Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_04-cv-00109/USCOURTS-caed-2_04-cv-00109-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 365
Nature of Suit: Personal Injury - Product Liability
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-Personal Injury

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

ROBERT KURT SCHERER, ) 

) 

Plaintiff, ) 

) Case No. CIV.S. -04-0109 DFL GGH 

v. ) 

) 

HOME DEPOT USA, INC., ) 

KRAUSE, INC., and DOES 1-100, ) 

) 

Defendants. ) 

CONFIDENTIALITY STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER

The discovery sought by the parties in the above-styled case is likely to involve production 

of documents and things containing business, competitive, proprietary, trade secret or other 

information of a sensitive nature about the party (or of another person which information the 

party is under a duty to maintain in confidence), hereafter referred to as “Confidential 

Information,” and witness testimony containing Confidential Information. Accordingly, the 

parties having agreed to enter into this Confidentiality Stipulation and Protective Order (“the 

Order”) to govern the production of documents and testimony that contains Confidential 

Information, and for good cause shown, the Court hereby ORDERS as follows: 

Designation of Confidential Information

1. Designation of Material. Documents and other things claimed to be or to contain 

Confidential Information shall, prior to production, be marked by the producing party as 

“Confidential.” Placement of the “Confidential” designation on each protected page or on the 

initial page of a protected document when it is produced shall constitute notice and shall designate 

Case 2:04-cv-00109-DFL-GGH Document 48 Filed 06/14/05 Page 1 of 7
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the document as Confidential material. Copies, extracts, summaries, notes, and other derivatives 

of Confidential material also shall be deemed Confidential material and shall be subject to the 

provisions of this Order. 

2. Subsequent Designation. Documents and/or materials produced in the litigation 

that are not identified as Confidential Information when they were initially produced may within a 

reasonable time thereafter be designated as Confidential by the producing party, or by the party or 

parties receiving the production, or by a person, by providing written notice to counsel for all 

other parties and to any person who may be involved. Each party or person who receives such 

written notice shall endeavor to retrieve any Confidential Information that may have been 

disseminated, shall affix a “Confidential” designation to it, and shall thereafter distribute it only as 

allowed by this Order. No distribution prior to the receipt of such written notice shall be deemed 

a violation of this Order. 

3. Designation of Depositions. Depositions or portions thereof upon oral or written 

questions may be classified as Confidential Information either by an examining party's attorney or 

by an attorney defending or attending the deposition. A party claiming that a deposition or any 

portion thereof is Confidential Information shall give notice of such claim to the other affected 

parties and persons either prior to or during the deposition, or within twenty-eight (28) days after 

receipt of the deposition transcript, and the testimony taken and the transcript of such deposition 

or portion thereof shall be designated as Confidential. 

4. Modification of Designation. The designation of Confidential Information by the 

producing party shall not be determinative and may be modified or eliminated at any time in one 

of two ways, as explained below. 

Deleted: 

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(a) The producing party may agree in writing to downgrade or eliminate the 

Confidential designation concerning any material it produced. 

(b) If the parties cannot agree as to the designation of any particular information 

or material after good faith discussion, the receiving party may move the Court 

to downgrade or eliminate the “Confidential” designation. The burden of 

proving that the information has been properly designated as protected shall be 

on the party who made the original designation. 

Access to Confidential Information

5. General Access. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein or ordered by the 

Court, Confidential Information may be revealed only as follows: 

(a) To outside counsel for a party hereto (and secretaries, paralegals, and other 

staff employed in the offices of such outside counsel who are working on the 

litigation), provided that outside counsel who are not of record must first sign 

and deliver to counsel of record for each other party or parties a letter in the 

form of Exhibit A hereto. 

(b) To the parties after they have been given a copy of this Confidentiality 

Stipulation by their outside counsel and signed a letter in the form of Exhibit A. 

(c) To court reporters transcribing a deposition, hearing, or other proceeding in 

this matter who sign Exhibit A attached hereto (excluding court-appointed 

court reporters). 

(d) To independent experts and independent consultants (meaning a person who is 

not an employee, officer, director, or owner in any capacity of a party and who 

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is retained by a party or a party’s outside counsel in good faith for the purpose 

of assisting in this litigation) who sign Exhibit A attached hereto. 

Nothing herein shall prevent the producing party from showing the documents or 

information to an employee of that party. 

6. No Copies/Notes. Except for internal use by outside counsel for the parties hereto, 

for Court and deposition copies, and for such use as is expressly permitted under the terms 

hereof, no person granted access to Confidential Information shall make copies, reproductions, 

transcripts, or facsimiles of the same or any portion thereof or shall take notes or otherwise 

summarize the contents of such Confidential Information. 

7. Disputes over Access. If a dispute arises as to whether a particular person should 

be granted access to Confidential Information, the party seeking disclosure may move the Court 

to permit the disclosure and must obtain an order of the Court before disclosing the information. 

Use of Confidential Information

8. Use in this Litigation Only. Confidential Information may be used only for 

purposes of this litigation. Each person to whom the disclosure of any Confidential Information is 

made shall not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, or disseminate, or attempt to use, disclose, or 

disseminate, any of the same except as expressly provided herein. 

9. Use at Depositions. If Confidential Information is to be discussed or disclosed 

during a deposition, the producing party shall have the right to exclude from attendance at the 

deposition, during the time the Confidential Information is to be discussed, any person not entitled 

under this Order to receive the Confidential Information. 

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10. Use at Court Hearings and Trial. Subject to the Federal [or state] Rules of 

Evidence, Confidential Information may be offered into evidence at trial or at any hearing or oral 

argument, provided that the proponent of the evidence containing Confidential Information gives 

reasonable advance notice to the Court and counsel for the producing or designating party. Any 

party may move the Court for an order that the evidence be received in camera or under other 

conditions to prevent unnecessary disclosure. If presented at trial, the status of evidence as 

Confidential Information shall not be disclosed to the finder of fact. 

11. Filing Under Seal. Each document filed with the Court that contains any 

Confidential Information shall be filed with a motion to seal specifically identifying which portions 

of the document contain confidential information and why the information should be kept under 

seal. A redacted version of the document, omitting confidential information, shall be filed in the 

public record at the same time Copies of such documents served on counsel for other parties 

shall be marked as Confidential. 

12. Reasonable Precautions. Counsel for each party shall take all reasonable 

precautions to prevent unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of any Confidential Information. 

13. Return After Litigation. Within thirty (30) days of the final termination of this 

litigation by judgment, appeal, settlement, or otherwise, or sooner if so ordered by the Court, 

counsel for each party shall return to counsel for the party who furnished the same all items 

constituting, containing, or reflecting the other party's Confidential Information. 

Other Provisions

14. Not an Admission. Nothing in this Order shall constitute an admission by the party 

that information designated as Confidential is actually Confidential Information. Furthermore, 

Deleted: in a sealed envelope or other 

appropriate sealed container on which shall 

be set forth the title and number of this 

action, a general description or title of the 

contents of the envelope, and a statement 

that the contents are Confidential and 

subject to a Protective Order and that the 

envelope is not to be opened nor the 

contents thereof revealed except to counsel 

of record in the litigation or court 

personnel, or pursuant to order of the 

Court. 

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nothing contained herein shall preclude the parties or a person from raising any available 

objection, or seeking any available protection with respect to any Confidential Information, 

including but not limited to the grounds of admissibility of evidence, materiality, trial preparation 

materials and privilege. 

15. Miscellaneous. This Order shall apply to the production of all materials whether 

or not such materials are informally produced or produced in response to a formal discovery 

request or a Court order in this litigation. This Order may be used to protect the confidentiality of 

the residential addresses and social security numbers of the parties and of any and all current or 

former employees of either of the parties or their affiliates. 

The parties having stipulated and agreed hereto, and the court having amended the 

stipulation to conform to case law preserving a public right of access to court files, it is SO 

ORDERED, this 10 day of ____June____________, 2005. 

____/s/ David F. Levi_____________________ 

Judge, Dist. Court, Eastern District of California 

So stipulated and agreed: 

________/s/______________ ________/s/___________________ 

ELLEN DOVE 

Counsel for Plaintiff 

PAUL CALEO 

Burnham Brown 

Counsel for Home Depot USA, Inc. 

_________/s/_____________ 

RONALD HAVEN 

Shepard & Haven 

Counsel for Krause, Inc. 

Deleted: ______

Deleted: ¶

¶

Case 2:04-cv-00109-DFL-GGH Document 48 Filed 06/14/05 Page 6 of 7
ROBERT KURT SCHERER, ) 

) 

Plaintiff, ) 

) Case No. CIV.S. -04-0109 DFL GGH 

v. ) 

) 

HOME DEPOT USA, INC., ) 

KRAUSE, INC., and DOES 1-100 ) 

) 

Defendants. ) 

EXHIBIT A 

AGREEMENT CONCERNING INFORMATION COVERED BY 

CONFIDENTIALITY STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER 

I have been designated by ____________ as a person who may have access 

to Confidential Information as that term is defined in the Confidentiality Stipulation and Protective 

Order (the “Order”) entered in the above-entitled case. 

Having read the Order, I agree to comply fully with it and to be bound by its terms with 

respect to all documents and information designated as “Confidential” under the Order. I agree 

not to copy any documents or information that have been designated as “Confidential” and 

disclosed to me and not to disclose such documents or information to any person or entity not 

authorized under the Order to view Confidential Information. 

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the 

foregoing is true and correct. Executed this _______ day of ___________________, 2005. 

____________________________________ 

 Name 

 ____________________________________ 

 Address 

 ____________________________________ 

 Employer 

 ____________________________________ 

 Job Title 

696030 

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