Opinion
No. 98 C 5309.
March 8, 2000.
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER AS TO DR. MICHAEL GELBORT'S RECORDS
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and by agreement of the parties the court finds:
A. That the need for discovery involving the production and disclosure of documents, data and other materials, and information, and the taking of testimony by oral deposition is anticipated; and
B. The scope of discovery will encompass the production of documents or oral testimony which may contain certain proprietary information of a non-public nature, (hereinafter referred to as "Confidential Matter"), that may be subject to discovery in this action, but which should not be generally available to the public.
C. Accordingly, the Court finding good cause for entry of this Protective Order, IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1. When used in this Protective Order, the word "document" or "documents" means all written, recorded or graphic matter whatsoever, including, but not limited to certain questions, answers to those questions, and analysis thereof which are deemed to be proprietary in nature, produced by Dr. Michael Gelbort in this action whether pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34, subpoena, or by agreement. It also shall include deposition transcripts and exhibits and any portion of any court papers which quote from or summarize any of the foregoing.
2. This order governs all discovery material designated as "Confidential Matter" including all copies excerpts, or notes thereof. All such material shall be used only for purposes of preparation for trial or trial of this cause and not for any other litigation or business purpose and shall be disclosed only in accordance with the terms of this order.
3. With respect to any Confidential Matter that has been or will be requested through discovery, Dr. Gelbort shall not withhold all or any part of the same on the ground that it contains confidential or proprietary information, but shall identify such matter as being Confidential. Each document designated as Confidential Matter shall bear the following designation: "Confidential".
4. In addition to this designation, identifying numbers may be affixed to the pages of material designated as "Confidential". A record shall be maintained of all copies made of documents being this confidential designation. No document containing the "Confidential" stamp or any identifying number shall be copied in whole or in part without the "Confidential" designation and the identifying number appearing on the copy.
5. All documents designated as "Confidential" may be examined and otherwise used solely by counsel to this action, only for the purposes of this litigation, and for no other purposes. Counsel in this action shall not disclose documents designated as "Confidential" except to the following persons:
a. The parties to this litigation as may be needed to prosecute or defend this action;
b. Counsel for the parties of this litigation, including co-counsel and employees of counsel who are employed in connection with preparation for and trial of this litigation;
c. Experts retained to furnish technical or expert services, whether purely consulting or 26(a)(2) experts, specifically for this litigation or give testimony in connection with this litigation;
d. Deponents during the course of their depositions, to the extent reasonably necessary to obtain relevant information from the deponent, provided that to the extent that portions of the transcript of any depositions or the exhibits thereto incorporate the Confidential Matter, such transcript portions and any such exhibit shall be subject to the terms of this Protective Order in the same manner as Confidential Matter;
e. The Court and court personnel, in camera, under seal, as necessary in support of motions, pleadings and other court papers and proceedings; provided that Confidential Matter may be disclosed at any evidentiary hearing as long as the party who produced the Confidential Matter in the first instance has sufficient notice of its disclosure to enable that party to seek protection from the Court of the Confidential Matter.
6. Before disclosing Confidential Matter to any persons enumerated in paragraphs 5(a) through (g) above, counsel in this action must first inform each such person that the documents containing Confidential Matter to be disclosed are confidential, to be held in confidence, are to be used solely for the purpose of preparing for this litigation and further, that these restrictions are imposed by a court order. This responsibility is binding on all attorneys of record.
7. Upon final termination of this action, whether by settlement, dismissal or other disposition, the provisions hereof relating to the Confidential Matter shall continue to be binding upon all attorneys of record, their employees, the parties herein, their officers and employees, deposition witnesses, experts, consultants and others. Further, upon final termination of the above-entitled action, the original and all copies of all Confidential Matter, including those portions of deposition transcripts and the deposition exhibits containing Confidential Matter, shall be returned to Dr. Gelbort within sixty (60) days.