court, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, correspondence, 3 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work 4 product, even if such materials contain confidential material. 5 6 The confidentiality obligations imposed by this agreement shall remain in effect until a designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 9 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 IT IS SO STIPULATED THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. Submitted this 9th day of October 2024 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP LAW OFFICE OF BRIAN FAHLING By s/ Zachary J. Pekelis Zachary J. Pekelis, WSBA #44557 By s/Brian Fahling Brian Fahling, WSBA #18894 s/ Jessica A. Skelton Jessica A. Skelton, WSBA #36748 s/ Jacob A. Zuniga Jacob Z. Zuniga, WSBA #48458 1191 Second Avenue, Suite 2000 Seattle, Washington 98101 Telephone: (206) 245-1700 Zach.Pekelis@pacificalawgroup.com Jessica.Skelton@pacificalawgroup.com Jacob.Zuniga@pacificalawgroup.com Attorneys for Defendant King County 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 10 559 Old Mill Road Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 Telephone: (425) 802-7326 bfahling@fahlinglaw.com Attorney for Plaintiff 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 PURSUANT TO THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), the production of any documents, electronically stored information (ESI) or information, whether inadvertent or otherwise, in this proceeding shall not, for the purposes of this proceeding, or any other federal or state proceeding, constitute a waiver by the producing party of any privilege applicable to those documents, including the attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product protection, or any other privilege or protection recognized by law. This Order shall be interpreted to provide the maximum protection allowed by Fed. R. Evid. 502(d). The provisions of Fed. R. Evid. 502(b) do not apply. 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. Information produced in discovery that is protected as privileged or work product shall be immediately returned to the producing party. DATED: October 23, 2024 15 16 a 17 THE HONORABLE JAMAL N. WHITEHEAD UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 11 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, ____________________________________, of ________________,______________, 4 declare under penalty of perjury that I read and understand the Stipulated Protective Order issued 5 by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in the cases of Jenifer 6 Eshom v. King County, Case No. 2:23-cv-00028-JNW and Joseph Eshom v. King County, 7 Case No. 2:24-cv-00007-JNW. 8 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order 9 and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and 10 punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 11 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity 12 except in strict compliance with the provisions 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 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CASE NUMBER 2:23-cv-00028-JNW CASE NUMBER 2:24-cv-00007-JNW - 12 PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP 1191 SECOND AVENUE SUITE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101-3404 TELEPHONE: (206) 245-1700 FACSIMILE: (206) 245-1750

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