Beach v. State Farm Fire and Casualty

Filing 21

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Judge Tana Lin. (MJV)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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JULIE BEACH,
Plaintiff,

v.

STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY
COMPANY, a foreign corporation,

No. 2:24-cv-00930-TL
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

Defendant.

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1.

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PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or
private information for which special protection may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties
hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order.
The parties acknowledge that this agreement is consistent with LCR 26(c), and hereby certify

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that they have engaged in a good-faith meet and confer in an effort to resolve the dispute

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without court action. It does not confer blanket protection on all disclosures or responses to

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discovery, the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited

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information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal
principles, and it does not presumptively entitle parties to file confidential information under
seal.

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2.

“CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL

“Confidential” material shall include the following categories of competitively sensitive,

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internal-use only, or trade secret documents or, information (including electronically stored

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information), and tangible things if produced or otherwise exchanged:

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1) Sensitive personal information, such as Social Security Numbers and financial
records. This includes tax records, bank account statements and bookkeeping records that
were not previously provided to State Farm as part of the claims process or underwriting
process;
2) Claims training and procedure manuals and other materials that contain trade secret,
confidential, internal-use only, and/or proprietary research, development, and/or commercial
information of State Farm;
3) Materials relating to employee evaluations, compensation, performance reviews,
and/or other sensitive, personal, non-job related, and private information;
4) Confidential and/or trade secret claims-handling and claims process materials,
underwriting materials, insurance pricing, and/or documents relating to State Farm policies
and practices; and
5) Any other proprietary, confidential, competitively sensitive, internal-use only, nonpublic material of a sensitive or proprietary nature, reinsurance, or trade secret information of
State Farm and its related entities, financial information, training materials, and contracts or
agreements with third parties.
The parties shall reserve the right to seek by stipulation or motion to enlarge this list as

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discovery proceeds in the event that any Party seeks additional information not included in the

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above description which is entitled to protections and is otherwise discoverable under Federal

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Rule of Civil Procedure 26 and the local rules.

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3.

SCOPE

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3.1

The protections conferred by this Order cover not only confidential material (as

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defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from confidential material;
(2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of confidential material; and (3) any
testimony, conversations, or presentations by parties or their counsel that might reveal
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confidential material.

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However, the protections conferred by this Order do not cover information that is in the

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public domain through proper means or becomes part of the public domain through trial.

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Specific to insurance-related litigation, however, an insured is obligated by contract to

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cooperate with its insurer to provide privacy information, e.g., DOBs, SSNs, driver license
numbers, and names of minors for an insurer to evaluate the claim, while the insurer might
disclose portions of personnel files of claim handlers, competitive business information, and
financial accounting information. Given this uniqueness of insurance litigation, the parties
will cooperate in good faith when filing a motion seeking leave of the Court, pursuant to LCR

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5, 5.2, 7, 26(c), 37(a)(2)(I), 79, or other court rules, supported by compelling reasons in fact

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and law, to keep confidential and not considered part of the public domain limited information,

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parts of materials, and/or testimony introduced in court records or admitted at trial, when

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designated in good faith as confidential pursuant to an insurance requirement, Protective Order,
Confidentiality Agreement, Order of a Court, governmental subpoena, regulatory compliance
activity, or inadvertent disclosure that was subsequently remedied.
3.2

Plaintiff does not expect to designate any materials as confidential. However, to

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the extent Plaintiff does designate materials as confidential, specific to insurance-related

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litigation nothing in this Order shall be construed to prohibit, restrict, or require State Farm to

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obtain an authorization for the retention, use, or disclosure of nonpublic Confidential

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Information and records as authorized or as reasonably required by: State Farm’s Information

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Retention Schedules; federal or state law or regulation; court order; rule, including, but not
limited to, Medicare authorities; reporting to a third-party such as to LexisNexis C.L.U.E.
(Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) for Auto & Property Reports or to ISO
(Insurance Services Office) for analysis of records in anti-fraud efforts (using non-fraudulent

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data to benchmark); in reporting for rate-making or otherwise; and in paperless Claim File

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through its Electronic Claims Systems for permissible insurance functions. Nothing in this

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order shall prevent State Farm from retaining all documents necessary for regulatory
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compliance activities, nor from producing any documents necessary for regulatory compliance

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activities.

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4.

ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL

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4.1

Basic Principles. A receiving party may use confidential material that is disclosed

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or produced by another party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for

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prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Confidential material may be

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disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order.
Confidential material must be stored and maintained by a receiving party at a location and in
a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
4.2

Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Material. Unless otherwise ordered by the

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court or permitted in writing by the designating party, a receiving party may disclose any

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confidential material only to:
(a)

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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

receiving party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, unless the parties
agree that a particular document or material produced is for Attorney’s Eyes Only and is so
designated;

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(c)

experts and consultants to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this

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litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit

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A);

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(d)

the court, including the court personnel and staff, court reporters and staff, as well

as mediators, arbitrators, jury consultants, or factfinder(s) while in trial;
(e)

copy or imaging services retained by counsel to assist in the duplication of

confidential material, provided that counsel for the party retaining the copy or imaging service
instructs the service not to disclose any confidential material to third parties and to immediately
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return all originals and copies of any confidential material;
(f)

during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably

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necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit

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A), unless otherwise agreed by the designating party or ordered by the court. Pages of

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transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal confidential material
must be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
permitted under this Order;
(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

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referencing such material in court filings, the filing party shall confer with the designating

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party, in accordance with Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(A), to determine whether the designating

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party will remove the confidential designation, whether the document can be redacted, or
whether a motion to seal or stipulation and proposed order is warranted. During the meet and
confer process, the designating party must identify the basis for sealing the specific
confidential information at issue, and the filing party shall include this basis in its motion to

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seal, along with any objection to sealing the information at issue. Local Civil Rule 5(g) sets

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forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party

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seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. A party who seeks to maintain the

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confidentiality of its information must satisfy the requirements of Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(B),

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even if it is not the party filing the motion to seal. Failure to satisfy this requirement will result
in the motion to seal being denied without prejudice to renew and, depending on what is being
filed and why, there may be a strong presumption of public access to the Court’s files.
5.

DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

5.1

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each party

or non-party that designates materials for protection under this Order must take care to limit
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any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The

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designating party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items,

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or oral or written communications that qualify, so that other portions of the material,

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documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept

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unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are
shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to
unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose unnecessary
expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the designating party to sanctions.

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If it comes to a designating party’s attention that materials that it designated for protection

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does not qualify for protection, the designating party must promptly notify all other parties that

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it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.

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5.2

Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order

(see, e.g., sections 5.2(b) and 5.3 below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, disclosure or
discovery material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated
before or when the material is disclosed or produced.
(a)

Information in documentary form: (e.g., paper or electronic documents and

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deposition exhibits, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial

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proceedings), the designating party must affix the word “CONFIDENTIAL – SUBJECT TO

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PROTECTIVE ORDER” to each page that contains confidential material. If only a portion or

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portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the producing Party also must clearly
identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
(b)

Testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial proceedings: the parties and

any participating non-parties must identify on the record, during the deposition or other pretrial

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proceeding, all protected testimony, without prejudice to their right to so designate other

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testimony after reviewing the transcript. Any party or non-party may, within thirty (30) days

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after receiving the transcript of the deposition or other pretrial proceeding, designate portions
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of the transcript, or exhibits thereto, as confidential. Whether or not designation is made at the

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time of a deposition, all depositions shall be treated as Confidential from the taking of the

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deposition until thirty (30) days after receipt of the transcript. If a party or non-party desires to

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protect confidential information at trial, the issue should be addressed during the pre-trial

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conference.
(c)

Other tangible items: the producing party must affix in a prominent place on the

exterior of the container or containers in which the item is stored the word “CONFIDENTIAL–
SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER.” If only a portion or portions of the information or
item warrant protection, the producing party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the
protected portion(s).
(d)

Confidential material at trial. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to affect

the use of any document, material, or information at any trial or hearing. In the event
confidential material (documents or testimony) is used in any court filing or proceeding in this
action, it shall not lose its confidential status as between the parties through such use, but it
will not be kept out of the public record in this action, however, except by court order issued
upon motion of the party seeking to file the documents under seal. A party that intends to

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present said confidential material at a hearing or trial shall bring that issue to the Court’s and

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parties’ attention by motion or in a pretrial memorandum without disclosing the confidential

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material. The party designating the confidential material may move the Court for an order that

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the evidence be received in camera or under other conditions to prevent unnecessary

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disclosure. The court will then determine whether the proffered evidence should continue to
be treated as Confidential and, if so, what protection, if any, may be afforded to such
information at the trial. The Court may thereafter make such orders as are necessary to govern
the use of such documents or information at trial.
5.3

Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to

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designate qualified material does not, standing alone, waive the designating party’s right to

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secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation,
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the receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is treated in
accordance with the provisions of this Order.
6.

CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

6.1

Timing of Challenges. Any party or non-party may challenge a designation of

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confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a designating party’s confidentiality

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designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic

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burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a party does not waive its right to

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challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the

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original designation is disclosed.
6.2

Meet and Confer. The parties must make every attempt to resolve any dispute

regarding confidential designations without court involvement. Any motion regarding
confidential designations or for a protective order must include a certification, in the motion

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or in a declaration or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith meet and confer

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conference with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action.

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The certification must list the date, manner, and participants to the conference. A good faith

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effort to confer requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference.
6.3

Judicial Intervention. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without court

intervention, the designating party may file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under
Local Civil Rule 7 (and in compliance with Local Civil Rule 5(g), if applicable). The burden
of persuasion in any such motion shall be on the designating party. Frivolous challenges, and

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those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and

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burdens on other parties) may expose the challenging party to sanctions. All parties shall

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continue to maintain the material in question as confidential until the court rules on the

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challenge.
7.

PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

IN OTHER LITIGATION
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If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels

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disclosure of any material designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL– SUBJECT TO

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PROTECTIVE ORDER,” that party must:

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(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 subject
to this Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Order; and
(c)

cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the

designating party whose confidential material may be affected.

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8.

UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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8.1

If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

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confidential material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Order, the

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receiving party must immediately (a) notify in writing the designating Party of the

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unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the
protected material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were
made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request that such person or persons execute the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
9.

INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

PROTECTED MATERIAL AND/OR NON-RESPONSIVE MATERIAL
9.1

When a producing party gives notice to receiving parties that certain 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), Federal Rule of
Evidence 502(d), and Rule of Professional Conduct 4.4(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 nonSTIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER– 9
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waiver order under Fed. R. Evid. 502(d) as set forth herein. This Order shall be interpreted to

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provide the maximum protection allowed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B),

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Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d), and Rule of Professional Conduct 4.4(b).

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9.2

When a producing party gives notice to receiving parties of an inadvertent or

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mistaken production of non-responsive material that contains trade secret or other confidential

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business information, the receiving parties shall return or destroy these materials upon written

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request by the producing party. This Order shall be interpreted to provide the maximum
protection allowed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)-(c) and Rule of Professional
Conduct 4.4(b).
9.3

The inadvertent or mistaken production of any Confidential Information which does

not contain a designation of “Confidential” may be corrected as set forth in 5.3.

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10.

NON-TERMINATION AND RETURN OF DOCUMENTS

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10.1

Within 60 days after the termination of this action, including all appeals, each

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receiving party must shred (if paper) or delete (if electronic) all confidential materials, as well

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as all copies, extracts, notes, reports, memoranda, summaries, or other documents containing

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such confidential information. Alternatively, the parties may agree upon appropriate methods
of destruction.
10.2

Notwithstanding this provision, counsel may retain one archival copy of: all

documents filed with the court; trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts; deposition and trial
exhibits; expert reports; and attorney work product.

Any such documents that contain

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confidential material shall remain subject to all requirements of this Protective Order for a

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period of seven (7) years after the termination of this action, including all appeals. Counsel’s

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one archival shall be used in accordance with 4.1 of this Protective Order. After the expiration

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of the seven (7) year period provided herein, all documents that contain confidential material
must be shredded (if paper) or deleted (if electronic).
10.3

The confidentiality obligations imposed by this Protective Order shall remain in

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effect until a designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise. The

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obligations of this Protective Order shall survive the termination of this action and continue to

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bind the parties, their counsel, and experts and consultants receiving Confidential information

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under 4.2. The Court will have continuing jurisdiction to enforce this Protective Order

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irrespective of the manner in which this action is terminated.

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IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

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Dated this 27th day of January, 2025
MIX SANDERS THOMPSON, PLLC

ROBERT D. BOHM, LLC
s/Robert D. Bohm
Robert D. Bohm, WSBA No. 42703
ROBERT BOHM, LLC
PO Box 25536
Federal Way WA 98093
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Attorney for Plaintiff Beach

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s/George A. Mix
George A. Mix, WSBA No. 32864
MIX SANDERS THOMPSON, PLLC
1601 Fifth Avenue, Ste. 1800
Seattle, WA 98101
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Attorney for Defendant
State Farm Fire and Casualty Company

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POLI, MOON & ZANE, PLLC

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s/Christopher M. Walsh
Christopher M. Walsh, WSBA No. 59454
POLI, MOON & ZANE, PLLC
PO Box 6915
Tacoma WA 98417
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Attorney for Plaintiffs Gunn

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PURSUANT TO 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 other information,
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whether inadvertent or otherwise, in this proceeding shall not, for the purposes of this

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proceeding or any other federal or state proceeding, constitute a waiver by the producing party

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of any privilege applicable to those documents or information, including the attorney-client

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privilege, attorney work-product protection, or any other privilege or protection recognized by

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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

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that is protected as privileged, or work product shall be immediately returned to the producing

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party.

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DATED this 28th day of January, 2025.

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A

Tana Lin
United States District Judge

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EXHIBIT A: ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

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I, ____________________________________ [print or type full name], of

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___________________________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty

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of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that

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was issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on the

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____ day of _________, 202__ in the case of Beach v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company,
Case No. 2:24-cv-00930-TL.
I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective
Order, including the term that within 60 days after the termination of this action, including all
appeals, I shall provide written confirmation to counsel of record for Plaintiff that documents
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and transcripts of testimony that have been designated by State Farm as Confidential or as

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disclosing the contents of Confidential documents have been shredded (if paper) or deleted (if

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electronic), including the shredding and deletion of all copies, extracts, notes, reports,

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memoranda, summaries thereof, or other documents containing such confidential information.

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I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or
entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the

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Western District of Washington for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated

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Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.

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Date: ________________________________

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City and State where sworn and signed:

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________________________________________

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Printed name: ___________________________________________

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Signature: ______________________________________________

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