United States District Court, D. South Carolina, Aiken Division
CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER
MARGARET B. SEYMOUR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Whereas,
the parties to this Consent Confidentiality Order
(“parties”), have stipulated that certain
discovery material is and should be treated as confidential,
and have agreed to the terms of this order; accordingly, it
is this 14th day of June, 2019, ORDERED:
1.
Scope. All documents produced in the course of discovery, all
responses to discovery requests and all deposition testimony
and deposition exhibits and any other materials which may be
subject to discovery (hereinafter collectively
“documents”) shall be subject to this Order
concerning confidential information as set forth below.
2. Form
and Timing of Designation. Confidential documents shall be so
designated by placing or affixing the word
“CONFIDENTIAL” on the document in a manner which
will not interfere with the legibility of the document and
which will permit complete removal of the Confidential
designation. Documents shall be designated CONFIDENTIAL prior
to, or contemporaneously with, the production or disclosure
of the documents. Inadvertent or unintentional production of
documents without prior designation as confidential shall not
be deemed a waiver, in whole or in part, of the right to
designate documents as confidential as otherwise allowed by
this Order.
3.
Documents Which May be Designated Confidential. Any party may
designate documents as confidential but only after review of
the documents by an attorney[1] who has, in good faith,
determined that the documents contain information protected
from disclosure by statute, sensitive personal information,
trade secrets, or confidential research, development, or
commercial information. The certification shall be made
concurrently with the disclosure of the documents, using the
form attached hereto at Attachment A which shall be executed
subject to the standards of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure. Information or documents which are available
in the public sector may not be designated as confidential.
4.
Depositions. Portions of depositions shall be deemed
confidential only if designated as such when the deposition
is taken or within seven business days after receipt of the
transcript. Such designation shall be specific as to the
portions to be protected.
5.
Protection of Confidential Material.
a. General Protections. Documents designated CONFIDENTIAL
under this Order shall not be used or disclosed by the
parties or counsel for the parties or any other persons
identified below (¶ 5.b.) for any purposes whatsoever
other than preparing for and conducting the litigation in
which the documents were disclosed (including any appeal of
that litigation). The parties shall not disclose documents
designated as confidential to putative class members not
named as plaintiffs in putative class litigation unless and
until one or more classes have been certified.
b. Limited Third Party Disclosures. The parties and counsel
for the parties shall not disclose or permit the disclosure
of any documents designated CONFIDENTIAL under the terms of
this Order to any other person or entity except as set forth
in subparagraphs (1)-(5) below, and then only after the
person to whom disclosure is to be made has executed an
acknowledgment (in the form set forth at Attachment B
hereto), that he or she has read and understands the terms of
this Order and is bound by it. Subject to these requirements,
the following categories of persons may be allowed to review
documents which have been designated CONFIDENTIAL pursuant to
this Order:
(1) counsel and employees of counsel for the parties who have
responsibility for the preparation and trial of the lawsuit;
(2) parties and employees of a party to this Order but only
to the extent counsel shall certify that the specifically
named individual party or employee's assistance is
necessary to the conduct of the litigation in which the
information is disclosed[2];
(3) court reporters engaged for depositions and those
persons, if any, specifically engaged for the limited purpose
of making photocopies of documents;
(4) consultants, investigators, or experts (hereinafter
referred to collectively as “experts”) employed
by the parties or counsel for the parties to assist in the
preparation and trial of the lawsuit; and
(5) other persons only upon consent of the producing party or
upon order of the court and on such conditions as are agreed
to or ordered.
c. Control of Documents. Counsel for the parties shall take
reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of
documents designated as Confidential pursuant to the terms of
this order. Counsel shall maintain a record of those persons,
including employees of counsel, who have reviewed or been
given access to the documents along with the originals of the
forms signed by those persons acknowledging their obligations
under this Order.
d. Copies. All copies, duplicates, extracts, summaries or
descriptions (hereinafter referred to collectively as
“copies”), of documents designated as
Confidential under this Order or any portion of such a
document, shall be immediately affixed with the designation
“CONFIDENTIAL” if the word does not already
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