United States District Court, D. Nevada
ARIEL
E. STERN, ESQ. REX D. GARNER, Attorneys for Defendant Navient
Solutions, LLC f/k/a Navient Solutions, Inc.
LAW
OFFICES OF KEVIN L. AKERMAN LLP HERNANDEZ KEVIN L. HERNANDEZ
Attorneys for Plaintiff Charmaine Butkowski
BALLARD SPAHR LLP JOEL E. TASCA KYLE A. EWING Attorneys for
Defendant Bluestem Brands, Inc. d/b/a Fingerhut
STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER
Subject
to the approval of the Court, Plaintiff Charmaine Butkowski
(“Plaintiff”), Defendant Navient Solutions, LLC
f/k/a Navient Solutions, Inc. (“NSL”), and
Defendant Bluestem Brands, Inc. d/b/a Fingerhut
(“Bluestem”) (collectively, the
“Parties”) stipulate to the following Protective
Order.
The
Court, being advised in the premises, finds there is a
potentially significant number of documents containing the
nonpublic personal information of Plaintiff and the
confidential and proprietary information of NSL and Bluestem
to be exchanged in discovery in this case, such that
document-by-document review of discovery materials will be
impracticable if the case is to proceed in an orderly,
timely, and efficient manner.
The
Court further finds the Parties' interests in protecting
the non-public personal information of Plaintiff, as well as
confidential and commercially sensitive information of NSL
and Bluestem pertaining to Plaintiff's account(s) from
unnecessary disclosure, and the Parties' desire and the
benefit to the Court of an orderly and expeditious resolution
of this matter on its merits, outweigh any societal interest
in disclosure of such materials to non-parties. Thus, after
due consideration by the Court and for good cause shown, the
Court finds that it is appropriate to expedite the flow of
discovery material, promote the prompt resolution of disputes
over confidentiality, and to facilitate the preservation of
material arguably worthy of protection. Accordingly, it is,
ORDERED and ADJUDGED as follows:
1.
"CONFIDENTIAL" Documents, Materials, and
Information. This Order shall govern all documents
produced or exchanged, all written answers, deposition
answers, and other responses to discovery, and all
communications of any kind made by Plaintiff, Plaintiff's
attorneys, consultants, agents, and representatives;
Defendants NSL and Bluestem, their attorneys, consultants,
agents, employees, and representatives; and other third
parties. "CONFIDENTIAL" materials shall be the
documents or information respectively designated under this
Order and any notes, work papers, or other documents
respectively containing "CONFIDENTIAL" materials
derived from such items. Plaintiff, NSL, Bluestem, or any
third party may identify any documents or information,
including but not limited to discovery materials produced by
that party, initial disclosures, documents and things,
answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for
production, responses to requests for admission, deposition
exhibits, and all or portions of deposition or hearing
transcripts, as "CONFIDENTIAL" and designate the
documents or information as such by affixing thereto a legend
of "CONFIDENTIAL" or by designating through another
method set forth in this Order or agreed to by the parties.
Plaintiff,
NSL, Bluestem, or any third party may designate documents or
information as "CONFIDENTIAL" to the extent that
the party, through counsel, believes "good cause"
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) exists to
categorize the material as confidential because the material
contains or includes: (1) confidential
business or technical information; (2) trade
secrets; (3) proprietary business methods or
practices; (4) any other competitively
sensitive confidential information; (5)
personal information, including personal financial
information about customers or applicants, any party to this
lawsuit, or an employee of any party to this lawsuit;
(6) information regarding any
individual's banking or lending relationships, including,
without limitation, information regarding any
individual's mortgage or credit history and/or consumer
information not otherwise available to the public; and
(7) any other categories that are later
agreed to in writing by the parties or ordered by the Court.
2.
Designation of "CONFIDENTIAL" Material.
Documents shall be designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" by
stamping them with the word "CONFIDENTIAL" in a
manner which will not interfere with their legibility. This
designation shall be used only in a reasonable fashion and
upon a good faith determination by counsel that a particular
document contains non-public information and falls within one
of the categories enumerated in Paragraph 1. This designation
shall ordinarily be made before or at the same time as the
production or disclosure of the material. Because materials
described in Paragraph 1 shall be covered by this Order,
there shall be no waiver of confidentiality if such materials
are inadvertently produced without being stamped
"CONFIDENTIAL." Materials already produced in
discovery in this litigation may be designated as
"CONFIDENTIAL" upon written notice (without
stamping), within fourteen (14) days of the entry of this
Order, from the party asserting the confidentiality
designation to all counsel of record to whom such documents
have been produced by notifying the other party of the
identity of the documents or information to be so designated.
Any of the parties to this action can remove at any time its
designation of "CONFIDENTIAL" from any of the
documents or information it has previously so designated.
3.
Treatment of "CONFIDENTIAL" Information.
Unless otherwise ordered by the Court,
"CONFIDENTIAL" material, and any quotes, summaries,
charts, or notes made therefrom, and any facts or information
contained therein or derived therefrom, shall be held in
confidence and used by the parties to whom the documents and
information are produced solely for the purpose of this case.
The parties agree to take reasonable steps to maintain the
confidentiality of the documents, information, and testimony
relating thereto. During the pendency of this litigation,
"CONFIDENTIAL" material, including all copies
thereof, shall be retained solely in the custody of the
parties' attorneys and shall not be placed in the
possession of or disclosed to any other person, except as set
forth in this Order, as otherwise agreed upon by the parties,
or upon leave of Court. Each person to whom
"CONFIDENTIAL" material is disclosed pursuant to
this Order is hereby prohibited from exploiting in any way
such documents or information for his, her or its own
benefit, or from using such information for any purpose or in
any manner not connected with the prosecution or defense of
this case.
4.
"Disclosure." As used herein,
"disclosure" or to "disclose" shall mean
to divulge, reveal, describe, summarize, paraphrase, quote,
transmit, or otherwise communicate "CONFIDENTIAL"
material.
5.
Permissible Disclosure of "CONFIDENTIAL"
Material. Except by order of this Court, or otherwise as
required by law, material designated as
"CONFIDENTIAL" (and any notes or documents that
reflect or refer to such documents and information) shall not
be disclosed to any person other than:
(a) A party hereto;
(b) Counsel employed by a party, or an employee of such
counsel, to whom it is necessary that the materials be shown
or the ...