Welsh v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company et al

Filing 101

ORDER granting 95 Motion for Protective Order, signed by Judge Ronald B. Leighton.(DN)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DAVID L. WELSH, 11 12 v. Plaintiff,

The Honorable Ronald B. Leighton

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA No.: CV04-5143 RBL Protective Order Re MetLife's Financial Information [Proposed by MetLife]

13 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY; AND DELOITTE & TOUCHE 14 GROUP INSURANCE PLAN, 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Defendant.

THIS MATTER having come on regularly for hearing before the undersigned Judge of this Court, upon the parties' CR 37 Submission Regarding Interrogatories 10 and 11 (Dkt. ___), and the Court having considered the motion and papers filed in support of the motion, including: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Based on the motion and papers filed in support of the motion, the Court finds and
Protective Order Re MetLife's Financial Information No.: CV04-5143 RBL Page 1
Bullivant|Houser|Bailey PC
1601 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2300 Seattle, Washington 98101-1618 Telephone: [phone]

The parties' joint CR 37 Submission Regarding Interrogatories 10 and 11; Declaration of Laura Sullivan; Declaration of Brian Keeley and its attachments; Declaration of Steven P. Krafchick;

1 orders as follows: 2 1. Plaintiff propounded written discovery requests in this matter seeking

3 information and documents concerning MetLife's structural conflict of interest with respect 4 to its administration of plaintiff David Welsh's ("Welsh") claim for long-term disability 5 benefits. MetLife produced all information ordered by the Court to be provided to Plaintiff, 6 with the exception of certain limited financial information not publicly available and 7 requested in plaintiff's Interrogatories 10 and 11. MetLife asserted in its written discovery 8 response, and contends in this motion, that such information is proprietary and confidential, 9 and that MetLife is entitled to an order that it shall not be used except in this litigation, and 10 shall not be disseminated publicly. The documents to be produced by MetLife have been 11 shown to the Court's satisfaction to be proprietary and confidential, and therefore MetLife is 12 entitled to permanent protection of such documents pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 13 Procedure 26(c). The financial information sought in Interrogatories 10 and 11 may 14 hereafter be referenced as "Confidential Information." 15 2. "Qualified Person" as used herein means: (i) members, employees, counsel, or

16 co-counsel of Steven Krafchick, (ii) plaintiff David Welsh, and (iii) this Court and its 17 personnel, and (iv) any court reporter involved in proceedings in which such documents are 18 to be used. 19 3. Confidential Information may be disclosed by Welsh and/or Welsh's counsel

20 only to Qualified Persons and then only to the extent that Welsh's counsel in good faith 21 believes that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to the prosecution of this litigation. 22 4. Each Qualified Person will maintain the Confidential Information in

23 confidence and will not reveal it to anyone who is not a Qualified Person without the prior 24 written consent of MetLife's counsel, or in the absence of such consent, an order of the Court 25 authorizing such disclosure. 26 5. Counsel for the parties may, in the course of deposing a person who is not a
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Bullivant|Houser|Bailey PC
1601 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2300 Seattle, Washington 98101-1618 Telephone: [phone]

Protective Order Re MetLife's Financial Information No.: CV04-5143 RBL

1 Qualified Person, show the witness Confidential Information and examine the witness 2 concerning such information provided that (a) the witness has read this Order and agreed in 3 writing to be bound by it; and (b) no persons are present during those portions of the 4 examination concerning Confidential Information except the witness, Qualified Persons, 5 MetLife's and Welsh's counsel, and a court reporter. 6 6. The transcript of deposition testimony containing or reflecting Confidential

7 Information shall be bound separately, marked by the court reporter as "Confidential," and 8 treated as Confidential subject to the terms of this Order. 9 7. If either party wishes to use Confidential Information during any motion

10 practice or trial of this action, the Parties will submit such materials under seal, pursuant to 11 the Local Rules of this Court. Documents filed with the Court that are designated 12 Confidential or contain or discuss Confidential Information shall be filed under seal and kept 13 under seal absent a further order of the Court. Where possible, however, only the 14 Confidential portions of filings with the Court shall be filed under seal. 15 8. At the conclusion of this lawsuit (including appeals, if any), all Confidential

16 Information in the possession of any Qualified Person or any other person who has received 17 such information pursuant to this Order, together with all copies, extracts, and summaries 18 thereof, shall be returned to MetLife. All Qualified Persons who have copies of confidential 19 information, or documents reflecting or containing Confidential Information, shall within ten 20 days after all proceedings in this case are concluded, provide to counsel for MetLife an 21 affidavit verifying that all Confidential Information in such person's possession, custody or 22 control has been returned to counsel for MetLife, and that the individual has not made or 23 retained any copies of the Confidential Information, or, if copies were made, that all such 24 copies have been returned together with the original documents. No Confidential 25 Information may be used in any other judicial or other proceeding or for any other purpose 26 whatsoever, except (i) where required by legal process, or (ii) upon the written consent of
Protective Order Re MetLife's Financial Information No.: CV04-5143 RBL Page 3
Bullivant|Houser|Bailey PC
1601 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2300 Seattle, Washington 98101-1618 Telephone: [phone]

1 MetLife. 2 9. This Order may be modified by a stipulation of the parties, if so ordered by the

3 Court, or by the Court on the application of a party if the parties are unable to agree. This 4 Order shall be binding upon all Qualified Persons and upon all other persons having 5 knowledge of its terms, and any violation thereof may be punishable by contempt. 6 7 8 9 10 Presented by: 11 Bullivant Houser Bailey PC 12 /s/ Brian K. Keeley 13 Brian K. Keeley, WSBA #32121 E-Mail: [e-mail] 14 Katherine S. Somervell, WSBA #40366 E-Mail: [e-mail] 15 Bullivant Houser Bailey PC 1601 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2300 16 Seattle, Washington 98101-1618 206.292.8930 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Protective Order Re MetLife's Financial Information No.: CV04-5143 RBL Page 4
Bullivant|Houser|Bailey PC
1601 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2300 Seattle, Washington 98101-1618 Telephone: [phone]

Dated: June 3, 2010.

RONALD B. LEIGHTON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

A

12417035.1