Carter v. Kaufman Lumber Co.

          AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER

          HONORABLE KRISTINE BAKER UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

         This Court holds that the following procedures and provisions apply to discovery in this civil action (the "Action") in order to protect information of a sensitive, confidential, proprietary, or legally protected nature, and the privacy rights of the parties or certain non-parties. The entry of this Protective Order is not, and should not be construed as, a waiver by any party or non-party of any privilege or objection to any particular discovery request. This Protective Order shall be deemed to be a "qualified protective order" for purposes of HIPAA (the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act"), including but not limited to 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e).

         I. DEFINITIONS

         A. "Party" means any current plaintiff or defendant in this Action, and any plaintiff, defendant, or other party that may be joined in this Action, B. "Corporate Party" means any current plaintiff or defendant in this Action that is not an individual, but rather, is named in the Action as a business entity or association, such as a corporation, limited liability company, partnership or any other business concern required to be formed pursuant to applicable law.

         C. "Non-Party" means any person or entity not a Party who produces documents or other information or provides testimony in response to a subpoena or other process in this Action.

         D. "Material" is defined as documents, electronically stored information, records, tangible materials, testimony, responses to discovery, and other information produced by a Party or Non-Party in discovery in this Action.

         E. "Confidential Material" is defined as Material that any Party or Non-Party considers in good faith to be information relating to: medical treatment, trade secrets, research, development, strategic planning, financial, commercial, confidential, sensitive or proprietary information which, if disclosed, might adversely affect the competitive position or business operations of the Party or Non-Party producing the materials, or invade the privacy rights of any person.

         F. The "Designator" is any Party or Non-Party who produces Material in this Action and designates any such Material as "CONFIDENTIAL" in conformity with Section

         II. DESIGNATION OF MATERIALS AS "CONFIDENTIAL"

         Any Party or Non-Party who produces Material in the course of discovery In this Action may designate such Material as Confidential Material if that Party or Non-Party believes in good faith that the Material satisfies the definition of Confidential Material, as set forth in Paragraph I.E.

         A. The Designator will mark the word "CONFIDENTIAL" on the face of each document and each page of Material so designated at the time it is produced or, in the case of Confidential Material contained in or on media other than paper, by affixing a label with the word "CONFIDENTIAL" on the produced media or by using its best efforts to identify the information as Confidential Material

         B. In the event that a Party or Non-Party desires to designate specific answers or responses to interrogatories or requests for admission as Confidential Material, the Party or Non-Party will insert the word "CONFIDENTIAL" in brackets at the beginning of the specific answer or response.

         C. In the case of depositions, designation of the portion of the transcript (including exhibits) which contains Confidential Material will be made within thirty business days alter receipt of the transcript by notifying all Parties, the deponent, and the court reporter in writing of the page and line numbers which have been designated as Confidential Material In the absence of an agreement on the record or in writing, or an order of the Court to the contrary, all deposition testimony will be deemed Confidential Material until the expiration of the thirty-business-day period, Alternatively, a Party may designate all or any part of the deposition as "Confidential" by stating on the record during the deposition that all or part of the deposition should be so treated. Counsel should identify, on the record, when the protected designation begins and ends.

         D. If any Party that requests Material pursuant to a subpoena receives Material pursuant to the subpoena, the requesting Party shall, within seven days, provide copies of such Material to all other non-requesting adverse Parties in this case. For fourteen days after the non-requesting Party receives such Material from the requesting Party, the non-requesting Party has a "Period of Review," in which the non-requesting Party shall mark the word "CONFIDENTIAL" on the face of each document and each page of Material so designated as Confidential Material At the end of the Period of Review, the non-requesting Party shall provide copies of the designated Confidential Material to the requesting Party, The Parties may agree, or may petition the Court on reasonable cause, to modify the deadlines in this paragraph. The requesting Party shall treat Material received pursuant to a subpoena as Confidential Material throughout the Period of Review.

         E. For purposes of this Action, no Party concedes that any Material designated by any other Designator as Confidential Material should be treated as Confidential Material, A Party will not be obligated to challenge the propriety of the designation of Material as ''CONFIDENTIAL" at the time made, and the failure to do so will not preclude a later challenge in this or any other action. If a Party challenges a designation, it will give written notice to the Designator, and the Party and the Designator must attempt to resolve any challenge in good faith on an informal basis ("meet and confer"). If the challenge cannot be informally resolved, the Party challenging the designation may seek appropriate relief from the Court; however, the Designator shall have the burden of establishing that any such document or other material in dispute is entitled to protection from unrestricted disclosure, The Material will continue to be treated as Confidential Material until the issue relating to the propriety of the designation has been resolved.

         F. Any Designator may, at any time, withdraw the "CONFIDENTIAL" designation of any Material produced by that Designator.

         G. The inadvertent failure to designate or withhold any Material as Confidential Material, including Material obtained through subpoena but not so designated during the Period of Review, will not be deemed to waive a later claim as to Its confidential nature, or to preclude a Party or Non-Party from designating the Material as Confidential Material at a later date in writing and with particularity. The Material will be treated by the receiving Party as Confidential Material from the time the receiving Party is notified in writing of the change in the designation. If a Party produced the information ...