Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_05-cv-00634/USCOURTS-caed-2_05-cv-00634-1/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Bank of America Group Long Term Disability Plan
Defendant
Patricia McCurdy
Plaintiff
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Defendant

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BARGER & WOLEN G:\DOCS\EFB\Thinkle\Orders\05cv634.proto.0328.doc LLP 

650 CALIFORNIA STREET 

NINTH FLOOR 

San Francisco, CA 94108 

(415) 434-2800 

J. Russell Stedman (117130), rstedman@barwol.com 

William Lee (148652), wlee@barwol.com 

Kathleen E. Dyer (227216), kdyer@barwol.com 

BARGER & WOLEN LLP 

650 California Street, Ninth Floor 

San Francisco, California 94108-2713 

Telephone: (415) 434-2800 

Facsimile: (415) 434-2533 

Attorneys for Defendants 

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Bank of 

America Group Long Term Disability Plan 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

PATRICIA McCURDY, 

Plaintiff, 

vs. 

METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE 

COMPANY, BANK OF AMERICA GROUP 

LONG TERM DISABILITY PLAN, 

Defendants. 

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CASE NO.: 2:05-CV-00634 WBS-EFB 

STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE 

ORDER 

 

1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 

In response to the Court’s Order on Discovery dated March 23, 2007, authorizing plaintiff 

Patricia McCurdy to conduct limited discovery, the parties acknowledge that such disclosure and 

discovery activity are likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private 

information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other 

than prosecuting this litigation would be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and 

petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that 

this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 

the protection it affords extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled under the 

applicable legal principles to treatment as confidential. The parties further acknowledge, as set 

Case 2:05-cv-00634-WBS-EFB Document 35 Filed 03/28/07 Page 1 of 9
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BARGER & WOLEN LLP 

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(415) 434-2800 

forth in section 10, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order creates no entitlement to file 

confidential information under seal; Eastern District of California Civil Local Rule 39-141 sets forth 

the procedures that must be followed and reflects the standards that will be applied when a party 

seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 

2. DEFINITIONS 

2.1 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 

consultants, retained experts, and outside counsel (and their support staff). 

2.2 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 

medium or manner generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 

transcripts, or tangible things) that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to 

discovery in this matter. 

2.3 “Confidential” Information or Items: information (regardless of how generated, 

stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under standards developed under 

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). 

2.4 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 

Producing Party. 

2.5 Producing Party: A Party or non party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 

Material in this action. 

2.6 Designating Party: A Party or non party that designates information or items that it 

produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential – 

Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 

2.7 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 

“Confidential.” 

2.8 Outside Counsel: attorneys who are not employees of a Party but who are retained to 

represent or advise a Party in this action. 

2.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party. 

2.10 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel and House Counsel (as well as their 

support staffs). 

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2.11 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services 

(e.g., photocopying; videotaping; translating; preparing exhibits or demonstrations; organizing, 

storing, retrieving data in any form or medium; etc.) and their employees and subcontractors. 

3. SCOPE 

The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Materials 

(as defined above), but also any information copied or extracted therefrom, as well as all copies, 

excerpts, summaries, or compilations thereof, plus testimony, conversations, or presentations by 

parties or counsel to or in court or in other settings that might reveal Protected Material. 

4. DURATION 

Even after the termination of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 

Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order 

otherwise directs.

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 Order must take care to limit 

any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. A 

Designating Party must take care to designate for protection only those parts of material, 

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

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

unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 

Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown 

to be clearly unjustified, or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily 

encumber or retard the case development process, or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens 

on other parties), expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 

If it comes to a Party’s or a non party’s attention that information or items that it designated 

for protection do not qualify for protection at all, or do not qualify for the level of protection 

initially asserted, that Party or non party must promptly notify all other parties that it is withdrawing 

the mistaken designation. 

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(415) 434-2800 

5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order 

(see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a), below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, material 

that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is 

disclosed or produced. For information in documentary form, the Producing Party shall affix the 

legend “CONFIDENTIAL” at the top or bottom of each page that contains protected material. If 

only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 

must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 

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

designate qualified information or items as “Confidential” does not, standing alone, waive the 

Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. If material is 

appropriately designated as “Confidential” after the material was initially produced, the Receiving 

Party, on timely notification of the designation, must make reasonable efforts to assure that the 

material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 

6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 

6.1 Timing of Challenges. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s 

confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable substantial unfairness, unnecessary 

economic burdens, or a later significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive 

its right to challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly 

after the original designation is disclosed. 

6.2 Meet and Confer. A Party that elects to initiate a challenge to a Designating Party’s 

confidentiality designation must do so in good faith and must begin the process by conferring 

directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication are not sufficient) with counsel 

for the Designating Party. In conferring, the challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief 

that the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an 

opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in 

designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A challenging Party may 

proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer 

process first. 

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(415) 434-2800 

6.3 Judicial Intervention. A Party that elects to press a challenge to a confidentiality 

designation after considering the justification offered by the Designating Party may file and serve a 

motion under Eastern District of California Civil Local Rule 37-251 that identifies the challenged 

material and sets forth in detail the basis for the challenge. Each such motion must be accompanied 

by a competent declaration that affirms that the movant has complied with the meet and confer 

requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph and that sets forth with specificity the justification 

for the confidentiality designation that was given by the Designating Party in the meet and confer 

dialogue. 

The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 

Party. Until the court rules on the challenge, all parties shall continue to afford the material in 

question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation. 

7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 

7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected 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. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to 

the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has 

been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 11, below (FINAL 

DISPOSITION). 

Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a 

secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 

7.2 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 

information or item designated CONFIDENTIAL only to: 

(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of record in this action, as well as 

employees of said Counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this 

litigation and who have signed the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” that is attached 

hereto as Exhibit A; 

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(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 

Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed 

the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” (Exhibit A); 

(c) the Court and its personnel; and 

(d) court reporters, their staffs, and professional vendors to whom disclosure is 

reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Agreement to Be Bound by 

Protective Order” (Exhibit A). 

8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 

IN OTHER LITIGATION 

If a Receiving Party is served with a subpoena or an order issued in other litigation that 

would compel disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as 

“CONFIDENTIAL,” the Receiving Party must so notify the Designating Party, in writing (by fax, if 

possible) immediately and in no event more than three court days after receiving the subpoena or 

order. Such notification must include a copy of the subpoena or court order. 

The Receiving Party also must immediately inform 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 the subject of this Protective Order. In addition, the Receiving Party must 

deliver a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order promptly to the Party in the other action that 

caused the subpoena or order to issue. 

The purpose of imposing these duties is to alert the interested parties to the existence of this 

Protective Order and to afford the Designating Party in this case an opportunity to try to protect its 

confidentiality interests in the court from which the subpoena or order issued. The Designating 

Party shall bear the burdens and the expenses of seeking protection in that court of its confidential 

material – and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 

Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 

9. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 

If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 

Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, 

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the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the 

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

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

this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgement and 

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

10. FILING PROTECTED MATERIAL 

Without written permission from the Designating Party or a court order secured after 

appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in the public record in this action 

any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply 

with Eastern District of California Civil Local Rule 39-141. If a Receiving Party intends to file in 

the public record any Protected Material, the Receiving Party must so notify the Designating Party, 

in writing and in no event less than ten court days of the Receiving Party’s intent to file Protected 

Material with copies of the Protected Material to be filed. The purpose of imposing these duties is 

to give notice to the Designating Party so that the Designating Party can protect its confidentiality 

interests.

11. FINAL DISPOSITION 

Unless otherwise ordered or agreed in writing by the Producing Party, within 30 days after 

the final termination of this action, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the 

Producing Party. As used in this subsection, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 

compilations, summaries or any other form of reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 

Material. With permission in writing from the Designating Party, the Receiving Party may destroy 

some or all of the Protected Material instead of returning it. Whether the Protected Material is 

returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party 

(and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 30 day deadline that 

identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 

and that affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 

summaries or other forms of reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 

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12. MISCELLANEOUS 

12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to 

seek its modification by the Court in the future. 

12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective 

Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 

information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 

Party waives any right to obtain on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by 

this Protective Order. 

IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 

Dated: March ___, 2007 BARGER & WOLEN LLP 

By: signature on original

J. RUSSELL STEDMAN 

WILLIAM LEE 

KATHLEEN E. DYER 

Attorneys for Defendants 

METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE 

COMPANY and BANK OF AMERICA 

GROUP LONG TERM DISABILITY 

PLAN 

Dated: March ___, 2007 LAW OFFICE OF JESSE S. KAPLAN 

By: signature on original

JESSE S. KAPLAN 

Attorneys for Plaintiff Patricia McCurdy 

PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: March 28, 2007. 

The Honorable Edmund F. Brennan 

United States Magistrate Judge 

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BARGER & WOLEN G:\DOCS\EFB\Thinkle\Orders\05cv634.proto.0328.doc LLP 

650 CALIFORNIA STREET 

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San Francisco, CA 94108 

(415) 434-2800 

EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

I, ________________________ [print or type full name], of ________________________ 

[print or type full address], 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 Eastern District of California on _______________, 2007 in the case of McCurdy v. 

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, et al., Case No. 2:05-CV-00634 WBS-EFB. 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 for the Eastern 

District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even 

if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 

I hereby appoint ________________________ [print or type full name], of 

________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number], as my California 

agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement 

of this Stipulated Protective Order. 

Date: ________________________ 

City and State where sworn and signed: ________________________ 

Printed Name: ________________________ 

Signature: ___________________________ 

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