United States District Court, C.D. California, Western Division
OFFICE
OF THE CITY ATTORNEY City of Long Beach Charles Parkin, City
Attorney (SBN 159162) Amy Webber, Deputy City Attorney (SBN
132174 Dawn McIntosh, Deputy City Attorney (SBN 162173) W.
Ocean Blvd, BARON & BUDD, P.C. Scott Summy Texas Bar No.
19507500) Carla Burke Pickrel Bar No. 24012490 Celeste
Evangelisti (SBN 225232) Brett Land Texas Bar No. 24092664
Attorneys for Plaintiff City of Long Beach
MCDERMOTT, WILL & EMERY, LLP Lisa A. Gerson, NYBA #451940
Madison Avenue New York, NY Attorney for Defendants Monsanto
Company, Solutia Inc., and Pharmacia, LLC
PROTECTIVE ORDER
Honorable Alka Sagar United States Magistrate Judge
1. A.
PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
Discovery
in this action is likely to involve production of
confidential, proprietary, or private information for which
special protection from public disclosure and from use for
any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be
warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and
petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated
Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order
does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
responses to discovery and that the protection it affords
from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
information or items that are entitled to confidential
treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties
further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below,
that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them
to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule
79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the
standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission
from the court to file material under seal.
B.
GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
Plaintiff
in the above-captioned litigation has agreed to produce to
Defendants confidential documents relating to Plaintiff's
stormwater system - specifically, master plans that identify
access points to Plaintiff's storm water system.
Plaintiff asserts that the public disclosure of these
documents may present public security concerns but that such
data is nevertheless discoverable, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P.
26. As such, special protection from public disclosure and
from use for any purpose other than this lawsuit is warranted
to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery
materials, and to adequately protect information the parties
are entitled to keep confidential. Plaintiff affirms that
information will not be designated as confidential for
tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a
good faith belief that it has been maintained in a
confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why
it should not be part of the public record of this case.
2.
DEFINITIONS
2.1
Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
2.2
Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that
challenges the designation of information or items under this
Order.
2.3
“CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items:
information (regardless of how it is generated, stored or
maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified
above in the Good Cause Statement.
2.4
Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel
(as well as their support staff).
2.5
Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that
designates information or items that it produces in
disclosures or in responses to discovery as
“CONFIDENTIAL.” 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery
Material: all items or information, regardless of the
medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or
maintained (including, among other things, testimony,
transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this
matter.
2.7
Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or
experience in a matter pertinent to the litigation who has
been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert
witness or as a consultant in this Action.
2.8
House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a
party to this Action. House Counsel does not include Outside
Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
2.9
Non-Party: any natural person, partnership,
corporation, association, or other legal entity not named as
a Party to this action.
2.10
Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not
employees of a party to this Action but are retained to
represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared
in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with
a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and
includes support staff.
2.11
Party: any party to this Action, including all of
its officers, directors, employees, consultants, retained
experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support
staffs).
2.12
Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces
Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action.
2.13
Professional Vendors: persons or entities that
provide litigation support services (e.g., photocopying,
videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data
in any form or medium) and their employees and
subcontractors.
2.14
Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery
Material that is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives
Disclosure or Discovery Material from a Producing Party.
3.
SCOPE
The
protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not
only Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any
information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2)
all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected
Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal
Protected Material.
Any use
of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the
orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern ...