Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_07-cv-00891/USCOURTS-caed-1_07-cv-00891-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 110
Nature of Suit: Insurance
Cause of Action: 28:1441 Petition for Removal- Contract Dispute

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 65230 STIPULATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY

Theodore W. Hoppe #138064

Roberta J. Duffy #131165

COOPER & HOPPE

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

929 L Street

Fresno, California 93721-2647

Telephone (559) 442-1650

Facsimile (559) 442-1659

Attorneys for Defendant

NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

* * * * *

BRUCE KOPITAR, an individual,

 Plaintiff,

vs.

NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE

COMPANY, and DOES 1 through 50,

inclusive,

 Defendants.

 

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CASE NUMBER: 1:07-CV-00891-OWWGSA

STIPULATION AND ORDER RE:

CONFIDENTIALITY

WHEREAS, the parties to the above-entitled action, plaintiff BRUCE KOPITAR, and

defendant NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY (COLLECTIVELY REFERRED

TO HEREIN AS THE “Parties Hereto,” desire a protective order for the purpose of protecting the

interests of each, respectively, in its/his/ own Confidential Information, as that term is defined

below, by controlling the access to and use of such Confidential Information, to the extent such

Confidential Information is otherwise required to be disclosed by lawful discovery under the

Federal Discovery Act; and

WHEREAS, the parties hereto desire that any Confidential Information as defined in this

stipulation be used solely for the purpose of conducting litigation in the above-captioned action

(the “Action”) and not for any other purpose outside the scope of litigation in the Action; and

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 65230 STIPULATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY

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WHEREAS, the parties hereto do not intend to waive (1) any claims or defenses in the

Action, (2) any privilege, or (3) any lawful objections to any form of discovery; and

WHEREAS, the parties hereto do not by this stipulation acknowledge the propriety of any

claim by any party that any information produced during the course of discovery in the Action

constitutes Confidential Information, as those terms are defined below, that the purpose of this

stipulation is to preserve any claim by any party that information produced during discovery

constitutes Confidential Information;

THEREFORE, it is stipulated and agreed by and among the parties hereto, through their

respective counsels of record that the following protective order (the “Agreement”) shall govern

discovery in the Action once such stipulation is signed by all the parties.

1. “Confidential Information” shall mean (1) trade secret information as defined in

California Civil Code section 3426.1, (2) any information subject to the right to

privacy of any individual or entity, and/or (3) any other competitively sensitive,

confidential, proprietary, financial and/or commercial information, and designated

as such by any party as provided herein.

2. Confidential Information in written or documentary form shall be designated as

confidential material by the party seeking protection, prior to such information

being served on, disclosed or delivered to the other parties, or being made available

for inspection and copying, by stamping or marking each page with the word

“Confidential.”

3. Confidential Information may be given, shown, disclosed, made available, or

communicated only to:

a. Attorneys of record for the parties to the Action (referred to herein as the

“Attorneys”), including the paralegal, stenographic and clerical employees

associated with the Attorneys.

b. The parties to the Action, including, in the case of corporate parties, their

officers, directors, agents, representatives and other employees.

c. The Court and the Court’s personnel.

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 65230 STIPULATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY

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d. Such other persons as hereafter may be designated by written stipulation of

all parties to the Action filed with the Court, by further order of the Court

on motion by any party to the Action, or by subpoena for which no timely

protective order is obtained pursuant to paragraph 14 below.

e. Outside consultants or experts (specifically excluding anyone who is an

officer, director, employee, representative, agent or otherwise associated

with or related to the party), and their support personnel, employed by a

party or counsel to a party to assist counsel in the preparation and trial of

one or more of the Action. Each such consultant or expert shall execute a

Confidentiality Agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit “A.” The

form attached hereto as Exhibit “A” shall be retained by the counsel or

party in propria persona who caused the Confidentiality Agreement to be

signed, and shall be available for inspection by other counsel or parties in

propria persona upon good cause shown.

f. Any other person(s) whose relevant testimony during these proceedings is

obtained or sought, but only if, before disclosure, such person(s) executes

a Confidentiality Agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit “A”

which the witness or the witness counsel shall make available to any party

on request and which shall be retained by the counsel or party in propria

persona who caused the Confidentiality Agreement to be signed, and shall

be available for inspection by other counsel or parties in propria persona

upon good cause shown.

4. Confidential Information is not limited to: (1) the financial information of any

party, and (2) any information concerning a party’s operations and strategies. Each

party agrees that if it designates information as Confidential Information and any

other party feels that such designation is not warranted or justified as to all or any

part of the particular information, the designating party shall confer in good faith,

in person or by telephone, with the objecting party to reconsider the designation.

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 65230 STIPULATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY

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In the event that the parties are unable to resolve a dispute, the party challenging

the designation may, at any time after conferring in good faith with the designating

party, file a noticed motion with the Court. In the event of any such Motion, the

Court may award sanctionsin accord with the Federal DiscoveryAct as applicable

to any other discovery motion.

5. Any party seeking to designate any portions of a deposition as Confidential may

do so at the deposition, provided that the deposition testimony refers to specific

Confidential information. Any party may also have twenty-one (21) days after

counsel for the deponent receives a Notice to Deponent to Review and Approve the

Record of Oral Deposition (hereafter, a “Notice to Review”) from the deposition

officer to designate any portions of a deposition referring to Confidential

information as Confidential. If any party disagrees with the designation of portions

of a deposition as Confidential Information, the party shall assert its objection

within fourteen (14) days after designation of the portions of the deposition as

confidential. The parties will then attempt to resolve their dispute informally. If

no agreement is reached among the parties within ten (10) days after a party asserts

its objection(s) to the designation of confidential testimony, the objecting party

may file a motion for an order that the documents or testimony are not treated as

Confidential Information. The Parties stipulate that such motion may be heard on

reasonably shortened notice. Blanket designations of entire depositions as being

Confidential Information shall not be permitted by this Stipulation, unless such

depositions contain entirely Confidential Information. 

6. Except as provided in subparagraphs 3, or except pursuant to stipulation among

counsel for all parties and all parties in the Action filed with the Court, counsel of

record retained by the parties shall, at all times, have and maintain physical custody

and control over all Confidential Information and counsel shall make diligent

efforts to insure that such Confidential Information does not leave their custody

and is not disclosed orally. Failure to make diligent efforts to do so shall be

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 65230 STIPULATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY

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grounds for imposition of sanctions at the discretion of the Court. 

7. With respect to testimony elicited during any deposition or hearing before trial,

whenever counsel for any party deems that any question orline of questioning calls

for or will result in the disclosure of information which should be treated as

Confidential Information, said counsel may designate on the record prior to such

disclosure that such testimony is Confidential Information Any party, including

a party in attendance at a hearing before trial where Confidential Information is

allegedly disclosed, may – within ten (10) days of the conclusion of the hearing –

notify the other parties and the court reporter that it deems a portion (or portions)

of the transcript as Confidential Information.

8. Any portion of a deposition or other transcript that has been designated as

including Confidential Information shall be so marked, shall be separately bound

and appropriately marked pursuant to this Agreement, and shall be subject to the

provisions of this Agreement pertaining to Confidential Information. If any portion

of a transcript or any exhibit to a transcript that has been designated as Confidential

Information is filed with the Court, it shall be filed in an envelope marked as set

forth in paragraph 13 hereof. Such portions of the transcript shall be treated by the

Court in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement relating to Confidential

Information depending on the particular designation of those portions of the

transcript.

9. No person, firm, corporation or other entity subject to this Agreement, shall use

Confidential Information in any manner whatsoever except for the prosecution,

defense, settlement or appeal of the Action. Nor shall any person, firm, corporation

or other entity subject to this Protective Order give, show, disclose, make available

or communicate Confidential Information to anyperson, firm, corporation or other

entity not expressly authorized by this Agreement to receive such Confidential

Information. The Attorneys for the parties to the Action shall make the terms of

this Agreement known to all other persons bound by this Agreement and, together

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 65230 STIPULATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY

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with their clients, are responsible to this Court for compliance with this Agreement.

Nothing in this agreement shall preclude any party from utilizing information that

it presently possesses or which comes into its possession outside of the discovery

process in any other Action. Any such use ofsuch information shall not constitute

a violation of this agreement. Each party retains the right to pursue any claim or

defense it may have against any other party arising from such use of such

information.

10. Any party or counsel for a party who, in the course of a deposition, hearing, or

other proceeding, seeks to introduce, use or otherwise refer to a document or thing

that has previously been designated Confidential Information, shall advise counsel

present (and, if relevant, the Court) immediately in advance of such intended

introduction, use or reference, and, unless the Court orders otherwise, shall treat

the document or thing in accordance with the provisions ofthis Agreement relating

to Confidential Information, depending on the designation of such document or

thing.

11. FRCP 26(c) and any other applicable Federal Rule shall govern the filing and

sealing of allConfidential Information, including (but not limited to) any pleadings

or memoranda or other documents purporting to reproduce, summarize or

paraphrase Confidential Information– with theCourt. Any party that intends to file

(“the filing party”) Confidential Information designated by another party (“the

designating party”) shall comply with FRCP 26(c), and shall have that document

and/or testimony separately filed in an envelope identifying it as Confidential

Information pursuant to the Protective Order. There is no need for a party to file

a motion seeking that the information be filed under seal prior to anymotions being

filed. 

12. In the event that a party is served with a subpoena by any person, firm, corporation,

or other entity who is not a party to this Stipulation, or a signatory to Exhibit A,

which seeks to compel a production of Confidential Information, the party upon

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 65230 STIPULATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY

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whom the subpoena is served shall give written notice of the subpoena to the party

who has asserted the Confidential Information within at least three days of receipt

(or, if less than seven (7) calendar days are set for the production, notice shall be

given immediately after service of the subpoena, but in no event after the date for

production). The party who has initially designated the Confidential Information

shall then have the responsibility to obtain a court order to quash the subject

subpoena and/or obtain such other relief as will protect the confidential nature of

the documents. Should such a motion be filed before the requested production date

or should a timely motion be made, the party upon whom the subpoena is served

shall not deliver the subject documents until after such time as the court rules on

the subject motions. Should an order be obtained, the party upon whom the

subpoena is served shall comply with the order. Should no motion be filed before

the scheduled production date, the party upon whom the subpoena is served may

comply with the subpoena.

13. As used herein, the term “Third Party” shall mean any person or entity that (1) is

not a party to any of the Action and (2) is served with a deposition subpoena by any

party to the Action. A Third Party shall be permitted to designate any documents

produced pursuant to a deposition subpoena served in one or more of the Action

as Confidential Information, provided however that such Third Party executes the

Third Party Agreement form attached hereto as Exhibit B. The form attached

hereto as Exhibit “B” shall be retained by the counsel or party who caused the

deposition subpoena at issue to be served on the Third Party, and shall be available

for inspection by other counsel or parties upon good cause shown. Nothing herein

shall be deemed to prohibit a party to the Action from designating documents

produced by a Third Party as Confidential Information.

 14. This Agreement and the procedures set forth herein shall not affect the rights of the

parties to object to discovery on any grounds, including trade secret grounds, nor

shall it relieve a party of the necessity of proper response or objection to discovery

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 65230 STIPULATION REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY

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requests, nor shall it preclude any party from seeking further relief or protective

orders from the Court as may be appropriate under the Federal Rules of Court, or

any other applicable statute, rule or authority.

 15. This Agreement shall be without prejudice to the right of the parties (a) to bring

before the Court at any time the question of whether any particular document or

information constitutes Confidential Information, or (b) to present a motion to the

Court for a separate or modified protective order as to any particular document or

information, including restrictions differing from those as specified herein. This

Agreement shall not be deemed to prejudice the parties in any way in any future

application or modification of this Agreement. The parties agree to seek the

resolution of any disputes regarding the propriety of any designation of information

as Confidential Information informally. If the parties and their counsel through the

meet and confer process have been unable to arrive at a resolution, the parties shall

promptly seek the Court’s resolution by motion or telephone conference call with

the Court, if permitted. 

 16. Within thirty (30) days after receiving notice of the Resolution of the last of the

Action to be resolved (the term “Resolution” herein shall mean the dismissal, with

or without prejudice, of the entirety of the Action, the last day for the filing of a

notice of appeal of the final decision in any action subject to this Stipulation, with

no such notice of appeal having been filed, or thirty (30) days after the final

determination of any appeal and remand (if any) thereafter, whichever is later) all

Confidential Information, and all documents and other things containing or

reflecting Confidential Information (including, without limitation, any copies,

extracts or summaries thereof and all copies, including those contained in pleading

clips, depositions, etc.) shall, at the discretion of the party possessing the

Confidential Information, be destroyed or delivered to counsel for the party or

parties (including Third Parties) from whom said Confidential Information was

obtained. However, documentation which consists of an attorney’s work product

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need not be destroyed or returned, but is subject to this Agreement and cannot be

used for any purpose outside the Action in the future or disseminated in any

fashion to any other person or entity. Counsel for the parties involved in the last

of the Action to be resolved shall give notice of the Resolution to counsel for all

parties and the parties to this Stipulation within fifteen (15) days of the Resolution

of the Action.

17. The Party designating information as Confidential Information shall not be

restricted in its disclosure of such information. Notwithstanding any other

provision of this Agreement to the contrary, the confidentiality obligations of this

Agreement shall not apply or shall cease to apply to any information that:

(a) at the time of disclosure hereunder, was already lawfully in the possession

of the receiving Party and was not acquired through discovery or under any

obligation of confidentiality; or

 (b) at the time of disclosure hereunder was or subsequently becomes, through

no fault of the receiving Party, a public document or publicly available.

18. Inadvertent production of any document or information not designated as

Confidential Information will not be deemed to waive a later claim as to its

confidential nature or stop the producing Party from designating said document or

information as Confidential Information at a later date. Disclosure of said

document or information by any Party prior to such later designation, however,

shall not be deemed a violation of the provisions of this Stipulation.

19. This Agreement is intended to regulate the handling of Confidential Information

during the entirety of the litigation in the Action through appeal, and thereafter, and

shall remain in full force and effect until modified, superseded or terminated on the

record by agreement of all the parties to the Action or by order of the Court. This

Agreement shall become effective among the parties when executed, with or

without the Court’s entry of same. The Court shall retain jurisdiction in the

Action, including after the Resolution of the Action, to enforce the provisions of

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this Agreement and to make such amendments, modifications and additions to this

Protective Order as the Court may from time to time deem appropriate.

20. This Stipulation may be executed in counterparts.

Dated: October 25, 2007

COOPER & HOPPE

By: /s/ Theodore W. Hoppe 

THEODORE W. HOPPE

Attorney for Defendant NATIONWIDE

MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

Dated: October 26, 2007

WILKINS, DROSHAEN & CZESHINSKI LLP. 

By: /s/ Alyson A. Berg 

ALYSON A. BERG

JAMES H. WILKINS

Attorneys for Plaintiff BRUCE KOPITAR

ORDER

In addition, if any party seeks to have documents sealed with the Court said

party (ies) must comply with the procedure set forth in Local Rule 39-141.

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: November 5, 2007 /s/ Gary S. Austin 

60kij UNI 8 TED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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