Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-arwd-6_24-cv-06090/USCOURTS-arwd-6_24-cv-06090-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Daniel Chavez
Plaintiff
Summit Utilities Arkansas, Inc.
Defendant

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS

HOT SPRINGS DIVISION

DANIEL CHAVEZ PLAINTIFF

v. Case No. 6:24-cv-06090 

SUMMIT UTILITIES

ARKANSAS, INC. DEFENDANT

ORDER

Before the Court is a Joint Motion for Protective Order filed by Defendant Summit Utilities 

Arkansas, Inc and Plaintiff Daniel Chavez. (ECF No. 14). The parties have agreed to protect 

against the disclosure of certain information to certain persons who are not parties to this case 

through the proposed order. (ECF No. 14). Upon consideration, the Court finds that the instant 

motion (ECF No. 14) should be and hereby is GRANTED. However, the Court has changed a 

portion of section 4.4 in the Protective Order to reflect that the parties must seek leave from the 

Court to file under seal. The Protective Order is as follows: 

1. PURPOSE & LIMITATIONS.

Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or 

private information for which special protection may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby 

stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. 

The Order does not confer blanket protection on all disclosures or responses to discovery. 

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, and it does 

not presumptively entitle parties to file confidential information under seal. 

2. “CONFIDENTIAL” AND “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” INFORMATION. 

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2.1 “Confidential” Information. As used in this Order, “Confidential” information is 

defined as information that the producing party designates in good faith as having been previously 

maintained in a confidential manner and should be protected from disclosure and use outside the 

litigation because its disclosure and use are restricted by statute or could potentially cause harm to 

the interests of the disclosing party or nonparties. 

“Confidential” means information (regardless of how generated, stored, or maintained) that 

has not been made public or is not otherwise available or accessible in the public domain and that 

concerns or relates to the confidential or proprietary information of either party or any third parties. 

Further, “Confidential” material is information for which disclosure is likely to have the effect of 

causing harm to either party, a person from whom the information was obtained, or the parties’ or 

third-parties’ privacy. “Confidential” information also includes private information pertaining to 

employees other than Plaintiff. 

Parties may designate information that has previously been produced, and not otherwise 

designated prior to entry of this Order, provided the designation information fits the scope of this 

Order. 

2.2 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” Information. As used in this Order, “Attorney’s Eyes 

Only” information shall include extraordinarily sensitive confidential, proprietary, trade secret, 

and/or private information the disclosure of which would create a potential risk of substantial 

injury to the producing party that cannot be prevented by less restrictive means. 

3. SCOPE

The protections conferred by this agreement cover not only Confidential or Attorneys’ 

Eyes Only material (as defined in Section 2), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 

Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations 

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of Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 

presentations by parties or their counsel that might reveal Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only 

material. However, the protections conferred by this agreement do not cover information that is in 

the public domain or becomes part of the public domain through trial or otherwise. 

4. ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONFIDENTIAL AND ATTORNEYS’ EYES 

ONLY MATERIAL.

4.1 Basic Principles. A receiving party may use Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only 

material that is disclosed or produced by another party or by a non-party in connection with this 

case only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Confidential or 

Attorneys’ Eyes Only material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 

conditions described in this agreement. 

4.2 Disclosure of “Confidential” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the 

court or permitted in writing by the designating party, a receiving party may disclose any 

confidential material only to:

(a) the receiving party’s counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of 

counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation; 

(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including in house counsel) of the receiving 

party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, unless the parties agree 

that a particular document or material produced is for Attorneys’ Eyes Only and is so 

designated; 

(c) experts and consultants to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 

litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 

(Exhibit A); 

(d) the court, court personnel, and court reporters and their staff; 

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(e) copy or imaging services retained by counsel to assist in the duplication of 

confidential material, provided that counsel for the party retaining the copy or imaging 

service instructs the service not to disclose any confidential material to third parties and to 

immediately return all originals and copies of any Confidential material;

(f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably 

necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 

(Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the designating party or ordered by the court. Pages

of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Confidential 

material must be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 

except as permitted under this agreement. However, documents or materials designated for 

Attorneys’ Eyes Only shall not be disclosed without agreement of the parties or order of 

the Court; 

(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or 

other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; and 

(h) mediators engaged by the parties. 

4.3 Disclosure of “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 

ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the designating party, a receiving party may disclose 

Attorneys’ Eyes Only material only to the persons identified in paragraphs (a), (c), (d), (e), (g), 

and (h) above. 

4.4 Filing Confidential or Attorney’s Eyes Only Material. If a party seeks to file any 

document or material containing Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only information, the party shall 

file the document under seal. To the extent such document containing Confidential or Attorneys’ 

Eyes Only information is capable of redaction, the filing party shall file a redacted version of the 

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document on the public docket, with the unredacted version filed under seal. The redacted version 

of any filing containing Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only information may include, when 

necessary, slip pages appropriately labeled “UNDER SEAL” to indicate the exhibits or other 

materials that have been omitted in their entirety from the public filing. THE PARTIES MUST 

REQUEST LEAVE FROM THE COURT TO FILE UNDER SEAL. However, in no event 

shall an entire motion or brief be filed under seal without a corresponding redacted version of the 

motion or brief also filed on the public docket, unless prior leave of Court is requested and granted. 

5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each party 

or non-party that designates information or items for protection under this agreement must take 

care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 

standards. The designating party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 

documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify, so that other portions of the 

material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 

unjustifiably within the ambit of this agreement.

5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. The producing party may designate 

documents as containing Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only information and therefore subject 

to protection under this Order by marking or placing the words “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

“CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” on the document and on all copies in a 

manner that will not interfere with the legibility of the document. The designation will be applied 

prior to or at the time the documents are produced or disclosed. By marking a designated document 

as Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only, the designating attorney or party appearing pro se thereby 

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certifies that the document contains Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only information as defined 

in this Order. 

Deposition testimony will be deemed Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only if designated 

as such when the deposition is taken or within fourteen days after receipt of the deposition 

transcript. Such designation must be specific as to the portions of the transcript and/or any exhibits 

to be protected. There shall be no need to re-designate deposition exhibits which have previously 

been designated as Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only. 

5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 

designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the designating party’s 

right to secure protection under this agreement for such material. Upon timely correction of a 

designation, the receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is treated 

in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. 

6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS.

6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any party or non-party may challenge a designation of 

Confidentiality or Attorneys’ Eyes Only at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a designating 

party’s Confidentiality or Attorneys’ Eyes Only designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, 

substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the 

litigation, a party does not waive its right to challenge a Confidentiality or Attorneys’ Eyes Only 

designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the original designation is 

disclosed. 

6.2 Meet and Confer. The parties must make every attempt to resolve any dispute 

regarding Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only designations without court involvement. Any 

motion regarding Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only designations or for a protective order must 

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include a certification that the movant has engaged in a good faith meet and confer conference 

with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action. A good faith 

effort to confer requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference, unless reasonable efforts 

to schedule a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference are unsuccessful after a period of 

fourteen days. 

6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 

intervention, the designating party may file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality. The burden 

of persuasion in any such motion shall be on the designating party. Frivolous challenges, and those 

made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 

other parties) may expose the challenging party to sanctions. All parties shall continue to maintain 

the material in question as Confidential or for Attorneys’ Eyes Only until the court rules on the 

challenge. 

7. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 

OTHER LITIGATION.

If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 

disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes 

Only, that party must: (a) promptly notify the designating party in writing and include a copy of 

the subpoena or court order; (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 

order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 

order is subject to this agreement, and such notification shall include a copy of this agreement; and

(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the designating 

party whose Confidential or Attorney’s Eyes Only material may be affected. 

8. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL. 

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If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Confidential 

or Attorneys’ Eyes Only material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 

agreement, the receiving party must immediately (a) notify in writing the designating party of the 

unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the protected 

material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the 

terms of this agreement, and (d) request that such person or persons execute the “Acknowledgment 

and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

If the receiving party discovers a breach of security, including any actual or suspected 

unauthorized access, relating to another party’s Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only 

information, the receiving party shall: (a) promptly provide written notice to the designating party 

of such breach; (b) investigate and take reasonable efforts to remediate the effects of the breach, 

and provide the designating party with assurances reasonably satisfactory to the designating party 

that such breach shall not recur; and (c) provide sufficient information about the breach that 

the designating party can reasonably ascertain the size and scope of the breach. 

9. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 

PROTECTED MATERIAL.

When a producing party gives notice to receiving parties that certain inadvertently 

produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 

receiving parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). Pursuant to 

Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), the parties agree to the entry of a non-waiver order as set 

forth herein:

(a) The disclosure or production of documents by a producing party subject to a legally 

recognized claim of privilege, including without limitation the attorney-client privilege and the 

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work-product doctrine, to a receiving party, shall in no way constitute the voluntary disclosure of 

such document. 

(b) The inadvertent disclosure or production of any document in this action shall not 

result in the waiver of any privilege, evidentiary protection, or other protection associated with 

such document as to the receiving party or any third parties, and shall not result in any waiver, 

including subject matter waiver, of any kind. 

(c) If, during the course of this litigation, a party determines that any document 

produced by another party is or may reasonably be subject to a legally recognizable privilege or 

evidentiary protection (“Protected Document”): 

(i) the receiving party shall: (A) refrain from reading the Protected Document 

any more closely than is necessary to ascertain that it is privileged or otherwise protected 

from disclosure; (B) immediately notify the producing party in writing that it has 

discovered documents believed to be privileged or protected; (C) specifically identify the 

Protected Documents by Bates number range or hash value; and, (D) within ten days of 

discovery by the receiving party, return, sequester, or destroy all copies of such Protected 

Documents, along with any notes, abstracts, or compilations of the content thereof. To the 

extent that a Protected Document has been loaded into a litigation review database under 

the control of the receiving party, the receiving party shall have all electronic copies of the 

Protected Document extracted from the database. Where such Protected Documents 

cannot be destroyed or separated, they shall not be reviewed, disclosed, or otherwise used 

by the receiving party. Notwithstanding, the receiving party is under no obligation to 

search or review the producing party’s documents to identify potentially privileged or work 

product Protected Documents. 

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(ii) If the producing party intends to assert a claim of privilege or other 

protection over documents identified by the receiving party as Protected Documents, the 

producing party will, within ten days of receiving the receiving party’s written notification 

described above, inform the receiving party of such intention in writing and shall provide 

the receiving party with a log for such Protected Documents that is consistent with the 

requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically identifying the material or 

information and setting forth the basis for the claim of privilege or other protection for it. 

In the event that any portion of a Protected Document does not contain privileged or 

protected information, the producing party shall also provide to the receiving party a 

redacted copy of the document that omits the information that the producing party believes 

is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection. 

(d) If, during the course of this litigation, a party determines it has produced a Protected 

Document: 

(i) the producing party may notify the receiving party of such inadvertent 

production in writing, and demand the return of such documents. Such notice shall be in 

writing; however, it may be delivered orally on the record at a deposition, promptly 

followed up in writing. The producing party’s written notice will identify the Protected 

Document inadvertently produced by Bates number range or hash value, the privilege or 

protection claimed, and the basis for the assertion of the privilege and shall provide the 

receiving party with a log for such Protected Documents that is consistent with the 

requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically identifying the material or 

information and setting forth the basis for the claim of privilege or other protection for it. 

In the event that any portion of the Protected Document does not contain privileged or 

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protected information, the producing party shall also provide to the receiving party a 

redacted copy of the document that omits the information that the producing party believes 

is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection. 

(ii) The receiving party must, within ten days of receiving the producing party’s 

written notification described above, return, sequester, or destroy the Protected Document 

and any copies, along with any notes, abstracts, or compilations of the content thereof. To 

the extent that a Protected Document has been loaded into a litigation review database 

under the control of the receiving party, the receiving party shall have all electronic copies 

of the Protected Document extracted from the database. 

(e) To the extent that the information contained in a Protected Document has already 

been used in or described in other documents generated or maintained by the receiving party prior 

to the date of receipt of written notice by the producing party as set forth in paragraphs (c)(ii) and 

d(i), then the receiving party shall sequester such documents until the claim has been resolved. If 

the receiving party disclosed the Protected Document before being notified of its inadvertent 

production, it must take reasonable steps to retrieve it. 

(f) The receiving party’s return, sequestering, or destruction of Protected Documents 

as provided herein will not act as a waiver of the requesting party’s right to move for the production 

of the returned, sequestered, or destroyed documents on the grounds that the documents are not, 

in fact, subject to a viable claim of privilege or protection. However, the receiving party is 

prohibited and estopped from arguing that: 

(i) the disclosure or production of the Protected Documents acts as a waiver of 

an applicable privilege or evidentiary protection; 

(ii) the disclosure of the Protected Documents was not inadvertent; 

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(iii) the producing party did not take reasonable steps to prevent the disclosure 

of the Protected Documents; or 

(iv) the producing party failed to take reasonable or timely steps to rectify the 

error. 

(g) Either party may submit Protected Documents to the Court under seal for a 

determination of the claim of privilege or other protection. The producing party shall preserve the 

Protected Documents until such claim is resolved. The receiving party may not use the Protected 

Documents for any purpose absent this Court’s order. 

(h) Upon a determination by the Court that the Protected Documents are protected by 

the applicable privilege or evidentiary protection, and if the Protected Documents have been 

sequestered rather than returned or destroyed by the receiving party, and subject to the exceptions 

outlined in Paragraph 10 below, the Protected Documents shall be returned or destroyed within 10 

days of the Court’s order. The Court may also order the identification by the receiving party of 

Protected Documents by search terms or other means. 

(i) Nothing contained herein is intended to, or shall serve to limit a party’s right to 

conduct a review of documents, data (including electronically stored information), and other 

information, including without limitation, metadata, for relevance, responsiveness, and/or the 

segregation of privileged and/or protected information before such information is produced to 

another party. 

(j) By operation of the parties’ agreement and Court Order, the parties are specifically 

afforded the protections of Fed. R. Evid. 502(d) and (e).

10. RETURN OF DOCUMENTS.

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Within thirty days after this litigation concludes by settlement, final judgment, or final 

order, including all appeals, all documents designated as containing Confidential or Attorneys’ 

Eyes Only information, including copies as defined above, must, if requested, be returned to the 

party who previously produced the document. However, counsel may retain a copy of all papers, 

filings with the Court, deposition or hearing transcripts, exhibits, and other documents bearing the 

notations, summations, mental impressions, or other attorney work product of receiving party’s 

counsel, provided that the Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only information is maintained and 

protected in accordance with the terms of this Order. 

11. COMPUTATION OF TIME.

The computation of any period of time prescribed or allowed by this Order shall be 

governed by the provisions for computing time set forth in Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure.

12. INFORMATION SECURITY PROTECTIONS.

Any person in possession of another party’s Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only 

information shall maintain a written information security program that includes reasonable 

administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the security and 

confidentiality of such Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only information, protect against any 

reasonably anticipated threats or hazards to the security of such Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes 

Only information, and protect against unauthorized access to or use of such Confidential or 

Attorneys’ Eyes Only information. To the extent a person or party does not have an information 

security program they may comply with this provision by having the Confidential or Attorneys’

Eyes Only information managed by and/or stored with eDiscovery vendors or claims 

administrators that maintain such an information security program.

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If the receiving party discovers a breach of security, including any actual or suspected 

unauthorized access, relating to another party’s Confidential or Attorneys’ Eyes Only material, the 

receiving party shall: (a) promptly provide written notice to designating party of such breach; (b) 

investigate and take reasonable efforts to remediate the effects of the breach, and provide 

designating party with assurances reasonably satisfactory to designating party that such breach 

shall not recur; and (c) provide sufficient information about the breach that the designating party 

can reasonably ascertain the size and scope of the breach. If required by any judicial or 

governmental request, requirement or order to disclose such information, the receiving party shall 

take all reasonable steps to given the designating party sufficient prior notice in order to contest 

such request, requirement or order through legal means. The receiving party agrees to cooperate 

with the designating party or law enforcement in investigating any such security incident. In any 

event, the receiving party shall promptly take all necessary and appropriate corrective action to 

terminate the unauthorized access. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d), the 

production of any documents in this proceeding shall not, for the purposes of this proceeding or 

any other proceeding in any other court, constitute a waiver by the producing party of any privilege 

applicable to those documents, including the attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product 

protection, or any other privilege or protection recognized by law. 

IT IS SO ORDERED, this 15th day of January, 2025. 

 /s/ Susan O. Hickey 

 Susan O. Hickey 

 Chief United States District Judge

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EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

I declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 

Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Western

District of Arkansas, in the case of Daniel Chavez v. Summit Utilities Arkansas, Inc. I agree to 

comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand 

and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the 

nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or 

item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 

compliance with the provisions of this Order.

I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court in the 

Western District of Arkansas for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 

Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.

_____________________________ __________________________________

Date Signature

_____________________________

_____________________________ __________________________________

Address Printed Name

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