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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

TYLER DIVISION

LADARION HUGHES, ANGELA §

ALONZO, and DEMARCUS LIVELY, §

 §

Plaintiffs, §

 § Civil Action No. 6:23-cv-344

v. §

 §

SMITH COUNTY, TEXAS, §

 §

Defendant. §

DEFENDANT’S PROPOSED PROTECTIVE ORDER

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:

Defendant respectfully requests that the Court enter the following Protective 

Order:

This Protective Order is issued to facilitate document disclosure and production 

under the Local Rules of this Court and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Unless 

modified pursuant to the terms contained in this Order, this Order shall remain in effect 

In support of this order, the Court finds that: 

1. Documents or information containing confidential personal, medical, employment, and 

privileged information of parties, non-parties, and potential class members (“Confidential 

Information”) that bear significantly on the parties’ claims or defenses is likely to be disclosed or 

produced during the course of discovery in this litigation; 

2. The parties to this litigation may assert that public dissemination and disclosure of Confidential 

Information could severely injure or damage the party disclosing or producing the Confidential 

Information and could place that party at a competitive disadvantage; 

3. Counsel for the party or parties receiving Confidential Information are presently without 

sufficient information to accept the representation(s) made by the party or parties producing 

Confidential Information as to the confidential nature of such Confidential Information; and 

4. To protect the respective interests of the parties, non-parties, and potential class members and 

to facilitate the progress of disclosure and discovery in this case, the following Order should issue: 

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT: 
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1. Documents or discovery responses containing Confidential Information disclosed or produced 

by any party in this litigation are referred to as “Protected Documents.” Except as otherwise 

indicated below, all documents or discovery responses designated by the producing party as 

“Confidential” and which are disclosed or produced to the attorney’s for the other parties to this 

litigation are Protected Documents and are entitled to confidential treatment as described below. 

2. Protected Documents shall not include (a) documents filed of record, not under seal, and open 

and/or accessible to the general public, (b) materials that on their face show that they have been 

published to the general public, or (c) documents that have submitted to any governmental entity 

without request for confidential treatment. 

3. At any time after the delivery of Protected Documents, counsel for the party or parties receiving 

the Protected Documents may challenge the Confidential designation of all or any portion thereof 

by providing written notice thereof to counsel for the party disclosing or producing the Protected 

Documents. If the parties are unable to agree as to whether the confidential designation of 

discovery material is appropriate, the party or parties receiving the Protected Documents shall 

certify to the Court that the parties cannot reach an agreement as to the confidential nature of all 

or a portion of the Protected Documents. Thereafter, the party or parties disclosing or producing 

the Protected Documents shall have ten (10) days from the date of certification to file a motion for 

protective order with regard to any Protected Documents in dispute. The party or parties producing 

the Protected Documents shall have the burden of establishing that the disputed Protected 

Documents are entitled to confidential treatment. If the party or parties producing the Protected 

Documents do not timely file a motion for protective order, then the Protected Documents in 

dispute shall no longer be subject to confidential treatment as provided in this Order. All Protected 

Documents are entitled to confidential treatment pursuant to the terms of this Order until and unless 

the parties formally agree in writing to the contrary, a party fails to timely move for a protective 

order, or a contrary determination is made by the Court as to whether all or a portion of a Protected 

Document is entitled to confidential treatment. 

4. Confidential Treatment. Protected Documents and any information contained therein shall not 

be used or shown, disseminated, copied, or in any way communicated to anyone for any purpose 

whatsoever, except as provided for below. 

5. Protected Documents and any information contained therein shall be disclosed only to the 

following persons (“Qualified Persons”): 

1. Counsel of record in this action for the party receiving Protected Documents or any 

information contained therein; 

2. Employees of such counsel (excluding experts and investigators) assigned to and 

necessary to assist such counsel in the preparation and trial of this action; and 

3. The Court. 

Protected Documents and any information contained therein shall be used solely for the 

prosecution of this litigation. 
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6. Counsel of record for the party or parties receiving Protected Documents may create an index 

of the Protected Documents and furnish it to attorneys of record representing or having represented 

parties involved in litigation involving the claims alleged in this suit against the party or parties 

disclosing or producing the Protected Documents. The index may only identify the document, date, 

author, and general subject matter of any Protected Document, but may not reveal the substance 

of any such document. Counsel for the party or parties receiving Protected Documents shall 

maintain a current log of the names and addresses of persons to whom the index was furnished.

7. The term “copy” as used herein means any photographic, mechanical or computerized copy or 

reproduction of any document or thing, or any verbatim transcript, in whole or in part, of such 

document or thing.

8. To the extent that Protected Documents or information contained therein are used in 

depositions, at hearings, or at trial, such documents or information shall remain subject to the 

provisions of this Order, along with the transcript pages of the deposition testimony and/or trial 

testimony referring to the Protected Documents or information contained therein. 

9. Any court reporter or transcriber who reports or transcribes testimony in this action shall agree 

that all “confidential” information designated as such under this Order shall remain “confidential” 

and shall not be disclosed by them, except pursuant to the terms of this Order, and that any notes 

or transcriptions of such testimony (and any accompanying exhibits) will be retained by the 

reporter or delivered to counsel of record. 

10. Inadvertent or unintentional production of documents or information containing Confidential 

Information which are not designated “confidential” shall not be deemed a waiver in whole or in 

part of a claim for confidential treatment. 

11. The party or parties receiving Protected Documents shall not under any circumstances sell, 

offer for sale, advertise, or publicize Protected Documents or any information contained therein. 

12. After termination of this litigation, the provisions of this Order shall continue to be binding, 

except with respect to those documents and information that become a matter of public record. 

This Court retains and shall have continuing jurisdiction over the parties and recipients of the 

Protected Documents for enforcement of the provisions of this Order following termination of this 

litigation. 

13. Upon termination of this action by dismissal, judgment, or settlement, counsel for the party or 

parties receiving Protected Documents shall return the Protected Documents to the counsel for the 

party or parties disclosing or producing the Protected Documents. The party or parties receiving 

the Protected Documents shall keep their attorney work product which refers or relates to any 

Protected Documents. Attorney work product may be used in subsequent litigation provided that 

such use does not disclose Protected Documents or any information contained therein. 

14. This Order shall be binding upon the parties and their attorneys, successors, executors, 

personal representatives, administrators, heirs, legal representatives, assigns, subsidiaries, 
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divisions, employees, agents, independent contractors, or other persons or organizations over 

which they have control. 

15. The Court anticipates and encourages the parties to file a motion to modify the terms hereof 

with respect to the sharing of Protected Documents with experts and consultants; shifting the cost 

burden of production equitably; and other terms that may be reasonably required to protect a party 

as provided in Rule 26(b) or (c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.