IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

SAN ANTONIO DIVISION

ANNA GONZALEZ and RONALD K. 

PAGE, on behalf of themselves and all others 

similarly situated, 

Plaintiffs, 

v.

STATE FARM LIFE INSURANCE 

COMPANY,

Defendant.

Civil Action No.: SA-20-CV-617-FB

STIPULATION RE DISCOVERY OF ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION

The parties in the above-captioned litigation (the “Lawsuit”), by and through their 

undersigned counsel, enter into the following Stipulation for an Order regarding the discovery and 

production of Electronically Stored Information (the “Protocol”). Pursuant to the provisions of 

Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permitting the parties to specify the form or forms 

in which documents are to be produced, this Stipulation for an Order sets forth the specifications 

that shall govern document production during discovery in the above-captioned litigation.

I. APPLICATION

The procedures and protocols outlined herein govern the production of discoverable

information by all parties to the Lawsuit, whether they currently are involved or become so in the 

future (collectively, the “Parties”).

II. PURPOSE

This Stipulated Order governs the collection and production of electronically stored

information (“ESI”) and hard copy documents (collectively “Discoverable Information”), which 

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are to be produced electronically in this Lawsuit, as a supplement to the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure, this Court’s Guidelines for the Discovery of Electronically Stored Information, and any 

other applicable orders and rules.

III. COOPERATION

The Parties are aware of the importance the Court places on cooperation and commit to

cooperate in good faith throughout the matter consistent with this Court’s Guidelines for the 

Discovery of ESI. The Parties agree to take the proportionality considerations addressed in the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure into account for purposes of preservation and production of ESI 

and hard copy documents in this Lawsuit. This Protocol is not intended to expand the Parties’ 

obligations under Rules 1, 26 and 34.

IV. LIAISON

The Parties have identified liaisons to each other who are and will be knowledgeable about

and responsible for discussing their respective ESI. Each e-discovery liaison will be, or have access 

to those who are, knowledgeable about the technical aspects of e- discovery, including the location, 

nature, accessibility, format, collection, search methodologies, and production of ESI in this 

Lawsuit. The Parties will rely on the liaisons, as needed, to confer about ESI and to help resolve 

disputes without court intervention.

V. ESI

The term (“ESI”) refers to any electronically stored information in the possession, custody,

or control of the Parties that are e-mail or active-user files—including, but not limited to: e-mail, 

word-processing documents, spreadsheets, electronic slide presentations, databases, and other 

reasonably accessible ESI reasonably anticipated to be subject to discovery pursuant to the Federal 

Rules of Civil Procedure.

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VI. PRESERVATION

The parties have discussed their preservation obligations and needs and agree that 

preservation of potentially relevant ESI will be reasonable and proportionate. To reduce the costs 

and burdens of preservation and to ensure proper ESI is preserved, the parties agree that:

a) Only ESI created or received between 1993 and the present will be preserved;

b) The parties have exchanged a list of the types of ESI they believe should be 

preserved and the custodians, or general job titles or descriptions of custodians, for whom they 

believe ESI should be preserved, e.g., “HR head,” “scientist,” and “marketing manager.” The 

parties shall add or remove custodians as reasonably necessary;

c) The parties will agree on the number of custodians per party for whom ESI will be 

preserved;

d) These data sources are not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost 

pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(2)(B) and ESI from these sources will be preserved but not 

searched, reviewed, or produced:

(i) Data stored in a backup system for the purpose of system recovery or 

information recovery, including but not limited to: disaster recovery backup tapes, continuity of 

operations systems, and data or system mirrors or shadows.

(ii) Voicemail recordings.

(iii) ESI stored on mobile devices, including smart phones or tablets.

(iv) Legacy Data.

(v) Deleted, erased, or overwritten computer files, whether fragmented or 

whole, which were deleted in the regular course of business.

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(vi) Data stored in Random Access Memory (“RAM”), cache memory, or in 

temporary or cache files, including internet history, web browser cache, and cookie files, wherever 

located.

(vii) Encrypted data/password protected files, where the key or password cannot 

be ascertained absent extraordinary efforts.

(viii) Data stored on photocopiers, scanners, and fax machines.

(ix) Data stored as server, system, or network logs.

(x) Microfiche.

e) Among the sources of data the parties agree are not reasonably accessible, the 

parties agree not to preserve the following: none.

f) In addition to the agreements above, the parties agree data from these sources (a) 

could contain relevant information but (b) under the proportionality factors, should not be 

preserved: none.

VII. SEARCH

There are many valid ways to search for and retrieve ESI. The Producing Party will disclose 

the custodians from whom responsive unstructured ESI is collected. For email (or other 

unstructured ESI) for which the Parties apply search terms or technology assisted review to define 

the population reviewed for responsiveness, the Producing Party must disclose to the Requesting 

Party the search terms or technology used. The Requesting Party may suggest other custodians or 

additions or modifications to the search methodology. The Parties need not to reach agreement 

prior to the Producing Party commencing review or production, but in the event of a dispute 

regarding search the parties will meet and confer and attempt in good faith to reach agreement 

regarding the search methodology, including the proposed search terms and the identities of 

custodians from whom ESI will be collected and searched.

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VIII. PRODUCTION FORMATS

The parties agree to produce documents in accordance with the Protocol for Production of 

Electronically Stored Information (attached as Exhibit A). If it is not possible to comply with the 

Protocol, the parties will cooperate to arrange for the mutually acceptable production of such 

documents. The parties agree not to degrade the searchability of documents as part of the document 

production process.

IX. PHASING

When a party propounds discovery requests pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 34, the Parties agree 

to meet and confer concerning the prioritization of production of documents and records from 

sources most likely to contain relevant and discoverable information. Following the initial 

production, the Parties will continue to prioritize the order of subsequent productions..

X. PRIVILEGE

1. Privilege. Each Party may review documents (both ESI and paper documents) for 

privileged information (or other information subject to a recognized immunity from discovery) 

prior to production. In regards to Rule 26(f)(3)(D), the parties agree that pursuant to Federal Rule 

of Evidence 502(e), no disclosure, production, or exchange of information in the Lawsuit 

constitutes a waiver of attorney-client privilege or of any work product protection in this or any 

other federal or state proceeding. The parties will seek entry of a separate order pursuant to Federal 

Rule of Evidence 502(d) that will govern the inadvertent disclosure of privileged material.

2. Redactions. Documents that contain both privileged and non-privileged

information will be produced with the privileged information redacted in such a way as to show 

the location of the redaction within the document and the reason therefore (e.g., “Attorney-Client 

Privilege” or “Work Product” or equivalent). Documents or portions thereof withheld on privilege 

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grounds will be identified in a privilege log in accordance with Rule 26(b)(5). Redacted 

information shall be included on the privilege log.

3. Privilege Logs.

a. The obligation to provide a log of privileged or work product materials 

pursuant to Rule 26(b)(5)(A) presumptively shall not apply to attorney-client communications or 

work product created after June 15, 2016, the date the Vogt Lawsuit was initiated in the U.S. 

District Court for the Western District of Missouri, including:

i. Communications between a Party and its Outside Counsel;

ii. Attorney work product created by Outside Counsel for any Parties;

iii. Internal communications within Outside Counsel for any Parties;

and

iv. Communications between or among co-counsel.

b. The Parties agree that, except as provided herein regarding the categories of 

presumptively exempt privileged and work product materials set forth in Section IV.3.a., they will 

produce privilege logs and will exchange information regarding claims of privilege and/or work 

product protection in an efficient manner. For Discoverable Information to be logged, in lieu of a 

traditional Rule 26(b)(5) log the withholding, the withholding Party may provide a privilege log 

of such documents and ESI, providing the following objective metadata to the extent it is 

reasonably available: date_sent or date_modified, author(s), custodian(s), to, cc, bcc, file type, and 

file name and subject (to the extent the file name or subject does not reveal protected content). In 

addition, the withholding Party shall also provide for each document on the privilege log an 

identifier for the privilege being asserted (e.g., “ACP” for attorney-client privilege, “WP” for work 

product, or other descriptions as necessary based on the specific privilege being claimed), and a 

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unique document number/identifier, which need not be formatted as, or consecutive with, Bates 

numbers of produced documents (e.g., “Def_Priv_00001”).

c. The agreement to thread email in Exhibit A below notwithstanding, the 

Producing Party shall include a privilege log entry for each individual email message contained 

within the most inclusive email thread withheld for which the Producing Party asserts a claim of 

privilege.

d. Where a Party is asserting privilege on the same basis with respect to 

multiple documents, such descriptions may be provided by group or category.

XI. OBJECTIONS PRESERVED

Nothing in this Protocol shall be interpreted to require disclosure of relevant information 

or Data that is protected by the attorney-client privilege, common interest privilege, work-product 

doctrine, or is prohibited from disclosure under any similar law, regulation, rule, court order, or 

any other applicable privilege or protection. The Parties do not waive any objections to the 

production, discoverability, or confidentiality of ESI, Hard- Copy Materials or any other discovery 

materials. Further, nothing in this Protocol shall be construed to affect the admissibility of 

Discoverable Information. All objections to the discoverability or admissibility are preserved and 

may be asserted at any time.

XII. RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES

1. The Parties agree to meet and confer in good faith regarding matters related to the 

production of Data not specifically set forth in this Protocol, related to the interpretation of this 

Protocol, or related to the Parties’ obligations thereunder. The Parties shall make their best efforts 

to comply with and resolve any differences concerning compliance with this Protocol. If a 

Producing Party cannot comply with any material aspect of this Protocol, such party shall inform 

the Requesting Party in writing at or before the time of production as to why compliance with the 

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Protocol is unreasonable or not possible. The Parties shall then meet and confer in good faith to 

attempt to resolve the issue and/or agree on an acceptable format for production pursuant to Rule 

34(b)(2)(E).

2. If the Parties are unable to reach resolution regarding any dispute concerning the

interpretation of this Protocol or compliance with same, such disputes may be presented for judicial 

resolution. No party may seek judicial relief concerning this Protocol unless it first has conferred 

with the applicable Producing or Requesting Party.

XIII. MODIFICATION

This Protocol supersedes any prior discussions or agreements of the Parties on the topics

contained herein, and to the extent it is contrary to any such agreements or discussions, the terms 

of the Protocol control. Any practice or procedure set forth herein may be varied by agreement of 

the Parties, which will be confirmed in writing, where such variance is deemed appropriate to 

facilitate the timely and economical exchange of Discoverable Information.

IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

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Dated: April __, 2021 Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Ethan M. Lange

Norman E. Siegel (admitted pro hac vice) 

ATTORNEY-IN-CHARGE

siegel@stuevesiegel.com

Ethan M. Lange (Tex. Bar No. 24064150) 

lange@stuevesiegel.com

STUEVE SIEGEL HANSON LLP

460 Nichols Road, Suite 200

Kansas City, Missouri 64112

Tel: 816-714-7100 

Fax: 816-714-7101 

John J. Schirger (admitted pro hac vice) 

jschirger@millerschirger.com

Matthew W. Lytle (admitted pro hac vice) 

mlytle@millerschirger.com

Joseph M. Feierabend (admitted pro hac 

vice) 

jfeierabend@millerschirger.com

MILLER SCHIRGER, LLC 

4520 Main Street, Suite 1570

Kansas City, Missouri 64111

Tel: 816-561-6500 

Fax: 816-561-6501 

James T. Clancy (Tex. Bar No. 00795292)

(S.D. Tex. Bar. No. 19917)

jclancy@branscomblaw.com

BRANSCOMB, PLLC 

802 N. Carancahua, Suite 1900

Corpus Christi, TX 78401-0036 

Tel: (361) 886-3800 

Fax: (361) 886-3805 

James J. Pizzirusso (admitted pro hac vice) 

jpizzirusso@hausfeld.com

Nathaniel C. Giddings (admitted pro hac 

vice) 

ngiddings@hausfeld.com 

Melinda R. Coolidge (admitted pro hac vice) 

mcoolidge@hausfeld.com

HAUSFELD LLP

1700 K Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006

Telephone: (202) 540-7200

/s/ Susan E. Egeland

Wayne B. Mason 

ATTORNEY-IN-CHARGE

Texas Bar No. 13158950

wayne.mason@faegredrinker.com 

Susan E. Egeland

Texas Bar No. 24040854

susan.egeland@faegredrinker.com 

FAEGRE DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH 

LLP

1717 Main Street, Suite 5400

Dallas, Texas 75201

Phone: (469) 357-2500 

Fax: (469) 327-0860 

Shaunda A. Patterson-Strachan 

(Admitted pro hac vice) 

shaunda.pattersonstrachan@faegredrinker.com

Waldemar J. Pflepsen Jr. 

(Admitted pro hac vice) 

waldemar.pflepsen@faegredrinker.com 

FAEGRE DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH 

LLP

1500 K Street NW, Suite 1100

Washington, D.C. 20005

Phone: (202) 842-8800 

Fax: (202) 842-8465 

ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT

STATE FARM LIFE INSURANCE 

COMPANY

29

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Facsimile: (202)540-7201

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS

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EXHIBIT A

PROTOCOL GOVERNING THE PRODUCTION OF ELECTRONICALLY STORED 

INFORMATION (“ESI”)

A. DELIVERY OF DOCUMENT PRODUCTIONS

1. Document productions shall be made via readily accessible, computer or electronic

media including DVD-ROMs, CD-ROMs, or external hard drives (with standard PC compatible 

interface) (“Production Media”), or through secure file transfer protocol (“FTP”) or similar secure 

or encrypted electronic transmission. All Production Media will be encrypted prior to production 

and the Producing Party will provide a decryption key to the Requesting Party in a communication 

separate from the production itself.

2. If either Party chooses to employ a vendor to produce or receive Data, that side

shall bear the costs of such a vendor and take reasonable steps to ensure that only persons 

authorized under the Stipulated Protective Order have access to the depository.

3. Each Party shall bear its own costs of production.

B. ESI PRODUCTION FORMAT

1. Image File Format

Except for the types of documents identified in Paragraphs B(2)-(3) below, a Producing 

Party will convert its unstructured discoverable ESI from its native file format (“Native File”) to 

an image file for production, subject to the following specifications:

a. Single-page, black and white, 300 DPI, 1 bit Group IV TIFF images, with

corresponding multi-page text and necessary load files, or PDF with an embedded text layer, shall 

be provided for each page of each document, with each image file named after the production 

number of that page, with extension “.tif.”

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b. To the extent reasonably possible, the imaged Data shall retain all attributes 

of the native or hard-copy file, such as document breaks and original document orientation (i.e.

portrait to portrait and landscape to landscape). The following formatting will be applied:

i. Word processing documents will be processed to TIFF format and 

imaged showing track changes or edits, comments, notes and other similar information;

ii. Spreadsheet files with redactions will be imaged un-hiding any 

hidden rows and/or columns and/or sheets; and

iii. Presentation files will be processed to TIFF format showing 

comments, hidden slides, speakers’ notes and similar data, where present in the original file. In 

addition to TIFF images, native presentation files will be provided upon request from a receiving 

party. The native file will be named as the first Bates number of the respective document. The 

corresponding load file shall include native file link information for each native file that is 

produced.

Embedded ESI documents (e.g., a spreadsheet embedded within a word processing 

document) will be extracted, produced as independent document records and related back to the 

respective top level parent document (e.g., standalone file, email message, etc.) via the BegAttach, 

ParentID and AttachmentIDS fields referenced in Appendix 2. Related documents will be 

produced within a continuous Bates range. However, a Producing Party may suppress its logo or 

v-card embedded in email files.

c. To the extent a document is not already unitized, the parties shall undertake 

reasonable efforts, if a document consists of more than one page, to unitize the document and any 

attachment(s) as in their original form when creating the image files. The parties shall also 

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undertake reasonable efforts to ensure that distinct documents are not merged into a single record 

and that single documents are not split into multiple records.

d. Text files for extracted text or OCR shall be produced as one file per 

document, named after the starting production number assigned to the document and ending with 

extension “.txt”, with a text directory for each production volume, and with a relative file path to 

the text file provided in the related database load file. With the exception of TIFF, JPEG, and other 

image file types for which the text cannot be extracted, the text of documents should be extracted 

directly from the Native File without using Optical Character Recognition (“OCR”), except in the 

case of redacted documents, as specified in Paragraph B(3)(c) and B(3)(d), below. Documents 

produced in redacted form should not have text files populated with extracted text but should 

instead have text files populated with OCR data which will not contain the redacted data. If a 

document does not contain extractable text, the Producing Party shall provide OCR files for that 

document to the extent possible.

e. Data containing color need not initially be produced in color. The Producing 

Party will honor reasonable requests for a color image, if the original Data contains color necessary 

to understand the meaning or content of the Data.

f. Electronic documents attached to an email or electronic document and hardcopy documents attached or appended to a hard-copy document, are to be produced 

contemporaneously and sequentially immediately after the parent document. Parent-child 

relationships within a document family (the association between an attachment and its parent 

document) shall be preserved. Each document shall be produced with the metadata fields outline 

in the table in Appendix 2.

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g. Except as specified in Paragraph B(3)(c) below, each of the metadata and

coding fields set forth in Appendix 2 that exists and reasonably can be extracted from an electronic 

document shall be produced for that document. Fields that are not populated shall be left with null 

values and not populated with fillers or spaces. All metadata pertaining to dates and times will be 

standardized to Central Standard Time (CST).

h. All produced Discoverable Information will have a unique Control ID

assigned, regardless of the format of the Discoverable Information, and the file produced will be 

named with the unique Control ID. Production numbers (“Bates Number”) shall be branded to the 

lower right hand corner of TIFF images and confidentiality designations pursuant to a protective 

order (if applicable) shall be electronically branded or burned to the lower left hand corner of TIFF 

images so that they legibly print with the images. If one or more production numbers is skipped in 

a production, the Producing Party will so note in a cover letter accompanying the production or in 

a privilege log. The parties shall use reasonable efforts to ensure that production numbers: (1) are 

unique and consistent across the entire production, provided, however, that parties may use 

multiple prefixes to reflect productions from separate entities or related to specific experts; (2) 

maintain a constant prefix and page length (0- padded) across the production, consistent with the 

requirements of sub-paragraph (1); (3) contain a prefix that clearly identifies the Producing Party; 

(4) contain no special characters or embedded spaces; and (5) are sequential within a given

document. Attachments will immediately follow the production number(s) for the parent 

document. Production number prefixes shall be consistent across all documents a party produces 

in the litigation.

i. Upon entry of this Protocol, each party shall also produce accompanying

image load/unitization files and delimited text files as described below in Appendix 1. Parties are 

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encouraged to work in cooperation with one another and each other’s respective vendors in 

exchanging sample load files. If this exchange occurs, the Receiving Party will have 14 days to 

respond with load file change requests. Nothing in this Order will limit the parties from discussing 

load file changes throughout the course of the litigation.

j. Where TIFF images of certain electronic documents are not readable, the 

parties may produce such documents in native format. Where TIFF images of certain hard copy 

documents are not readable, the parties will meet and confer regarding the volume and best method 

of production prior to producing paper documents in hard copy format. To the extent the Receiving 

Party obtains through discovery a file or document that the party believes is not adequately 

represented in TIFF image format, the Receiving Party may request that the file or document be 

produced in native format by identifying the document by production number, the production of 

which shall not unreasonably be withheld.

2. Non-Convertible Files

Certain types of files such as system, program, proprietary files, audio files, and video files 

may not be amenable to conversion into TIFF format. Such files will not be converted into TIFF 

format. These files will be produced in their native format in accordance with Paragraph 3 below.

3. Native Files

In addition to the types of Data listed in Paragraphs B(1)(j) and (2), a Producing Party will 

produce certain additional types of ESI in their native format, subject to the following 

specifications:

a. Notwithstanding any provision contained herein, the parties agree that they 

shall produce all non-privileged Microsoft Excel files, .CSV files and other similar spreadsheet 

files as Native Files, regardless of whether they contain formulas. The Native File shall be renamed 

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in the following format: Bates Prefix-Bates Number- Confidentiality Designation. Except as 

specified in Paragraph B(3)(d) below, each of the metadata and coding fields set forth in Appendix 

2 that reasonably can be extracted from an electronic document shall be produced for that 

document. Fields not populated shall be left with null values and not populated with fillers or 

spaces.

b. Where native files are produced in lieu of TIFF images, each native file will 

be assigned a unique production number within the litigation database. The Producing Party will 

produce a placeholder (a single-page TIFF slip sheet indicating that the native item was produced) 

along with the file itself in native format. The placeholder will be branded with the production 

number in the lower right hand corner, the original filename of the native file, and the phrase 

“PRODUCED IN NATIVE ONLY” branded in the center of the page. The Producing Party will 

also brand any confidentiality or similar endorsements in the lower left hand corner of the 

placeholder.

c. To the extent that any file identified for production in native format contains 

information subject to a claim of privilege or any other applicable protection that requires 

redaction, the Producing Party shall convert that file to TIFF format and produce it with the 

necessary redactions, along with OCR text that reflects such redactions, unless such conversion 

and redaction is unduly burdensome to the Producing Party. All such OCR text will be Unicodecompliance (UTF-8) to the extent practical. If such conversion is unduly burdensome or renders 

the document unusable, the Producing Party may produce the document in any reasonably usable 

form as may be agreed upon by the respective parties.

d. The portion of the redacted text shall be clearly identified on the face of the 

TIFF image, either by masking the redacted content with electronic highlighting in black or 

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through the use of redaction boxes. The label “Redacted” shall appear on the face of the redacted 

portion of the TIFF image. If Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”), such as social security 

numbers are redacted, the label “Redacted – PII” shall appear on the face of the redacted portion. 

If information is redacted on the basis of the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine, 

the redaction shall be “Redacted – Privilege”. The redacted TIFF image shall be produced in 

accordance with the image load file specifications in Appendix 1, and any other provisions for the 

production of TIFF images contained herein. Redacted text shall not be included in the text file for 

that redacted TIFF image. The original unredacted Native File shall be preserved pending 

conclusion of this Lawsuit.

e. The parties will make reasonable efforts to ensure that all encrypted files

are decrypted prior to processing, search and production, and to remove passwords or other 

security protection from any Native File prior to production. If the security protection cannot be 

removed from a Native File after reasonable efforts by the Producing Party, a placeholder TIFF 

image may be produced in place of the Native File indicating that security protection could not be 

removed from the Data. Upon request from the Requesting Party, the parties shall meet and confer 

in good faith regarding the reasonable efforts or mechanisms made to remove the security 

protection from the Native File and/or the production of the available metadata listed in Appendix 

2 from the file.

f. If a Native File is used at a deposition or hearing in this Lawsuit, or attached

to a motion or other filing, it shall be accompanied by its production number- stamped placeholder 

TIFF image in order to facilitate tracking and authentication thereof. The parties may, but are not 

required to, further mark fixed images of Native Files with additional numbering for ease of 

identification at a deposition or hearing.

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4. Duplicates

A Producing Party will make reasonable efforts to globally de-duplicate identical ESI 

within their own productions, de-NIST, and remove zero- byte files.

a. Electronic Documents that Are Not Email. Duplicate non-email electronic 

documents (such as Microsoft Word documents) may be identified based upon a commercially 

accepted method (e.g., MD5 or SHA-1 hash values) for binary file content. All electronic 

documents bearing an identical value are a duplicate group. The Producing Party may produce 

only one document image or native file for duplicate ESI documents within the duplicate group, 

however, the Producing Party will identify the additional custodian(s) for duplicate documents not 

produced to the extent such information can be automatically populated by the processing of the 

documents.

b. Email. Duplicate email or other messaging files may be identified based 

upon a commercially accepted method (e.g., MD5 hash values) based upon the email family, which 

includes the parent email and all attachments. Email families bearing an identical value are 

considered a duplicate group. The Producing Party may produce only one document image or 

native file for duplicate ESI documents within the duplicate group; however, in the event that email 

is collected from a custodial source the Producing Party will identify each custodian(s) from whom

the duplicate email was collected, provided that such information can be automatically populated 

with industry standard ESI processing tools.

c. Email Threading. The Parties may use industry standard analytic tools to 

employ “email thread suppression.” As used in this Protocol, email thread suppression means 

producing the most inclusive email in a conversation thread, as well as all attachments within the 

thread, and excluding emails constituting duplicates emails within the produced conversation 

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thread. Only email messages that are included within more complete, produced thread part will be 

considered appropriate for exclusion from production. Agreed upon metadata will not be produced 

for email thread parts suppressed under this paragraph.

d. De-NISTing. ESI collections will be De-NISTed, removing commercially 

available operating system and application file information contained on the current NIST file list.

e. Zero-byte Files. The Parties shall filter out files identified as zero bytes in 

size.

5. Production of Data from Databases and Other Formats

a. Discoverable Information that is stored in a database (i.e., structured data) 

will be produced in reasonably usable standard report formats available in the ordinary course of 

business. Upon review of the report(s), the Requesting Party may, on a showing of particularized 

need, request from the Producing Party additional information to explain any codes, abbreviations, 

or other information necessary to ensure the report is reasonably usable. In the event of such a 

request, the Producing Party will determine the most reasonable means to provide the relevant and 

proportional information requested.

6. Time Zone

Unless otherwise agreed, all dynamic date and time fields, where such fields are processed 

to contain a value and do not automatically populate, and all metadata pertaining to dates and times 

will be standardized to Central Standard Time (CST). The Parties understand and acknowledge 

that such standardization affects only dynamic fields and metadata values and does not affect, 

among other things, dates and times that are hard-coded text within a file.

C. HARD COPY DOCUMENT PRODUCTION FORMAT

1. The parties agree that, with respect to documents that exist in hard-copy format 

(“Hard-Copy Materials”), a Producing Party will image and produce such documents as TIFF 

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images and OCR text in accordance with the specifications delineated in Section B, above. Where 

paper scanned images have identification spines, file folder labels, “post-it notes,” or any other 

labels, the information on the label shall be scanned and produced to the extent practicable. In 

addition, folder labels, box labels, or binder labels (including spines), or other similar top level 

identifiers, to the extent practicable, shall be manually recorded at the time of scanning and coded 

in the Binder and/or Folder field. Load files for such productions shall include data relevant to the 

individual documents, including Bates numbering, custodian, OCR and folder labels and box 

labels that have been manually recorded.

2. To the extent responsive Hard-Copy Materials are included in a large compilation 

of documents that is compiled solely for the purposes of storage convenience and not for any 

purposes related to the litigation and contains irrelevant, non-responsive Hard-Copy Materials, the 

Producing Party may produce responsive, non-privileged Hard- Copy Materials without also 

producing non-responsive Hard-Copy Materials.

3. If a Producing Party reasonably believes that production of Hard-Copy Materials 

as imaged files pursuant to this Section C is unduly burdensome, the Producing Party shall seek to 

meet and confer in good faith with the Requesting Party regarding content, volume, and related 

issues before any production of Hard-Copy Materials. If the parties are unable to reach agreement, 

any party may seek relief from the Court.

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APPENDIX 1: Load File Formats

Image Load Files

• Load Files for ESI will be produced in a standard load file format. Upon request

and demonstration of need, the Parties will meet and confer to discuss production

in an alternative load file format or to produce without load files.

• Every document referenced in a production image load file shall have all

corresponding images, text, and data. Redacted text shall not be included in a

redacted document’s text file.

• The name of the image load files shall mirror the name of the delivery volume, and

should have an .opt file extension (e.g., ABC001.OPT).

• The volume names shall be consecutive (i.e., ABC001, ABC002, et. seq.).

• Every image in the delivery volume shall be contained in the image load file.

• The image key shall be named the same as the production number of the page.

• Load files shall not span across media (e.g., CDs, DVDs, Hard Drives, etc.);

instead, a separate volume shall be created for each piece of media delivered.

• Each image load file shall be produced in a standard litigation support image load

format (e.g., .opt) providing:

a. The document number for each image;

b. The relative path name(s) of each TIFF image file; and

c. The document boundaries for each document.

• The load file shall be in the order that appropriately corresponds with each image

file.

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Metadata Load Files

• The metadata load file shall use the following delimiters:

• Field Delimiter: ¶ (ASCII 020)

• Text Qualifier: þ (ASCII 254)

• Multi-value Delimiter: ; (ASCII 059)

• New line: ® (ASCII 174)

• Metadata fields that do not exist or are not applicable to a document or are NULL 

shall be left with null values and not populated with fillers or spaces.

• All date fields shall be produced in “mm/dd/yyyy” format.

• All time fields shall be produced in “hh:mm:ss” format.

• Load files shall not span across media (e.g., CDs, DVDs, Hard Drives, etc.); 

instead, a separate volume shall be created for each piece of media delivered.

• The name of the metadata load file shall mirror the name of the delivery volume,

and shall have a .dat or .txt extension (i.e., ABC001.DAT or ABC001.TXT).

• The volume names shall be consecutive (i.e., ABC001, ABC002, et. seq.).

• Furthermore, .dat or .txt files must be encoded in ASCII or ANSI:UTF codings.

• The metadata fields listed in Appendix 2 (as pertain to particular categories of 

documents pursuant to this Protocol) shall be included in the delimited database

load files to the extent they exist or are applicable to a document. The parties will

reasonably endeavor to confirm the accuracy of the metadata extraction process.

To the extent that the metadata listed in Appendix 2 relating to any ESI contains 

information subject to a claim of privilege or any other applicable protection, that 

metadata may be redacted or withheld, as appropriate, and the Producing Party shall 

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include information regarding the basis and justification for withholding or 

redacting such information in its privilege log in accordance with Rule 26 of the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

• Privilege logs shall be provided to the other party within thirty (30) business days 

after a production from which Discoverable Information has been withheld or

redacted on any asserted privilege or protection grounds, and the logs shall be

provided in MS-Excel or other searchable and sortable format.

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APPENDIX 2: ESI Metadata and Coding Fields

Field Name Field Description Populated For Example Values

BegDoc Production number of the first 

page of the document.

E-mail, E-doc, or 

Paper as appropriate

Prefix- 0000000001

EndDoc Production number of the last 

page of the document.

All Prefix- 0000000002

BegAttach Production number of the first

page of the first document of the 

document family.

All Prefix- 0000000001

EndAttach Production number of the last 

page of the last document of the 

document family.

All Prefix- 0000000004

ParentID BegBates number for the parent 

document of a family (will only 

be populated for attachments and 

will not be populated for 

documents that are not part of a 

family)

All Prefix- 0000000001

AttachmentIDS First Bates number of every 

attachment in the family range 

(i.e. Bates number of the first 

page of every attachment) – will 

be populated only for the parent 

document.

All Prefix- 0000000001

Prefix- 0000000005

Prefix- 0000000007

AttachCount The number of attachments to a 

document.

All 3

FileType The record document. type of a

document

All Paper, Email, EAttachment, 

Standalone Electronic 

Document

All_Custodians Additional custodians who had a 

copy of the document prior to deduplication, including duplicate 

custodians.

All

To All recipients that were included 

on the “To” line of the e-mail.

E-mails larry.murphy@em 

ail.com

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Field Name Field Description Populated For Example Values

From The name and e-mail address 

sender of the e-mail.

E-mails Bart.Cole@email com

CC All recipients that were included 

on the “CC” line of the e-mail.

E-mails sstephens44@emai

l.com

BCC All recipients that were included 

on the “BCC” line of the e-mail.

E-mails ceo-gs@email.com

DateSent Date an email was sent (CST). E-mails mm/dd/yyyy

TimeSent The time an e-mail was sent 

(CST).

E-mails hh:mm:ss:

DateCreated The date an e-mail or e-file was 

created (CST).

E-mails, Eattachments and 

electronic documents

mm/dd/yyyy

TimeCreated The time an email or e-file was 

created (CST)

E-mails, Eattachments and 

electronic documents

hh:mm:ss:

DateLastModified Date the document was last 

modified.

E-attachments; 

Electronic documents

mm/dd/yyyy

TimeLastModi 

fied

The time an e-file was last 

modified (CST).

E-attachments; 

Electronic documents

hh:mm:ss:

LastSavedBy Value shows within the “last

saved” metadata field.

E-mails, Eattachments and 

electronic documents

Cal_Start Start date and time of calendar or 

appointment (CST).

E-mails, Eattachments and 

electronic documents

Hash MD5 hash value of document or 

“de-duplication key”

All Hash Value

FileName The file name of the document, 

including file extension

E-attachments; 

Electronic documents

Author Author of document E-attachments and 

electronic documents

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Field Name Field Description Populated For Example Values

Subject Document subject line of an emailE-mails

Orig_File_Name The original file name of an 

electronic document or an 

attachment to an Email.

E-attachments and

electronic documents

File_Ext The file extension of a document. All Doc, nsf, rtf, pdf, msg, 

xls, etc.

File_Size The file size of a document 

(including embedded 

attachments).

All

FilePath The full path to the file at its 

original location.

All

NativeFilePath The path to the corresponding 

native file included with a 

production volume.

E-attachments and

Electronic documents 

produced in native

format

TEXTPATH The relative path to the 

corresponding OCR or extracted 

text file included with a 

production volume.

All

Confidentiality 

Designation

The designated level of 

confidentiality pursuant to the 

Protective Order.

All CONFIDENTIAL

Container Top level source and folder-level 

source for any scanned document, 

if available.

Paper as appropriate.

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