United States District Court, W.D. North Carolina, Statesville Division
WECONSENT: Pamela Hunter attorney for Plaintiff.
Scott
Lewis Shelley Coleman Attorney for Defendants.
CONSENT PROTECTIVE ORDER
SDAVID
C. KEESLER UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
THIS
MATTER comes before the Court upon application of the parties
for entry of a Consent Protective Order; and it appearing to
the Court for good cause shown that discovery and the trial
of this action may involve the production and disclosure of
confidential and proprietary information such that the entry
of this Consent Protective Order providing protection against
unrestricted disclosure or use is appropriate; THEREFORE, IT
IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that pursuant to Rule 26(c)
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the following
confidentiality provisions shall apply and govern in this
case:
1.
Certain information and documents to be produced by the
parties during discovery in this litigation contain
proprietary or confidential information that would cause harm
if disclosed and should be considered confidential and
protected from unreasonable disclosure pursuant to Rule 26(c)
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
2. The
information and documents to be considered as confidential
and disclosed only in accordance with the terms of this
Consent Protective Order (this "Order") shall be
all those documents or information designated by one or more
of the parties as CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with the terms
of this Order, whether such documents or information are
supplied in response to the demands or requests of either
party, formal or informal, and regardless of whether produced
or disclosed by a party or by any person or entity presently
or formerly affiliated with a party.
3. All
documents or information designated CONFIDENTIAL in
accordance with the terms of this Order shall be used solely
for purposes of prosecuting or defending this litigation and
shall not be used for any other purpose. Documents or
information, however, which are in or can be obtained from
the public domain, even if they are the same as or similar to
documents or information designated under this Order as
CONFIDENTIAL, shall not be subject to the terms of this
Order.
4. The
parties shall designate documents or information as
CONFIDENTIAL by marking documents with the legend
"CONFIDENTIAL" or by stating on the record (as in a
deposi' tion) or in writing (as in
correspondence from counsel containing such information) that
information is designated as CONFIDENTIAL. As used in this
Order, the term "Confidential Information” shall
refer to any documents or information so designated as
CONFIDENTIAL.
5. The
parties and their attorneys shall treat such Confidential
Information as confidential and shall not disclose such
information, in any form, except for purposes of this lawsuit
and then only to persons with a need to know.
6. It
is understood that none of the parties, their attorneys, nor
any person employed by them obtains any right to license or
to use Confidential Information received in this litigation
other than for purposes of this litigation.
7. Any
person or entity that is affiliated with either party that
produces Confidential Information in response to a discovery
request or subpoena in this action shall be a third party
beneficiary of this Order and may pursue all remedies
available for breach thereof. No. provision of this Order
shall be deemed to require any person or entity not a party
to this action to respond to any discovery request or
subpoena, except as may otherwise be required by law. Nothing
in this Order shall prevent or prohibit any party or
non-party from seeking such additional or further protection
as it deems necessary to protect documents or information
subject to discovery in this action.
8.
Nothing herein and no action taken under this Order shall
constitute a waiver or admission that any specific document,
material, testimony or thing: (1) is relevant and subject to
discovery; (2) is or is not confidential or proprietary
information; (3) constitutes or does not constitute
confidential records; or (4) is or is not admissible in
evidence at trial or at any hearing. The production of any
documents or information that the producing party claims to
be privileged shall be governed by the facts and applicable
law.
9. This
Order shall continue in full force and effect after the
termination of this litigation, including all appeals, and
the Court shall retain jurisdiction necessary to enforce the
terms of this Order. However, this Order shall be subject to
revocation or modification by Order of the Court, upon
written stipulation of the parties, or upon motion and
reasonable notice, including the opportunity for hearing and
presentation of evidence, should the Court so decide.
10. The
parties and their attorneys shall advise any representative
or consultant having access to Confidential Information
provided pursuant to this Order that said representatives or
consultants shall be bound by this Order. All such
consultants shall, upon conclusion ...