IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

MARVEL MEDICAL STAFFING, 

LLC,

 Plaintiff,

v.

CLEAR CHOICE RESOURCES, 

LLC; ADELA DUNLAP aka 

ADELA RIKALO; BENJAMIN 

DUNLAP, AARON HOWLAND; 

MELINDA MEYER, and 

TIMOTHY QUASS,

 Defendants

)

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

 Civil Action No. 8:23-cv-00174

PROTECTIVE ORDER

Upon consideration of the parties’ joint request for entry of a Protective Order, 

(Filing No. 72), the Court enters the following Protective Order governing 

the disclosure of confidential Discovery Material by a Producing Party to a 

Receiving Party in this Action. 

1) Definitions. As used in this Order:

a. Action refers to the above-captioned litigation.

b. Discovery Material includes all information exchanged between the

parties, whether gathered through informal requests or

communications between the parties or their counsel, or gathered

through formal discovery conducted pursuant to Rules 30 through 36,

and Rule 45. Discovery Material includes information within

documents, depositions, deposition exhibits, and other written,

recorded, computerized, electronic or graphic matter, copies, and

excerpts or summaries of documents disclosed as required under Rule

26(a).

c. A Producing Party is a party to this litigation, or a non-party either

acting on a party’s behalf or responding to discovery pursuant to a

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 1 of 13 - Page ID # 405
Rule 45 subpoena, that produces Discovery Material in this Action.

d. A Receiving Party is a party to this litigation that receives Discovery 

Material from a Producing Party in this Action.

2) Confidential Discovery Material. This Protective Order applies to all 

confidential Discovery Material produced or obtained in this case. For the purposes 

of this Protective Order, confidential Discovery Material shall include:

a. Commercial information relating to any party’s business including, but 

not limited to, tax data, financial information, financial or business 

plans or projections, proposed strategic transactions or other business 

combinations, internal audit practices, procedures, and outcomes, 

trade secrets or other commercially sensitive business or technical 

information, proprietary business and marketing plans and strategies, 

studies or analyses by internal or outside experts, competitive 

analyses, customer or prospective customer lists and information, 

profit/loss information, product or service pricing or billing agreements 

or guidelines, and/or confidential project-related information; 

b. Personnel data of the parties or their employees, including but not 

limited to employment application information; the identity of and 

information received from employment references; wage and income 

information; benefits information; employee evaluations; medical 

evaluation and treatment information and records; counseling or 

mental health records; educational records; and employment 

counseling, discipline, or performance improvement documentation;

c. Information concerning settlement discussions and mediation, 

including demands or offers, arising from a dispute between a party 

and a non-party; 

d. Medical or mental health information; 

e. Records restricted or prohibited from disclosure by statute; and 

f. Any information copied or extracted from the previously described 

materials, including all excerpts, summaries, or compilations of this 

information or testimony, and documentation of questioning, 

statements, conversations, or presentations that might reveal the 

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 2 of 13 - Page ID # 406
information contained within the underlying confidential Discovery 

Material.

3) Manner of Confidential Designation. A Producing Party shall affix a 

“CONFIDENTIAL” designation to any confidential Discovery Material produced in 

this Action. 

a. As to documentary information (defined to include paper or electronic 

documents, but not transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 

proceedings), the Producing Party must affix the legend 

“CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material.

b. If only a portion or portions of the information on a document page 

qualifies for protection, the Producing Party must clearly identify the 

protected portion(s) (e.g., by using highlighting, underlining, or 

appropriate markings in the margins).

c. If it is not feasible to label confidential Discovery Material as 

“CONFIDENTIAL,” the Producing Party shall indicate via cover letter 

or otherwise at the time of production that the material being produced 

is CONFIDENTIAL.

For purposes of this Protective Order, the Parties stipulate that Discovery 

Materials designated as CONFIDENTIAL - FOR ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY 

means any document which bears the legend CONFIDENTIAL - FOR 

ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY or, if it is not feasible to label the Discovery Material, 

which the producing party indicates via a cover letter or otherwise indicates at the 

time of production that the documents produced should be treated as 

CONFIDENTIAL - FOR ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY, such Discovery Materials 

shall be treated as CONFIDENTIAL – FOR ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY. Counsel 

for a disclosing party may further designate confidential Discovery Material as 

CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY if such counsel concludes in good 

faith that the material is or contains non-public information that is highly 

sensitive proprietary information including, but not limited to, trade secrets, 

privileged information, or nonpublic technical, financial, personal or business 

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 3 of 13 - Page ID # 407
information. In the present matter, Defendants anticipate that Plaintiff will 

designate its lists of “Travelers” and their corresponding financial information and 

documentation as “Confidential AEO” because the Plaintiff has taken the position 

that such lists are, or contain, “trade secrets”. Defendants do not concede that any 

materials produced by Plaintiff contain “trade secrets” merely because Plaintiff’s 

counsel has designated them as such. However, Defendants agree to treat any 

such materials as CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY for purposes of 

this Order if Plaintiff’s counsel so designates them. The Parties agree that 

financial or business information related to the calculation of Plaintiff’s damages 

should not be marked as CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY, but may 

be marked as CONFIDENTIAL. 

4) Timing of Confidential Designation. 

a. Except as otherwise stipulated or ordered, or where discovery is made 

available for inspection before it is formally disclosed, Discovery 

Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly 

so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 

b. If the Producing Party responds to discovery by making Discovery 

Material available for inspection, the Producing Party need not affix 

confidential designations until after the Receiving Party has selected 

the material it wants to receive. During the inspection and before the 

designation, all material made available for inspection is deemed 

“CONFIDENTIAL.” After the Receiving Party has identified the 

Discovery Material it wants produced, the Producing Party must 

determine which materials, or portions thereof, qualify for protection 

under this Order, and designate the materials as “CONFIDENTIAL” 

and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY as required 

under this order. 

5) Qualified Recipients. For the purposes of this Protective Order, the 

persons authorized to receive confidential Discovery Material (hereinafter 

“Qualified Recipient”) are:

For information designated as CONFIDENTIAL:

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 4 of 13 - Page ID # 408
a. The Parties, including any members, council members, officers, board

members, directors, employees, or other legal representatives of the

parties;

b. Legal counsel representing the parties, and members of the paralegal,

secretarial, or clerical staff who are employed by, retained by, or

assisting such counsel; including vendors who are retained to copy

documents or electronic files, provide technical, litigation support, or

mock trial services, or provide messenger or other administrative

support services;

c. Any non-expert witness during any deposition or other proceeding in

this Action, and counsel for that witness;

d. Potential witnesses and their counsel, but only to the extent

reasonably related to the anticipated subject matter of the potential

witness’s deposition, trial, or hearing testimony for this Action, so long

as such persons agree to maintain the confidential Discovery Material

in confidence per the terms of this Order, and provided that such

persons may only be shown copies of confidential Discovery Material

and may not retain any such material;

e. Consulting or testifying expert witnesses who will be providing

professional opinions or assistance for this Action based upon a review

of the CONFIDENTIAL information, and the staff and assistants

employed by the consulting or testifying experts;

f. Any mediator or arbitrator retained by the parties to assist with

resolving and/or settling the claims of this Action and members of the

arbitrator’s or mediator’s staff and assistants;

g. The parties’ insurers for this Action, and their staff and assistants,

members, officers, board members, directors or other legal

representatives;

h. Court reporters for depositions taken in this Action, including persons

operating video recording equipment and persons preparing

transcripts of testimony;

i. The court and its staff, any court reporter or typist recording or

transcribing hearings and testimony, and jurors; and

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 5 of 13 - Page ID # 409
j. Any auditor or regulator of a party entitled to review the confidential

Discovery Material due to contractual rights or obligations, or federal

or state laws, or court orders, but solely for such contractual or legal

purposes.

For information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATIONATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”: 

a. Legal counsel representing the Receiving Parties, and members of the

paralegal, secretarial, or clerical staff who are employed by, retained

by, or assisting such counsel;

b. Consulting or testifying experts for the Receiving Party, defined to

include only those experts retained or employed to assist the Receiving

party in preparing for trial or any other proceeding in the Action and

who need access to the CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATIONATTORNEYS EYES ONLY information to provide such assistance,

and who are not employed by, or an agent or representative for, the

Receiving Party, nor anticipated to become an employee, agent or

representative of the Receiving Party in the near future;

c. If necessary to promote alternative dispute resolution, any mediator or

arbitrator (and their assistants or staff) retained by the parties who

needs access to the CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION-ATTORNEYS

EYES ONLY information to assist the parties with resolving the

claims of this Action;

d. Court reporters for depositions taken in this Action, including persons

operating video recording equipment and persons preparing

transcripts of testimony; and

e. The court and its staff, any court reporter or typist recording or

transcribing hearings and testimony, and jurors.

6) Dissemination by the Receiving Party. Counsel for the Receiving

Party shall: 

a. Require Qualified Recipients who are non-expert witnesses or expert

witnesses and consultants and who receive information designated as

“CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES

ONLY to review and agree to the terms of this Protective Order and

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 6 of 13 - Page ID # 410
execute a copy of the Agreement attached hereto as Appendix A before 

receiving confidential Discovery Material. 

b. Instruct witnesses, consultants, and outside counsel who assist with

case preparation or represent a witness that disclosure of the

information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or

CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY is prohibited as set

forth herein.

c. Maintain a list of any confidential Discovery Material disclosed and to

whom, along with the executed copies of the Appendix A Agreement.

The prohibition on disclosing information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” 

and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY exists and is enforceable by 

the court even if the person receiving the information fails or refuses to sign the 

Appendix A Agreement.

7) Duty as to Designations. Each Producing Party that designates

information or items as CONFIDENTIAL and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' 

EYES ONLY must exercise reasonable care to limit any such designation to 

specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards, and designate 

only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications 

that qualify, so that 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. Broadly described, indiscriminate, or routinized 

designations are prohibited. 

8) Limitations on Use. Confidential Discovery Material shall be used by

the Receiving Party only to prepare for and conduct proceedings herein and not for 

any business or other purpose whatsoever. 

9) Maintaining Confidentiality. Discovery Material designated as

“CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY shall be 

held in confidence by each Qualified Recipient to whom it is disclosed, shall be 

used only for purposes of this action, and shall not be disclosed to any person who 

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 7 of 13 - Page ID # 411
is not a Qualified Recipient. Each party, each Qualified Recipient, and all counsel 

representing any party, shall use their best efforts to maintain all information 

designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES 

ONLY in such a manner as to prevent access, even at a hearing or trial, by 

individuals who are not Qualified Recipients. Nothing herein prevents disclosure 

beyond the terms of this Protective Order if the party claiming confidentiality 

consents in writing to such disclosure.

10) Copies. Discovery Material designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or

CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY shall not be copied or otherwise 

reproduced by the Receiving Party, except for transmission to Qualified Recipients, 

without the written permission of the Producing Party or, in the alternative, by 

order of the court. However, nothing herein shall restrict a Qualified Recipient 

from loading confidential documents into document review platforms or programs 

for the purposes of case or trial preparation or making working copies, abstracts, 

digests, and analyses of information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or 

CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY under the terms of this Protective 

Order.

11) Docket Filings. All documents of any nature including, but not limited

to, briefs, motions, memoranda, transcripts, discovery responses, evidence, and the 

like that are filed with the court for any purpose and that contain Discovery 

Material designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--

ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY shall be provisionally filed under restricted access 

with the filing party’s motion for leave to file restricted access documents. A party 

seeking to file Discovery Material under restricted access must comply with the 

court’s rules and electronic docketing procedures for filing such motions. 

12) Depositions. The following procedures shall be followed at all

depositions to protect the integrity of all Discovery Material designated as 

“CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY:

a. Only Qualified Recipients may be present at a deposition in which

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 8 of 13 - Page ID # 412
such information is disclosed or discussed.

b. All deposition testimony which discloses or discusses information

designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--

ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY is likewise deemed designated as

“CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES

ONLY.

c. Information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or

CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY may be used at a

nonparty deposition only if necessary to the testimony of the witness.

13) Challenges to Confidentiality Designations. A Receiving Party that

questions the Producing Party’s confidentiality designation will, as an initial step, 

contact the Producing Party and confer in good faith to resolve the dispute. If the 

parties are unable to resolve the dispute without court intervention, they shall 

schedule a conference call with the magistrate judge assigned to the case before 

engaging in written motion practice. If a written motion and briefing are necessary 

and the information in dispute must be reviewed by the court to resolve that 

motion, the confidential information shall be filed under restricted access pursuant 

to the court’s electronic docketing procedures. The party that produced the 

information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--

ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY bears the burden of proving it was properly 

designated. The party challenging a “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--

ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY designation must obtain a court order before 

disseminating the information to anyone other than Qualified Recipients.

14) Use at Court Hearings and Trial. Subject to the Federal Rules of

Evidence, Discovery Material designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or 

CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY may be offered and received into 

evidence at trial or at any hearing or oral argument. A party agreeing to the entry 

of this order does not thereby waive the right to object to the admissibility of the 

material in any proceeding, including trial. Any party may move the court for an 

order that Discovery Material designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or 

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 9 of 13 - Page ID # 413
CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY be reviewed in camera or under 

other conditions to prevent unnecessary disclosure. 

15) Return or Destruction of Documents. Upon final termination of this

Action, including all appeals, each party shall make reasonable efforts to destroy 

all Discovery Material designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--

ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY. The destroying party shall notify the producing party 

when destruction under this provision is complete. If a party is unable to destroy 

all Discovery Material designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--

ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY, that material shall be returned to the Producing 

Party or the Producing Party’s counsel. This Protective Order shall survive the 

final termination of this action, and it shall be binding on the parties and their 

legal counsel in the future.

16) Modification. This Protective Order is entered without prejudice to the

right of any party to ask the court to order additional protective provisions, or to 

modify, relax or rescind any restrictions imposed by this Protective Order when 

convenience or necessity requires. Disclosure other than as provided for herein 

shall require the prior written consent of the Producing Party, or a supplemental 

Protective Order of the court.

17) Additional Parties to Litigation. In the event additional parties are

joined in this action, they shall not have access to Discovery Material as 

“CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY until 

the newly joined party, by its counsel, has executed and, at the request of any 

party, filed with the court, its agreement to be fully bound by this Protective Order.

18) Sanctions.

a. Any party subject to the obligations of this order who is determined

by the court to have violated its terms may be subject to sanctions

imposed by the court under Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure and the court’s inherent power.

b. Confidentiality designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 10 of 13 - Page ID # 414
or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 

unnecessarily prolong or encumber the case development process or to 

impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) expose 

the designating party to sanctions. Upon discovering that information 

was erroneously designated as CONFIDENTIAL and/or 

CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY, the Producing Party 

shall promptly notify all other Parties of the improper designation

19) Inadvertent Disclosure of Protected Discovery Material.

a. A Producing Party that inadvertently fails to properly designate

Discovery Material as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or CONFIDENTIAL--

ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY shall have 14 days from discovering the

oversight to correct that failure. Such failure shall be corrected by

providing written notice of the error to every Receiving Party.

b. Any Receiving Party notified that confidential Discovery Material was

received without the appropriate confidentiality designation as

authorized under this order shall make reasonable efforts to retrieve

any such documents distributed to persons who are not Qualified

Recipients under this order, and as to Qualified Recipients, shall

exchange the undesignated or improperly designated documents with

documents that include the correct “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or

CONFIDENTIAL--ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY designation.

20) Disclosure of Privileged or Work Product Discovery Material.

a. The production of attorney-client privileged, or work-product protected

electronically stored information (“ESI”) or paper documents, whether

disclosed inadvertently or otherwise, is not a waiver of the privilege or

protection from discovery in this case or in any other federal or state

proceeding. This Protective Order shall be interpreted to provide the

maximum protection allowed by Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d).

Nothing contained herein is intended to or shall serve to limit a party’s

right to conduct a review of documents, ESI or information (including

metadata) for relevance, responsiveness and/or segregation of

privileged and/or protected information before production.

b. Any party who discloses documents that are privileged or otherwise

immune from discovery shall promptly upon discovery of such

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 11 of 13 - Page ID # 415
disclosure, advise the Receiving Party and request that the documents 

be returned. The Receiving Party shall return such produced 

documents or certify their destruction, including all copies, within 14 

days of receiving such a written request. The party returning such 

produced documents may thereafter seek re-production of any such 

documents pursuant to applicable law. 

Dated this 17th day of July, 2024

BY THE COURT:

s/ ___________________________ Michael D. Nelson

United States Magistrate Judge

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 12 of 13 - Page ID # 416
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

MARVEL MEDICAL STAFFING, 

LLC,

 Plaintiff,

v.

CLEAR CHOICE RESOURCES, 

LLC; ADELA DUNLAP aka 

ADELA RIKALO; BENJAMIN 

DUNLAP, AARON HOWLAND; 

MELINDA MEYER, and 

TIMOTHY QUASS,

 Defendants

)

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

 Civil Action No. 8:23-cv-00174

EXHIBIT A

I hereby acknowledge that I am about to receive Confidential Information 

supplied in connection with the above-captioned case. I understand that such 

information is being provided to me pursuant to the terms and restrictions of the 

Protective Order entered in this case. I have been given a copy of the Protective 

Order, have read the Protective Order, and agree to be bound by its terms. I 

understand that Confidential Information as defined in the Protective Order, or any 

notes or other records that may be made regarding any such materials, shall not be 

disclosed to any persons except as permitted by the Protective Order. 

Click or tap to enter a date.. 

Printed Name Signature

8:23-cv-00174-RFR-MDN Doc # 73 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 13 of 13 - Page ID # 417