Free Stipulation - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:03-cv-02485-MSK-PAC

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No. 03-MK-2485 (PAC) Camille Melonakis-Kurz, et al.

Plaintiff, v. Heartland Home Finance, Inc., Defendant. ______________________________________________________________________________ STIPULATION AND ORDER PROTECTING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION ______________________________________________________________________________

Plaintiff, Camille Melonakis-Kurz, individually and on behalf of other similarly situated employees, by counsel, and Defendant Heartland Home Finance, Inc., by counsel (hereinafter collectively referred to, for purposes of this agreement, as "the parties"), stipulate to the entry of this Stipulation and Order Protecting Confidential Information (hereinafter referred to as "Stipulation and Order"), which protects from disclosure and use certain documents and information. It is stipulated, agreed, and ordered as follows: 1. The parties are conducting and intend to conduct discovery of each other. In the

course of discovery, one or more parties might be asked to disclose information and/or documents that the disclosing party regards to be confidential or to contain proprietary information. Such information includes, but is not limited to, personnel information regarding Defendant's former and current employees, financial, proprietary, and marketing information.

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The parties stipulate to the entry of this Stipulation and Order for the purpose of permitting discovery to proceed notwithstanding objections that information and/or documents sought contain what the disclosing party understands is confidential or proprietary information. 2. All documents and information produced by either party that the disclosing party

contends is confidential or proprietary information shall be designated and marked "Confidential" or "Confidential ­ Attorneys Only" and shall be subject to the provisions of this Stipulation and Order. 3. Any party may designate documents or information produced by a party or a non-

party in response to interrogatories, requests for production, subpoenas or depositions as "Confidential" or "Confidential - Attorneys Only." Such designation shall make such

information and documents subject to the provisions of this Order unless and until termination of the designation as provided in paragraph 4 below. Documents shall be clearly marked

"Confidential" or "Confidential ­ Attorneys Only." Deposition testimony shall be designated "Confidential" or "Confidential ­ Attorneys Only" before the completion of the deposition. Deposition testimony and any other discovery responses so designated shall be transcribed and/or filed separately from the remaining responses and under seal indicating the application of this Order. 4. A party receiving information designated as "Confidential" or "Confidential ­

Attorneys Only" may object to the designation. Such objection must be in writing and addressed to counsel for the party which made the designation, and must identify with reasonable particularity the document or information subject to the objection. The "Confidential" or

"Confidential ­ Attorneys Only" designation of the specified document or information will terminate 30 days after service of the written objection, and this Order will cease to apply to the -2-

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document or information, unless within the 30-day period, the designating party files a motion for a protective order as to the document or information. If such a motion is filed, the document or information will retain its designation as "Confidential" or "Confidential ­ Attorneys Only" and will be protected by this Order until the Court rules upon the motion for protective order. The Court's ruling shall thereafter control the status and use of the document or information. 5. All documents and information designated "Confidential" shall be disclosed only

to (a) the Court; (b) the lawyers for the parties, including corporate counsel; (c) paralegal assistants and clerical staff of attorneys for the parties; (d) the parties; and (e) witnesses to the facts of this case or independent experts retained by any party to this proceeding. All documents and information designated "Confidential ­ Attorneys Only" shall be disclosed only to (a) the Court; (b) the lawyers for the parties, including corporate counsel; and (c) paralegal assistants and clerical staff of attorneys for the parties. For all documents designated "Confidential" or "Confidential ­ Attorneys Only," disclosure shall be made to such persons only as necessary for the prosecution or defense of this lawsuit. Disclosure may only be made to those other than those set forth in (a) through (d) after they have been informed of and have agreed to be bound by, the terms of this Order, as verified by the signing of the attached acknowledgment (See attached Exhibit A). Designated documents and information shall not be disclosed to any person or in any manner not specified in this Order or used for any purpose other than the prosecution or defense of this lawsuit. 6. The parties shall act to preserve the confidentiality of designated documents and

information. If such documents or information are used by the parties in discovery or are filed with the Court in this lawsuit, they shall be used or filed under seal and with notation of the application of this Stipulation and Order. -3-

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7.

If a party wishes to modify this Stipulation and Order or its application to certain

documents or information, the party shall first request such modification of the other party and, if no satisfactory agreement is reached, may petition the Court for modification. Until

modification is granted by agreement or order, the terms of this Stipulation and Order will govern. Provision for use of such information at trial shall be similarly made by agreement or by pretrial order governing use and protection of the record. 8. This Stipulation and Order shall not preclude the parties from exercising any

rights or raising any objections otherwise available to them under the rules of discovery and evidence. Nothing herein shall prohibit a party from asserting that certain documents and

information are so sensitive and confidential that they deserve greater protection from disclosure than this Order mandates. 9. Upon termination by judgment or settlement of this lawsuit, the parties shall

return to counsel for the disclosing party all documents and information received under the protection of this Stipulation and Order, including all copies, prints, summaries, and other reproductions of such information in the possession of the parties and their counsel, but this shall not include any notes or documents referring to confidential information which counsel shall deem to be work-product or protected by attorney-client privilege. Counsel for the non-

disclosing party will certify in writing to counsel for the disclosing party that this Stipulation and Order has been complied with and will disclose the names of all persons to whom such documents and information were disclosed. In the alternative to returning all or part of such documents or information, the non-disclosing party may certify to the disclosing party that the unreturned documents or information have been destroyed or have been stored in a manner

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which will preserve confidentiality, which manner shall be subject to the reasonable approval of the disclosing party. 10. Should any party violate this Protective Order, that party shall pay such damages

as the Court may reasonably impose, including, but not limited to, all attorney's fees and costs associated with enforcing the Protective Order. 11. The attorneys are signing this Stipulation and Order on behalf of all of their

clients, including the named plaintiffs and all allegedly similarly situated persons. Agreed to and Respectfully submitted, __/s/ Michele Fisher_____ Donald H. Nichols Paul J. Lukas Michele R. Fisher Jill M. Novak NICHOLS KASTER & ANDERSON, PLLP 4600 IDS Center 80 South 8th Street Minneapolis, MN 55402 Telephone: (612) 256-3200 Facsimile: (612) 215-6870 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

_/s/ David J. Carr_____ David J. Carr Steven F. Pockrass Margaret D. Wielenberg ICE MILLER One American Square, Box 82001 Indianapolis, IN 46282-0200 Telephone: (317) 236-2100 Facsimile: (317) 236-2219 ___/s/ Sean Gallagher_______ Sean R. Gallagher HOGAN & HARTSON, LLP 1200 Seventeenth Street, Suite 1500 -5-

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Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: (303) 454-2415 Facsimile: (303) 899-7333 Attorneys for Defendant

SO ORDERED this _______day of _____________, 2006.

____________________________________ Judge, United States District Court District of Colorado

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Exhibit A Acknowledgment of Stipulation and Order Protecting Confidential Information

I, ___________________________________, hereby acknowledge receipt of the six page Stipulation and Order Protecting Confidential Information in effect in this case, Camille Melonakis-Kurz v. Heartland Home Finance, Inc., Cause No. 03-MK-2485 (pac). I have read, understand, and agree to be bound by, the terms of this Order. I will not disclose any information marked "Confidential" or "Confidential ­ Attorneys Only" to anyone except as permitted by this Order.

_____________________________________ Signature Printed:_______________________________

Date__________________

_______________________________________ Witness Printed:_________________________________

INDY 1656374v.1