Opinion
1:21-cv-02015 (AT)
07-16-2021
CRISTIAN SANCHEZ, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. AMERICAN MINT LLC Defendant.
Attorneys for Plaintiff, Cristian Sanchez Attorneys for Defendant, American Mint LLC
Attorneys for Plaintiff, Cristian Sanchez
Attorneys for Defendant, American Mint LLC
ANALISA TORRES, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
[PROPOSED]PROTECTIVE ORDER
BARBARA MOSES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
The Court having found that good cause exists for issuance of an appropriately tailored confidentiality order governing the pre-trial phase of this action, and the parties having stipulated to the following provisions, it is hereby ORDERED that any person subject to this Order - including without limitation the parties to this action, their attorneys, representatives, agents, experts and consultants, acting as such, all third parties providing discovery in this action, and all other interested persons with actual or constructive notice of this Order shall adhere to the following terms, upon pain of contempt:
Discovery Materials May Be Designated as Confidential
1. Any person subject to this Order who receives from any other person any "Discovery Material" (i.e., information of any kind provided in the course of discovery in this action) that is designated as "Confidential" pursuant to the terms of this Order shall not disclose such Confidential Discovery Material to anyone else except as expressly permitted hereunder.
2. The person producing Discovery Material may designate as "Confidential" any portion thereof that contains non-public business, commercial, financial, or personal information, the public disclosure of which is either restricted by law or would likely, in the good faith opinion of the producing person, seriously harm the producing person's business, commercial, financial, or personal interests or cause the producing person to violate his, her, or its privacy or confidentiality obligations to others. Where the confidential portion is reasonably separable from the non confidential portion, via redaction or otherwise, only the confidential portion shall be so designated.
3. With respect to the confidential portion of any Discovery Material other than deposition transcripts and exhibits, the producing person or that person's counsel may designate such portion as "Confidential" by stamping or otherwise clearly marking as "Confidential" the document or protected portion in a manner that will not interfere with legibility or audibility. Deposition testimony may be designated as "Confidential" either on the record during the deposition or in writing within five (5) business days of receipt of the transcript. If so designated, the final transcript of the designated testimony shall be bound in a separate volume and marked "Confidential Information Governed by Protective Order" by the reporter.
4. If at any time prior to the trial of this action, a producing person realizes that some portion of Discovery Material that that person previously produced without limitation should be designated as "Confidential," the producing person may so designate that portion by promptly notifying all parties in writing. Such designated portion of the Discovery Material will thereafter be treated as Confidential under the terms of this Order. In addition, the producing person shall provide each other party with replacement versions of such Discovery Material that bears the "Confidential" designation within two (2) business days of providing such notice.
Who May Receive Confidential Materials
5. No person subject to this Order, other than the producing person, shall disclose any Confidential Discovery Material to any other person whomsoever, except to:
a. the parties to this action;
b. counsel retained specifically for this action, including any paralegal, clerical or other assistap.t employed by such counsel and assigned specifically to work on this action;
c. as to any document, its author, its addressee, and any other person shown on the face of the document as having received a copy;
d. any witness who counsel for a party in good faith believes may be called to testify at trial or deposition in this action, provided such person has first executed a NonDisclosure Agreement in the form annexed hereto;
e. any person retained by a party to serve as an expert witness or consultant or otherwise provide specialized advice to counsel in connection with this action, provided such person has first executed a Non-Disclosure Agreement in the form annexed hereto;
f. stenogiaphers and video technicians engaged to transcribe or record depositions conducted in this action;
g. independent photocopying, graphic production services, or other litigation support services employed by the parties or their counsel to assist in this action, including computer service personnel performing duties in relation to a computerized litigation system;
h. the Court and its staff; and
i. any other person whom the producing person, or other person designating the Discovery Material "Confidential," agrees in writing may have access to such Confidential Discovery Material.
6. Prior to the disclosure of any Confidential Discovery Material to any person referred to in subparagraph<: 5(d) or 5(e) above, such person shall be provided by counsel with a copy of this Protective Order and shall sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, in the form annexed hereto, stating that that person has read this Order and agrees to be bound by its terms. Counsel shall retain each signed NonDisclosure Agreement, hold it in escrow, and produce it to opposing counsel either prior to such person being permitted to testify (at deposition or trial) or at the conclusion of the case, whichever comes first.
Filing of Confidential Materials in This Action
7. Any person who either objects to any designation of confidentiality, or who, by contrast, requests still further limits on disclosure (such as "attorneys' eyes only," reserved for extraordinary circumstances), may at any time prior to the trial of this action serve upon the designating person and all other parties a written notice stating with particularity the grounds of the objection or request. Per Rule II(C) of the Court's Individual Practices in Civil Cases, upon such notice the parties shall confer in good faith in person or by telephone to resolve the dispute. If agreement cannot be reached promptly, counsel for all affected persons shall submit to the Court a single joint letter describing the dispute, not to exe, eed six pages, to the Court.
8. Notwithstanding the designation of material as "Confidential" in discovery, there is no presumption that such Confidential Discovery Material will be filed with the Court under seal. The parties shall follow Rule IV (A) of the Court's Individual Practices with respect to pretrial requests for filing under seal.
9. Each person who has access to Confidential Discovery Material shall take all due precaution'>to prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such material.
Inadvertent Disclosure of Privileged Materials
10. If, in connection with this litigation, and despite having taken reasonable steps to prevent the disclosure of information that it claims is subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege or attorney work product, a producing person inadvertently discloses information subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege or attorney work product protection ("Inadvertently Disclosed Information"), such disclosure, in itself, shall not constitute or be deemed a waiver or forfeiture of any claim of privilege or work product protection with respect to the Inadvertently Disclosed Information and its subject matter.
11. If a disclosinll_person makes a claim of inadvertent disclosure, all receiving persons shall, within five (5) business days, return or destroy all copies of the Inadvertently Disclosed Information, and provide a certification of counsel that all such information has been returned or destroyed.
12. Within five (5) business days of the notification that such Inadvertently Disclosed Information has been returned or destroyed, the disclosing person shall produce a privilege log with respect to the Inadvertently Disclosed Information.
13. Within one hundred and twenty (120) days after the conclusion of this case, counsel for the parties who received Protected Documents shall either (a) return to any producing party the Protected Documents that such producing party produced; or (b) securely destroy the Protected Documents and certify such destruction to the producing party within one hundred and fifty (150) days after the conclusion of this case. However, nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the parties from complying with each sides' duty to maintain files as required under the professional rules of responsibility.
14. Inadvertent or unintentional production of documents or information containing confidential information that should have been designated as Protected Document(s) shall not be deemed a waiver in whole or in part of the producing party's claims of confidentiality.
15. If a receiving person thereafter moves the Court for an order compelling production of the Inadvertently Disclosed Information, that motion shall be filed under seal, and shall not assert as a ground for entering such an order the mere fact of the inadvertent production. The disclosing person retains the burden of establishing the privileged or protected nature of any Inadvertently Disclosed Information. Nothing in this Order shall limit the right of any party to request an in camera review of the Inadvertently Disclosed Information.
16. This Protective Order may not be waived, modified, abandoned or terminated, in whole or part, except by an instrument in writing signed by all parties. If any provision of this Protective Order shall be held invalid for any reason whatsoever, the remaining provisions shall not be affected thereby.
17. After termination of this litigation, the provisions of this Order shall continue to be binding. This Court retains and shall have jurisdiction over the parties and recipients of the Protected Documents for enforcement of the provisions of this Order following termination of this litigation.
18. This Protective Order shall be binding upon the parties hereto, upon their attorneys, and upon the parties, and their attorneys' successors, executors, personal representatives, administrators, heirs, legal representatives, assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, employees, agents, independent contractors, or other persons or organizations over which they have control.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED.