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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’SPLAINTIFFS’ PROPOSED PROTECTIVE ORDER

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:

DefendantPlaintiffs respectfully requestsrequest that thethis 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 orderOrder, the Court finds that:

1. Documents or information containing confidential personalpersonally identifiable information, 

medical, employment, and other information deemed privileged information of parties, nonparties, and potential class members (“Confidential Information”) that bear significantly on the 

parties’ claims or defensesconfidential under federal law 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;parties or putative class 

members;

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 potentialputative class 

members and to facilitate the progress of disclosure and discovery in this case, the following Order 

should issue: 
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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT: 

1. DocumentsConfidential Information shall be designated by the producing party as 

“Confidential.” Only the specific part or parts of a document or discovery responsesresponse

containing such Confidential Information disclosedshall be so designated. A document or 

produced by any partydiscovery response may be designated confidential in this litigation are 

referred to as “Protected Documents.”its entirety only if all or substantially all of the document or 

discovery response contains Confidential Information. Except as otherwise indicated below, all

documents or discovery responsesinformation designated by the producing party as “Confidential” 

and which areis disclosed or produced to the attorney’sattorneys for the other parties to this 

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

2. Protected DocumentsConfidential Information shall not include (a) documentsinformation filed 

of record, not under seal, and open and/or accessible to the general public, (b) materialsinformation

that on theirits face showshows that they haveit has been published to the general public, or (c) 

documentsinformation that havehas been submitted to any governmental entity without request for 

confidential treatment. 

3. At any time after the delivery of Protected DocumentsConfidential Information, counsel for the 

party or parties receiving the Protected DocumentsConfidential Information 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 confidentialConfidential 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.information. Thereafter, the party or parties disclosing or producing the Protected 

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

protective order with regard to any Protected Documentsinformation in dispute. The party or 

parties producing the Protected Documentsinformation shall have the burden of establishing that 

the disputed Protected Documents areinformation is entitled to confidential treatment. If the party 

or parties producing the Protected Documentsdisputed information do not timely file a motion for 

protective order, then the Protected Documentsinformation in dispute shall no longer be subject to 

confidential treatment as provided in this Order. All Protected Documents aredisputed information

is 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 

Documentdisputed information is entitled to confidential treatment. 

4. Confidential Treatment. Protected DocumentsInformation 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 thereinConfidential Information shall be 

disclosed only to the following persons (“Qualified Persons”): 

a) 1. The parties to this litigation; 
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b) Counsel of record in this action for the party receiving Protected Documents or any 

information contained thereinConfidential Information;

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

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

d) 3. The Court. 

Protected Documents and any information contained thereinConfidential Information shall be used 

solely for the prosecution of this litigation. 

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 areConfidential 

Information is used in depositions, or 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. Confidential Information.

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

that all “confidential” informationConfidential Information designated as such under this Order 

shall remain “confidentialConfidential” 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 “confidentialConfidential” shall not be deemed a waiver in 

whole or in part of a claim for confidential treatment.

11. The party or parties receiving Protected DocumentsConfidential Information shall not under 

any circumstances sell, offer for sale, advertise, or publicize Protected DocumentsConfidential 

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

Protected DocumentsConfidential Information 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 DocumentsConfidential Information shall return the Protected 

DocumentsConfidential Information to the counsel for the party or parties disclosing or producing 

the Protected Documents.Confidential Information. The party or parties receiving the Protected 

DocumentsConfidential Information shall keep their attorney work product which refers or relates 

to any Protected DocumentsConfidential Information. Attorney work product may be used in 

subsequent litigation provided that such use does not disclose Protected Documents or any 

information contained therein.Confidential Information.

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

personal representatives, administrators, heirs, legal representatives, assigns, subsidiaries, 

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.