Opinion
Civil No. 2:04cv00456ts.
August 19, 2005
John A. Pearce, JONES WALDO HOLBROOK McDONOUGH, Salt Lake City, UT.
Alexander Frid (admitted pro hac vice), JONES DAY, Los Angeles, CA, Attorneys for Defendants, EXPERIAN INFORMATION SOLUTIONS, INC.
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Plaintiff Bonnie Higgins ("Plaintiff") and Defendant Experian Information Solutions, Inc. ("Experian"), through their respective attorneys of record, as follows:
WHEREAS, documents and information have been and may be sought, produced or exhibited by and among the identified parties to this action relating to trade secrets, confidential research, development, technology or other proprietary information belonging to the defendants and/or personal income, credit and other confidential information of Plaintiff.
THEREFORE, an Order of this Court protecting such confidential information shall be and hereby is made by this Court on the following terms:
1. This Order shall govern the Pre-Trial use, handling and disclosure of all documents, testimony or information produced or given in this action which are designated to be subject to this Order in accordance with the terms hereof.
2. Any party or non-party producing or filing documents or other materials in this action may designate such materials and the information contained therein subject to this Order by typing or stamping on the front of the document, or on the portion(s) of the document for which confidential treatment is designated, "Confidential." The party making the designation shall serve with the information a log of all information designated as confidential and identify the each basis upon which the designation is made pursuant to FRCP 26(c). The failure to designate the information or provide the log waives any such designation and the material in question is no longer subject to the protection in this Order.
3. To the extent any motions, briefs, pleadings, deposition transcripts, or other papers to be filed with the Court prior to trial incorporate documents or information subject to this Order, the party filing such papers shall designate such materials, or portions thereof, as "Confidential," and shall file them with the clerk under seal; provided, however, that a copy of such filing having the confidential information deleted therefrom may be made part of the public record.
4. All documents, transcripts, or other materials subject to this Order, and all information derived therefrom (including, but not limited to, all testimony, deposition, or otherwise, that refers, reflects or otherwise discusses any information designated Confidential hereunder), shall not be used, directly or indirectly, by any person, for any purposes, particularly competitive purposes, other than in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
5. Except with the prior written consent of the individual or entity asserting confidential treatment, or pursuant to prior Order after notice, any document, transcript or pleading given confidential treatment under this Order, and any information contained in, or derived from any such materials (including but not limited to, all deposition testimony that refers, reflects or otherwise discusses any information designated confidential hereunder) may not be used outside this case and may only be used in this litigation or litigation of similar cases against the party producing the information designated as confidential. This information may only be disclosed to:
a. Other attorneys appearing in this case.
b. Staff, office personnel, consulting attorneys, experts, and consulting experts associated with the attorneys appearing in this case.
c. Witnesses and Parties.
d. Deponents.
e. The Court and its personnel
f. Court reporters engaged to transcribe the proceedings or discovery in this case.
g. Other attorneys working on similar cases against the party having produced the material designated as confidential who have a agreed to be bound by this order.
6. All persons receiving any or all documents produced pursuant to this Order shall be advised of their confidential nature. All persons to whom confidential information and/or documents are disclosed are hereby enjoined from disclosing same to any other person except as provided herein, and are further enjoined from using same except in the preparation for and trial of the above-captioned action between the named parties thereto. No person receiving or reviewing such confidential documents, information or transcript shall disseminate or disclose them to any person other than those described above in Paragraph 5 and for the purposes specified, and in no event shall such person make any other use of such document or transcript.
7. Nothing in this Order shall prevent a party from using at trial any information or materials designated "Confidential."
8. This Order has been agreed to by these specified parties to facilitate discovery and the production of relevant evidence in this action. Neither the entry of this Order, nor the designation of any information, document, or the like as "Confidential," nor the failure to make such designation, shall constitute evidence with respect to any issue in this action.
9. The specified parties, in entering into the present Protective Order acknowledge that since Defendant Accelerated Collection Management, Incorporated (hereinafter "Defendant Accelerated"), and its counsel are not a party to the present Protective Order, the parties acknowledge that the situation may arise wherein Defendant Accelerated issues discovery to Plaintiff or Experian which would require the production of documents covered by this Protective Order and generated by the other party. In such a circumstances, Plaintiff and Experian agree that the party receiving any such discovery from Defendant Accelerated shall within seven (7) days of receipt of such discovery notify the opposing party of the discovery requests. Such notification shall identify the information believed to be covered by the Protective Order and must provide notice of intent to produced such information ten (10) days after notification. This ten (10) day time period is intended to provide sufficient time for the party with an interest in retaining the "Confidential" status of such information to obtain agreement of Defendant Accelerated and its counsel to the confidentiality provisions of this Protective Order or, alternatively, to file a Motion for a Protective Order within said time period. The failure of a party to obtain agreement of Defendant Accelerated and its counsel to the confidentiality provisions of this Protective Order or, alternatively, to file a Motion for a Protective Order within said time period, after receiving timely notification by the other party, shall constitute a waiver of the "Confidential" status of said information.
Plaintiff and Experian also acknowledge the fact that depositions may be taken or other discovery issued in the action wherein Defendant Accelerated and/or its counsel would be a recipient and/or attending and yet not covered by this Protective Order. Plaintiff and Experian agree that any intent to use "Confidential" information under this Protective Order at such a deposition or discovery where Defendant Accelerated or its counsel could reasonably be expected to attend or be provided with a copy shall be first brought to the attention of the other party through notification at least ten (10) days prior to the issuance of such discovery or the taking of such a deposition where "Confidential" information under this Protective Order would be disclosed. This ten (10) day time period is intended to provide sufficient time for the party with an interest in retaining the "Confidential" status of such information to obtain agreement of Defendant Accelerated and its counsel to the confidentiality provisions of this Protective Order or, alternatively, to file a Motion for a Protective Order within said time period. The failure of a party to obtain agreement of Defendant Accelerated and its counsel to the confidentiality provisions of this Protective Order or, alternatively, to file a Motion for a Protective Order within said time period, after receiving timely notification by the other party, shall constitute a waiver of the "Confidential" status of said information.
In this manner neither Plaintiff nor Experian will be improperly impeded from conducting discovery deemed important to the action which might otherwise be prevented or discouraged through the specified parties stipulated entry into the present Protective Order.
10. In the event that any party to this litigation disagrees at any point in these proceedings with any designation made under this Protective Order, the parties shall first try to resolve such dispute in good faith on an informal basis. If the dispute cannot be resolved, the party objecting to the designation may seek appropriate relief from this Court. During the pendency of any challenge to the designation of a document or information, the designated document or information shall be continue to be treated as "Confidential" subject to the provisions of this Protective Order.
11. Nothing herein shall affect or restrict the rights of any party with respect to its own documents or to the information obtained or developed independently of documents, transcripts and materials afforded confidential treatment pursuant to this Order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.