Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_02-cv-01788/USCOURTS-cand-3_02-cv-01788-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 410
Nature of Suit: Antitrust
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question: Anti-trust

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

Case No. C 02-1788 VRW 

SF/21556400.4

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 

People of the State of California, ex rel. Bill 

Lockyer, Attorney General, et al., 

Plaintiffs,

v.

Reliant Energy, Inc., et al., 

Defendants.

No. C 02-1788 VRW 

STIPULATION AND 

[PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER 

STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER 

STIPULATION

WHEREAS, the above-captioned case involves claims by the plaintiffs, Attorney General 

of the State of California (“the Attorney General”) and the Department of Water Resources 

(“DWR”), against the defendants, Reliant Energy, Inc., Reliant Energy Services, Inc., Reliant 

Energy Power Generation, Inc., Reliant Resources, Inc., Reliant Energy Coolwater, LLC, Reliant 

Energy Ellwood, LLC, Reliant Energy Etiwanda, LLC, Reliant Energy Mandalay, LLC, and 

Reliant Energy Ormond Beach, LLC (“the Reliant defendants”) concerning the acquisition and 

continued holding of California electric power plants; 

WHEREAS, this action will involve the production of documents by the Attorney 

General, DWR, and the Reliant defendants (collectively, “the Parties”); 

WHEREAS, this action will involve the production of documents by non-parties 

including, but not limited to, Southern California Edison Company, Pacific Gas & Electric 

Company, San Diego Gas & Electric, Duke Energy Corporation, Dynegy, Inc, NRG Energy, Inc, 

AES Corporation, The Williams Companies, Inc., and the California Independent System 

Operator Corporation; 

WHEREAS, this action will also involve production of documents previously provided 

by non-parties to the Attorney General pursuant to California Government Code Section 11180, 

et seq. where those materials are subject to disclosure pursuant to Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of 

Civil Procedure; 

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WHEREAS, it is anticipated that among the documents which will be produced by the 

non-parties and the Parties (collectively, “the Producing Parties”) will be confidential, 

proprietary, commercially sensitive, or trade secret information; 

WHEREAS, the Parties believe that the entry of an order limiting the use of genuinely 

confidential, proprietary, commercially sensitive, or trade-secret information will facilitate the 

production of documents from both Parties and non-parties; and, 

IT IS THEREFORE STIPULATED, AGREED, AND JOINTLY REQUESTED by the 

Parties, by and through their respective counsel, that in accordance with Rule 26(c) of the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a protective order should be entered pursuant to the following 

terms and provisions: 

1. This Stipulation and Protective Order (“Stipulation and Protective Order”) shall 

govern all documents, materials, depositions or other testimony, deposition exhibits, 

interrogatory responses, responses to requests for admissions, and/or other information 

(“Information”) produced by Producing Parties in connection with this case. 

2. Any Information that contains or comprises any trade secret or other confidential 

research, development or commercial information pursuant to Rule 26(c)(7) of the Federal Rules 

of Civil Procedure, and that is produced by a Producing Party in connection with this case, may 

be designated by the Producing Party as “Confidential” by marking or designating the 

Information as provided in paragraphs 3-8 of this Stipulation and Protective Order. Except as 

provided below, once Information has been designated as “Confidential” it shall not be used for 

any business, proprietary, or commercial purpose, and shall not be disclosed to anyone except 

the following: 

a. The Attorney General, including regular and temporary employees of the 

Attorney General, and employees of any firm retained to reproduce the Information for use in 

accordance with this Stipulation and Protective Order; 

b. The Parties' outside counsel of record, including regular and temporary 

employees of such counsel, and employees of any firm retained to reproduce the Information for 

use in accordance with this Stipulation and Protective Order, 

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

Case No. C 02-1788 VRW 

SF/21556400.4

c. Member of the Parties' in-house legal departments and the Parties' 

personal counsel, including regular and temporary employees of such counsel, and employees of 

any firm retained to reproduce the Information for use in accordance with this Stipulation and 

Protective Order. 

d. Experts or consultants assisting counsel for the Parties in the conduct of 

this action; 

e. The Parties (if natural persons), or officers, directors, and employees of 

the Parties (whether or not natural persons) who are assisting counsel in the conduct of this 

action; 

f. The author of the Information and anyone shown on the document as 

having received the Information in the ordinary course of business; 

g. Court reporters and other stenographic or recording personnel in 

connection with this action; 

h. Judicial or administrative employees in connection with this action; and 

i. Witnesses at a deposition or trial in this action who shall be bound by the 

provisions of this Stipulation and Protective Order. 

3. A Producing Party may designate Information as “Confidential” when the 

Producing Party's counsel in good faith believes: (1) secrecy as to the Information is in the 

public interest; (2) the Producing Party designating the Information as “Confidential” has a 

cognizable interest in the material (i.e., the material constitutes or reveals a trade secret, 

privileged information, other confidential research, development, or commercial information, or 

is otherwise protected by law from disclosure); and (3) the disclosure of the Information would 

cause serious harm. For purposes of this Stipulation and Protective Order, Information that is in 

the public domain or has been obtained by the Producing Party from non-confidential sources 

shall not be considered “Confidential.” Any Confidential Information shall be designated by the 

Producing Party by so identifying each page of the material with the word “Confidential.” Pages 

of deposition transcripts containing Confidential Information shall be identified in the same 

manner. 

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

Case No. C 02-1788 VRW 

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4. A Producing Party may designate Information as “Restricted Confidential” if the 

Producing Party believes in good faith that the Information is so commercially sensitive or 

confidential that disclosure to employees of the Parties other than those who are assisting counsel 

in the conduct of this action, even for the purposes permitted with respect to materials designated 

“Confidential,” will not provide adequate protection to the interests of the Producing Party. Any 

Restricted Confidential Information shall be designated “Restricted Confidential” by the 

Producing Party by so identifying each page of the material with the words “Restricted 

Confidential.” Each page of a deposition transcript that contains testimony designated 

“Restricted Confidential,” and/or relates to document that have been designated “Restricted 

Confidential” shall be identified “Restricted Confidential” and any testimony or exhibits so 

designated shall be bound separately from the remainder of the deposition transcript in a volume 

with a cover page identified “Restricted Confidential.” Except as provided in the next sentence, 

Information designated as “Restricted Confidential” shall not be disclosed to anyone except the 

individuals described in paragraph 2(a), (b), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i) of this Stipulation and 

Protective Order regarding “Confidential Information.” Information designated as “Restricted 

Confidential” also may be disclosed to in-house counsel who are working on this action and the 

paralegals, stenographic and clerical staff of such inside counsel who are working on this case 

and under the direction of such inside counsel.

5. A Producing Party may designate Information as “Highly Restricted” if the 

Producing Party believes in good faith that the Information is so commercially sensitive or 

confidential that disclosure to employees of the Parties, even for the purposes permitted with 

respect to materials designated “Confidential” or “Restricted Confidential” will not provide 

adequate protection to the interests of the Producing Party. Any Highly Restricted Information 

shall be designated “Highly Restricted” by the Producing Party by so identifying each page of 

the material with the words “Highly Restricted.” Each page of a deposition transcript that 

contains testimony designated “Highly Restricted” and/or relates to document that have been 

designated “Highly Restricted” shall be identified “Highly Restricted” and any testimony or 

exhibits so designated shall be bound separately from the remainder of the deposition transcript 

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

Case No. C 02-1788 VRW 

SF/21556400.4

in a volume with a cover page identified “Highly Restricted.” Information designated as “Highly 

Restricted” shall not be disclosed to anyone except the individuals described in paragraph 2(a), 

(b), (d), (f), (g), (h) and (i) of this Stipulation and Protective Order regarding “Confidential 

Information.” 

6. A Producing Party may also make available documents previously produced in 

FERC Docket Nos. EL00-95-000 and EL00-98-000. Documents previously marked in those 

proceedings as “Protected Materials” will be given the same protections as documents marked 

“Confidential” pursuant to this Protective Order. Documents in the FERC proceeding previously 

marked as “Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel” will be given the 

same protections as documents marked “Restricted Confidential” pursuant to this Protective 

Order. Further, documents marked “Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty 

Personnel” may not be provided to any person whose duties include (1) the marketing or sale of 

electric power at wholesale, (2) the purchase or sale of electric power at wholesale, (3) the direct 

supervision of any employee with such responsibilities, or (4) the provision of electricity 

marketing consulting services to entities engaged in the sale or purchase of electric power at 

wholesale (collectively, “Competitive Duties”). If any person who has reviewed documents 

subsequently is assigned to perform any Competitive Duties, with the exception of the 

Reviewing Representative's own data, such person shall have no further access to materials 

marked “Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel” (and information 

derived therefrom) and shall dispose of such materials, and shall continue to comply with the 

requirements set forth in this Protective Order. Materials marked as “Protected Materials Not 

Available to Competitive Duty Personnel” shall be returned or destroyed at the conclusion of 

these proceedings as otherwise provided for herein. 

7. Information used during or in connection with a deposition may be designated as 

“Confidential,” “Restricted Confidential,” “Highly Restricted,” or “Protected Materials Not 

Available to Competitive Duty Personnel” by any Party or Producing Party on the record during 

the deposition. 

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

Case No. C 02-1788 VRW 

SF/21556400.4

8. In designating any Information as “Confidential,” “Restricted Confidential,” 

“Highly Restricted,” or “Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel,” the 

Producing Party and its counsel are obligated to act in good faith and consistent with Rule 26 (c) 

of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Any designation of Information as “Confidential,” 

“Restricted Confidential,” “Highly Restricted,” or “Protected Materials Not Available to 

Competitive Duty Personnel” may be withdrawn by the Producing Party by providing written 

notice to the Parties. 

9. Every person described in paragraphs 2(a)-(f), and (i) who is given access to 

Confidential Information, Restricted Confidential Information, Highly Restricted Information, or 

Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel shall be provided with a copy 

of this Stipulation and Protective Order prior to receipt of the Information and advised that the 

Information is being disclosed pursuant and subject to the terms of this Stipulation and Protective 

Order and may not be disclosed or used other that in accordance with this Stipulation and 

Protective Order. After entry of this Stipulation and Protective Order, counsel shall not disclose 

Confidential Information, Restricted Confidential Information, Highly Restricted Information, or 

Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel to any person described in 

paragraph 2(a)-(f), and (i) until counsel has obtained from such person a signed written 

acknowledgement, substantially in the form of Exhibit A, that such person has received a copy of 

this Stipulation and Protective Order, will comply with its terms in all respects, and will submit 

to the jurisdiction of this Court for adjudication of any dispute about whether such person has 

complied with the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order. Persons who come into contact 

with Confidential Information, Restricted Confidential Information, Highly Restricted 

Information, or Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel for clerical or 

administrative purposes, and who do not retain copies or extracts thereof, are not required to 

execute acknowledgments. 

10. Any Party who wants to file with the Court any Information designated as 

“Confidential,” “Restricted Confidential,” “Highly Restricted,” or “Protected Materials Not 

Available to Competitive Duty Personnel” pursuant to the Stipulation and Protective Order must 

Case 3:02-cv-01788-VRW Document 172 Filed 08/01/05 Page 6 of 11
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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

Case No. C 02-1788 VRW 

SF/21556400.4

file such Information under seal pursuant to Rule 26(c)(8) of the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure.

11. Except with the prior written consent of the Producing Party or prior order of the 

Court obtained upon noticed motion, Information designated as “Confidential,” “Restricted 

Confidential,” “Highly Restricted,” or “Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty 

Personnel” shall be used solely for the purpose of litigating the above-captioned cases. 

Confidential Information, Restricted Information, Highly Restricted Information, or Protected 

Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel shall not be communicated in any 

manner, directly or indirectly, to anyone other than a person qualified to receive such 

Information under the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order. 

12. All Confidential Information, Restricted Information, Highly Restricted 

Information, and Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel shall be 

maintained by the Parties in a secure place. 

13. The Attorney General has provided notice to non-parties who have previously 

produced documents and information to the Attorney General pursuant to California Government 

Code Section 11180, et seq., that such documents and information (hereafter “investigative 

material”) produced by such non-parties may be potentially subject to discovery in this action. 

In response to subpoenas in this action, several non-parties have produced, or identified for 

production, investigative material they determine to be relevant to this action. Such non-parties 

have agreed to be considered Producing Parties and have designated their investigative materials 

produced in this action as Confidential or Restricted Confidential pursuant to the terms of the 

parties’ July 22, 2003 Stipulation and Protective Order. As discovery is ongoing, additional 

investigative materials are likely to be produced, or identified for production, by non-parties as 

being relevant to this action and may be designated as Confidential, Restricted Confidential, 

Highly Restricted, or Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel in 

accordance with the terms of this amended Stipulation and Protective Order. To the extent 

Reliant seeks discovery from the Attorney General of investigative materials not previously 

produced by a non-party, the Attorney General will provide an index of investigative materials 

Case 3:02-cv-01788-VRW Document 172 Filed 08/01/05 Page 7 of 11
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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

Case No. C 02-1788 VRW 

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potentially subject to discovery in this action to the non-party. The non-party will have 30 days 

to designate any of the identified investigative material as Confidential, Restricted Confidential, 

Highly Restricted, or Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel in 

accordance with this amended Stipulation and Protective Order, or to raise any other objections 

to production of the investigative material identified on the index. When the non-party has so 

designated the investigative material, and/or any objections to its production to Reliant have been 

resolved, the Attorney General will make available to Reliant for inspection and copying the 

investigative material identified in the index in Sacramento. 

14. Where a Producing Party has inadvertently produced a document which the 

Producing Party later claims should not have been produced because of attorney-client, work 

product or trade secret privilege, the Producing Party may request the return of any such 

document within ten days of discovering that it was inadvertently produced. A request for the 

return of the document shall identify the specific document and the basis for asserting that the 

document is subject to the attorney-client privilege, the work product privilege or the trade secret 

privilege, the basis for asserting that the production was inadvertent, and the date of discovery of 

the inadvertent production. The inadvertent production of any document which the Producing 

Party later claims should not have been produced because of the privilege will not be deemed to 

be a waiver of any privilege to which the Producing Party would have been entitled had the 

privileged document not been inadvertently produced. If a Producing Party requests the return of 

a document pursuant to this paragraph, the Parties to whom the request is made shall promptly 

return to the Requesting Party all copies of the document, unless the Parties asked to return the 

document in good faith reasonably believe that the document is not privileged. Should the Party 

contesting the privilege pursuant to this paragraph decline to return the document, the Producing 

Party seeking return of the document may seek relief from the Court. In any such proceeding, 

the Producing Party shall have the burden of showing that the document is privileged and the 

production was inadvertent. In the event that only portion of a document contains privileged 

subject matter, a Producing Party may substitute a redacted version of the document at the time 

of making the request for the return of the document. 

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

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15. A Party may object to the treatment of a document or portion of a transcript as 

“Confidential” as defined in paragraph 3 herein, the treatment of a document or portion of a 

transcript as “Restricted Confidential” as defined in paragraph 4 herein, the treatment of a 

document or portion of a transcript as “Highly Restricted” as defined in paragraph 5 herein or 

portion of a transcript as “Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel.” 

Whenever a Party objects to the treatment of a document or portion of a transcript as 

“Confidential,” “Restricted Confidential,” “Highly Restricted,” or “Protected Materials Not 

Available to Competitive Duty Personnel,” it shall, in writing, so inform the Producing Party, 

providing its reasons for such objection in writing and delivered by hand delivery, courier or 

facsimile transmission. If an agreement as to the designation has not been reached within ten 

(10) days, the Party and the Producing Party may thereafter jointly apply to the Court by motion 

for a ruling as to whether the document or transcript should be treated as “Confidential,” 

“Restricted Confidential,” “Highly Restricted,” or “Protected Materials Not Available to 

Competitive Duty Personnel.” The Producing Party bears the burden of establishing the 

appropriateness of the protection sought Until the Court enters an order, if any, changing the 

designation of any document or transcript which is the subject of the joint motion, the document 

or transcript shall be afforded “Confidential,” “Restricted Confidential,” “Highly Restricted,” or 

“Protected Materials Not Available to Competitive Duty Personnel” treatment, in accordance 

with its designation.

16. Producing or receiving materials or otherwise complying with the terms of this 

Stipulation and Protective Order shall not: 

a. Prejudice in any way the rights of any Producing Party to object to the 

production of documents it considers not subject to discovery; or 

b. Prejudice in any way the rights of any Party to object to the authenticity or 

admissibility into evidence of any document, testimony or evidence subject to this Stipulation or 

Protective Order; or 

c. Prevent any Party from seeking a further order of this Court pursuant to 

Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

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17. This Stipulation and Protective Order has no effect upon, and its scope shall not 

extend to: 

a. any Party or Producing Party's use of its own Confidential Information or 

Restricted Confidential Information; or 

b. any Party's use of Information obtained from a source other than a 

Producing Party. 

18. Within 45 days after termination and notice of termination of this litigation, 

including any appeals therefrom, the originals and all copies of Information designated as 

“Confidential,” “Restricted Confidential,” or “Highly Restricted,” shall be destroyed or turned 

over to the Producing Party or its counsel. However, each Party may keep copies of all 

pleadings and correspondence files in this action and any internal work product, memoranda, 

letters or electronic mail. 

19. The Parties agree that a violation or threatened violation of these terms shall 

constitute irreparable harm and qualify as valid grounds for seeking injunctive relief to prevent 

said violation. 

20. In the event of a proven violation of this Protective Order by any of the Parties in 

this action or others designated in paragraph 2 hereof, all Parties acknowledge that the offending 

Party or persons may be subject to sanctions determined in the discretion of the Court. 

21. This Stipulation and Protective Order shall be binding upon the Parties upon entry 

of the Order by the Court. 

/////

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Protective Order 

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22. Pursuant to General Order 45 X.A., Electronic Case Filing Signatures, I, Geoffrey 

T. Holtz, hereby attest that Mr. Damon M. Connolly concurs in the filing of this stipulation and 

proposed order. 

DATED: June 10, 2005 BILL LOCKYER, Attorney General 

 for the State of California, Plaintiff 

DAMON M. CONNOLLY 

 Supervisory Deputy Attorney General 

HARVEY I. SAFERSTEIN 

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, PC 

By: /s/ Damon M. Connolly 

 DAMON M. CONNOLLY 

 Supervisory Deputy Attorney General 

Attorneys for plaintiffs People of the State of 

California, ex rel., Bill Lockyer, Attorney General 

of the State of California, the Department of Water 

Resources, and the State of California 

DATED: June 10, 2005 RELIANT ENERGY, INC., et al., Defendants 

By: /s/ Geoffrey T. Holtz 

 GEOFFREY T. HOLTZ 

 Bingham McCutchen, L.L.P. 

Attorneys for Defendants Reliant Energy, Inc., et al.

ORDER

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: 1 August 2005

 The Honorable Vaughn R. Walker 

 United States District Court U

NITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Judge Vaughn R Walker

Case 3:02-cv-01788-VRW Document 172 Filed 08/01/05 Page 11 of 11