Opinion
Susan E. Coleman, Mitchell A. Wrosch, BURKE, WILLIAMS & SORENSEN, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Attorneys for Defendants, J. SEBOK and M. HAINLINE.
PROTECTIVE ORDER
JOHN E. McDERMOTT, Magistrate Judge.
WHEREAS, Defendants J. Sebok, M. Mora, D. Acosta, L. Chavez, M. Hainline, A. Ayon, and J. Melendez ("Defendants") and Plaintiff Joshua A. Willard ("Plaintiff") (collectively the "Parties"), believe that certain information that is or will be encompassed by discovery demands by the Parties involves the production or disclosure of confidential information.
WHEREAS, the Parties seek a protective order limiting disclosure thereof in accordance with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26(c).
THEREFORE, it is hereby stipulated among the Parties and ORDERED that:
1. By designating any document as "confidential, " under the terms of this order, the party making the designation is certifying to the Court that there is a good-faith basis both in law and in fact for the designation within the meaning of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26.
2. Confidential documents shall be so designated by stamping copies of the document produced to a party with the legend "CONFIDENTIAL." Stamping the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" on the cover of any multipage document shall designate all pages of the document as confidential, unless otherwise indicated by the producing party.
3. Material designated as confidential under this Order, the information contained therein, and any summaries, copies, abstracts, or other documents derived in whole or in part from material designated as confidential (hereinafter "Confidential Material") shall be used only for the purpose of prosecution, defense, or settlement of this action, and for no other purpose.
4. The Confidential Material produced pursuant to this Order may be disclosed or made available only to the Court, to counsel for a party (including the paralegal, clerical, and secretarial staff employed by such counsel), and to the "qualified persons" designated below:
(a) a party, or an employee of a party deemed necessary by counsel to aid in the prosecution, defense, or settlement of this action;
(b) experts or consultants (together with their clerical staff) retained by counsel to assist in the prosecution, defense, or settlement of this action;
(c) court reporter(s) employed in this action;
(d) a witness at trial in this action; and
(e) any other person as to whom the parties in writing agree.
Prior to receiving any Confidential Material, each "qualified person" shall be provided with a copy of this Order.
5. To the extent a document is designated as "CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEY'S EYES ONLY" (hereinafter "Attorney's Eyes Only Material"), in the manner described in paragraphs 2 and 3 above, the document and the information contained therein, shall be disclosed only to the Court, to counsel for the parties (including the paralegal, clerical, and secretarial staff employed by counsel), and to the "qualified persons" listed in subparagraphs 4(b) through (e) above, but shall not be disclosed to a party (particularly if incarcerated), unless otherwise agreed or ordered. If disclosure of Attorney's Eyes Only Material is made, all other provisions in this Order with respect to confidentiality shall also apply.
6. If any document designated as Confidential is included in any papers to be filed in Court, such papers shall be labeled "Confidential - Subject to Court Order" and filed under seal according to the Local Rules until further order of this Court.
7. In the event that any document designated Confidential is used in any court proceeding in this action, it shall not lose its confidential status through such use, and the party using the material shall take all reasonable steps to maintain its confidentiality during such use.
8. This Order shall be without prejudice to the right of the parties (i) to bring before the Court at any time a question of whether any particular document or information is confidential or whether its use should be restricted or (ii) to present a motion to the Court under FRCP 26(c) for a separate protective order as to any particular document or information, including restrictions differing from those as specified herein. This Order shall not be deemed to prejudice the parties in any way in any future application for modification of this Order.
9. This Order is entered solely for the purpose of facilitating the exchange of documents and information between the parties to this action without involving the Court unnecessarily in the process. Nothing in this Order nor the production of any information or document under the terms of this Order nor any proceedings pursuant to this Order shall be deemed to have the effect of an admission or a waiver by any party or of altering the confidentiality or non-confidentiality or any such document or information or altering any existing obligation of any party or the absence of obligation.
10. This Order shall survive the final termination of this action, to the extent that any documents marked Confidential do not become known to the public, and the Court shall retain jurisdiction to resolve any dispute concerning the use of information disclosed under this Order. Upon termination of this case, Plaintiff's counsel shall return all documents marked Confidential and all copies of any document marked Confidential, or shall certify the destruction thereof.
IT IS SO ORDERED.