UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN 

SOUTHERN DIVISION 

MARY VIED, Personal Representative of 

the DONNA LEE, DECEASED; MARY 

VIED, Personal Representative of the 

ESTATE OF JENNIFER LEE, 

DECEASED; MARY VIED as Next Friend 

of KL, A MINOR, and NICHOLAS LEE, 

individually, 

Plaintiffs, 

vs. 

CONTINENTAL TIRE NORTH 

AMERICA, INC. a foreign corporation, 

and CONTINENTAL AG, a foreign 

corporation, jointly and severally, 

Defendant.

CASE NO. 2:09-cv-13734 

Hon. Patrick J. Duggan 

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

The Court having noted the stipulation of the parties to the entry of this Order, 

It is hereby ORDERED that all documents and other materials produced by Continental 

Tire North America, Inc. ("CTNA"), either voluntarily or by Order of the Court, have been and 

will be produced under the following conditions: 

I. 

A. The parties recognize that discovery in this matter may call for the production of 

materials containing confidential and proprietary business, research, development and/or other 

commercially sensitive information of CTNA, and that CTNA has a protected proprietary and 

property interest in those materials. 

B. When used in this Protective Order, the word "CONFIDENTIAL" means 

designated business, research, development, and other confidential and/or proprietary 

information of CTNA. 
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C. When used in this Protective Order, the term "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" 

means all designated CONFIDENTIAL written materials, computer documents, design 

drawings, mold drawings, tire standards, claims histories, adjustment data, testing 

documentation, videotapes, answers to Interrogatories, responses to Requests for Production, 

responses to Requests for Admissions, deposition transcripts, documents produced by 

CTNA to any governmental agency or body such as the National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration ("NHTSA") at any time and deemed by that agency or body to be confidential 

pursuant to 49 CFR § 512, or other similar regulations, and all other designated tangible items 

which disclose CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. The term “CONFIDENTIAL 

INFORMATION” shall mean any information contained in CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL. 

D. In order to designate a portion of any document or other printed material as 

CONFIDENTIAL, CTNA shall mark the designated pages of the material with the following 

legend: CONFIDENTIAL- DISCLOSURE OF THIS INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO A 

PROTECTIVE ORDER AND MAY ONLY BE USED IN THE CASE OF MARY VIED, 

ET AL., vs. CONTINENTAL TIRE NORTH AMERICA, INC., ET AL., CAUSE NO. 2:09-

CV-13734, AND NOT FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE WHATSOEVER. The 

Confidentiality legend shall be placed in a manner that does not cover, obscure, or impair the 

legibility of any information contained within the material. In order to designate a computer 

database, disc, compact disc, drive, or other electronically recorded material as 

CONFIDENTIAL, CTNA shall mark the case or envelope containing the material with the word 

CONFIDENTIAL or apply the confidentiality legend set forth above. Documents printed from 

such electronic media shall be marked the same as documents originally produced on paper. In 

the case of a deposition or oral examination, counsel for CTNA may, during the deposition, 

designate on the record that testimony involving CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL be held as 

CONFIDENTIAL, and the entire deposition transcript will be treated as CONFIDENTIAL until 

counsel for CTNA receives a transcript of the deposition and for 30 days thereafter. After receipt 

of the deposition transcript, CTNA shall identify by page and line the portion of the material 
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that CTNA intends to designate as CONFIDENTIAL in a written letter served to all counsel of 

record and court reporter within 30 days after receiving the written deposition transcript from the 

court reporter. Only the portions of the deposition transcript designated by CTNA during this 

time period shall remain CONFIDENTIAL. The parties stipulate that the court reporter or 

videographer for any such depositions will be given a copy of this Protective Order, will execute 

an acknowledgement thereof; and shall not disclose to anyone (other than the COVERED 

PERSONS as defined in Section I E below) any deposition testimony or exhibits in this 

lawsuit. 

E. When used in this Protective Order, the term COVERED PERSONS 

includes only the following: (1) the Court and all Court personnel; (2) the named parties, other 

than CTNA in this litigation; (3) the named counsel of record for all parties other than CTNA in 

this litigation and their employees, to the extent reasonably necessary for such persons to render 

assistance in this litigation; and (4) experts retained or consulted by counsel of record for any 

party other than CTNA to assist in the preparation, prosecution, or evaluation of this litigation. 

II. 

Absent a further order of the Court, CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL, as described in 

Sections I.C and I.D, shall not be used for any purpose other than the prosecution or defense 

of this captioned action, and shall not be shown, disseminated or disclosed in any manner to 

anyone other than COVERED PERSONS without the prior written agreement of CTNA or order 

of the Court after due notice to CTNA. 

III. 

Before showing or divulging any CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL or 

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION to any COVERED PERSON other than the Court and Court 

personnel, counsel shall first obtain from each such person a signed WRITTEN 

ASSURANCE in the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A." Counsel shall maintain a list of all 

such recipients of CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL to whom this paragraph applies and the 

original of every WRITTEN ASSURANCE required pursuant to this paragraph. At the 
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conclusion of the litigation, the parties shall forward to counsel for CTNA each and every 

signed WRITTEN ASSURANCE and a list of all recipients of CONFIDENTIAL 

MATERIALS; however, with regard to consultant(s) not identified as expert(s) in this 

matter, counsel need only provide a copy of the WRITTEN ASSURANCE redacted to remove 

any reference to the identity of the consultant(s); provided, however, that if CTNA has a good 

faith reason to believe that CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL or CONFIDENTIAL 

INFORMATION produced in this case has been improperly disclosed in violation of this Order, 

then CTNA may either request that Counsel for any other party provide the WRITTEN 

ASSURANCES for non-disclosed consulting experts or may petition the Court to review the 

WRITTEN ASSURANCES. 

IV. 

A. If any CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL is filed with this Court, including 

any pleading incorporating CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL, the portion of such filing containing 

CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL shall be filed in a sealed envelope on which the following 

legend shall prominently appear: 

(Mary Vied, et al., vs. Continental Tire North America, Inc., et al., 

Cause No. 2:09-CV-13734) 

CONFIDENTIAL - This envelope contains confidential documents 

and information produced by Continental Tire North America, Inc. 

It shall not be opened nor the contents thereof displayed or 

revealed except by the Order of this Court.

B. CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL may be introduced into evidence, if otherwise 

admissible, provided that it may only be done so during a hearing or trial when counsel for 

CTNA is present, and the parties agree that confidentiality of the CONFIDENTIAL 

MATERIALS and CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall continue to the maximum extent 

permitted by the Court, pursuant to such procedures as the Court may require.

C. All writings submitted to or filed with the Court in connection with any pre-trial 

proceeding that contain, set forth, summarize or otherwise disclose CONFIDENTIAL 
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MATERIAL shall be filed under seal and such documents shall not be publicly available, except 

by further order of this Court.

D. If any party or person who has obtained CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL under 

the terms of this Protective Order receives a subpoena or other legal process commanding the 

production of any such CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL (the "Subpoena"), such party or person 

shall promptly notify counsel for CTNA of the service of the Subpoena. The party or person 

receiving the Subpoena shall not produce any CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL in response to 

the Subpoena without either the prior written consent of counsel for CTNA, or an order of a 

court of competent jurisdiction. However, CTNA shall have the burden of seeking a court order 

relieving the subpoenaed party or person of the obligations of the Subpoena prior to the 

return date of the Subpoena, or the subpoenaed person or party shall be relieved of its 

obligations under this paragraph. 

E. The inadvertent production in the course of discovery in this action of any 

document or information (whether designated as Confidential or not) shall not be deemed to 

waive the Confidential status of any CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL or CONFIDENTIAL 

INFORMATION and whatever attorney-client privilege, work product protection or other 

privilege or immunity that would otherwise attach to the document or information produced or to 

other documents or information shall remain in tact as long as the party producing them, upon 

discovery of the inadvertent production, notifies the other party or parties of the claim of 

confidentiality, privilege or other protection or immunity. 

V. 

Within 90 days after the final disposition of this lawsuit, by settlement, trial or appeal, 

counsel for the parties shall deliver to counsel for CTNA all CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL 

including any copies (except those determined by the Court or agreed by the parties not to be 

CONFIDENTIAL) which have been disseminated to any COVERED PERSONS. 
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VI. 

In the event counsel for any party, in good faith, disputes the designation of any 

document as CONFIDENTIAL he or she shall notify counsel for CTNA in writing. CTNA may 

then seasonably apply to the Court for a determination that the document is or is not protected 

pursuant to this Protective Order. Until a final determination by the Court, any disputed 

document will be treated as CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL pursuant to this Protective Order, 

Nothing in the Protective Order shall be construed to alter or shift the burdens of proof and 

persuasion as they apply to the assertion of privileges or exemptions from public disclosure. 

VII. 

This Protective Order shall not preclude the parties from exercising any rights or 

raising any objections otherwise available to them under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 

Federal Rules of Evidence, or any other statute or substantive law applicable to this case. 

At the conclusion of this lawsuit, the Court shall retain jurisdiction of this lawsuit for the 

enforcement of this Protective Order. 

 s/Patrick J. Duggan

 Patrick J. Duggan 

 United States District Judge 

Dated: September 8, 2010 

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon counsel of record 

on September 8, 2010, by electronic and/or ordinary mail. 

 s/Marilyn Orem

 Case Manager 

WE STIPULATE TO THE ENTRY OF THE ABOVE ORDER: 

SOMMERS SCHWARTZ, P.C. 

_/s/Robert H. Darling (w/consent)__ 

Robert H. Darling (P25523) 

Attorneys for Plaintiff 

2000 Town Center, Suite 900 

Southfield, MI 48075-1100 

248-355-3000 

rdarling@sommerspc.com

Dated: September 8, 2010 

BUTZEL LONG 

_/s/Edward M. Kronk_____________ 

Edward M. Kronk (P16258) 

Attorneys for Defendant Continental Tire 

 North America 

A150 West Jefferson, Suite 100 

Detroit MI 48226 

313-225-7000 

kronk@butzel.com

Dated: September 8, 2010 
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN 

SOUTHERN DIVISION 

MARY VIED, Personal Representative of 

the DONNA LEE, DECEASED; MARY 

VIED, Personal Representative of the 

ESTATE OF JENNIFER LEE, 

DECEASED; MARY VIED as Next Friend 

of KL, A MINOR, and NICHOLAS LEE, 

individually, 

Plaintiffs, 

vs. 

CONTINENTAL TIRE NORTH 

AMERICA, INC. a foreign corporation, 

and CONTINENTAL AG, a foreign 

corporation, jointly and severally, 

Defendant.

CASE NO. 2:09-cv-13734 

Hon. Patrick J. Duggan 

EXHIBIT A

WRITTEN ASSURANCE

I hereby acknowledge and affirm that I have read the terms and conditions of the 

Protective Order agreed to by the parties in the above-captioned matter dated 

_____________________. I understand the terms of said Protective Order and under oath 

consent to be bound by the terms of said Protective Order, as a condition to being provided access 

to the Confidential Material and Confidential Information furnished by Continental Tire North 

America, Inc. ("CTNA"). Further, by executing this Agreement, I hereby consent to the 

jurisdiction of the above-captioned Court or any Court of competent jurisdiction for the special 

and limited purpose of enforcing the terms of the Protective Order. 

I recognize that all civil remedies for breach of this Agreement are specifically 

reserved by CTNA and are not waived by the disclosure provided for herein. Further, in the 
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event of the breach of this Agreement, I recognize that CTNA may pursue all civil remedies 

available to it as a third-party beneficiary of this Agreement. 

 DATED: _____________________________ 

 

 ______________________________________

Name 

 

 ______________________________________

Firm 

 

 ______________________________________

Address 

 

 ______________________________________

Telephone Number 

 

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO ME THIS ____ day of ______________, 200____. 

 

 _____________________________________ 

Notary Public 

 

 _____________________________________ 

My Commission Expires