Butkowski v. Bluestem Brands, Inc.

          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 ...