IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO 

Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-02471-WYD-BNB

MEAGAN KIERNAN,

Plaintiff,

v.

CRC INSURANCE SERVICES, INC., an Alabama Corporation and 

JASON LEWIS, individually,

Defendants.

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

Under Rule 26(c), FED. R. CIV. P., upon a showing of good cause in support of the

entry of a protective order to protect the discovery and dissemination of confidential

personnel or commercial information and information that will improperly annoy, embarrass,

or oppress any party, witness, or person providing discovery in this case, IT IS ORDERED:

1. This Stipulated Protective Order shall apply to all documents, materials

and information, including without limitation, documents produced, answers to

interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, depositions and other information

disclosed pursuant to the disclosure or discovery duties created by the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure.

2. As used in this Stipulated Protective Order, “document” is defined as provided

in Rule 34(a), FED. R. CIV. P. A draft or non-identical copy is a separate document within the

meaning of this term.

3. Confidential documents, materials, and information (collectively, the

“Confidential Information”) shall not be disclosed or used for any purpose except the

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preparation and trial of this case. The duty to keep confidential information confidential

survives the completion of this case.

4. Information designated “Confidential” shall be information that is

confidential and implicates common law and statutory privacy interests; concerns

private financial, employment or medical information of Plaintiff Meagan Kiernan

(“Plaintiff”); Defendant Jason Lewis or other CRC employees; or confidential business

information about Defendant CRC Insurance Services, Inc. (“CRC”) CRC’s parents,

affiliates or subsidiaries, current or former employees and agents, trade secrets or other

confidential research, or marketing, development or commercial information of CRC. 

As a condition of designating documents for confidential treatment, the documents must

be reviewed by a lawyer and a good faith determination must be made that the

documents are entitled to protection. 

5. A party designating documents as Confidential Information may do so by

marking such material with the legend "Confidential." 

6. Whenever a deposition involves the disclosure of Confidential

Information, the deposition or portions thereof shall be designated as “Confidential” and

shall be subject to the provisions of this Protective Order. Such designation shall be

made on the record during the deposition whenever possible, but a party may designate

portions of depositions as Confidential after transcription, provided written notice is

promptly given to all counsel of record within thirty (30) days after notice by the court

reporter of the completion of the transcript. 

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7. The parties recognize but do not necessarily agree that Confidential

Information may include, but is not limited to, sensitive and non-public information and

records concerning compensation, employee duties and performance, employee

discipline and promotions, personnel decisions and other documents related to the

Plaintiff’s and Defendant Lewis’s employment with Defendant CRC, and Defendant

CRC’s business practices, financial matters, information regarding client/customer

relationships, personnel information and technical, strategic or other proprietary

business information. Confidential Information shall not, without the consent of the

party producing it or further Order of the Court, be disclosed except that such

information may be disclosed to: 

a. attorneys actively working on this case;

b. persons regularly employed or associated with the attorneys

actively working on the case whose assistance is required by said attorneys in the

preparation of the case, at trial, or at other proceedings in this case;

c. the parties, including Plaintiff, Defendant Lewis, and Defendant

CRC and CRC’s (and its parent) officers, managers, and any designated advisory

witnesses who are directly assisting said attorneys in the preparation of this case;

d. expert witnesses and consultants retained in connection with this

proceeding, to the extent such disclosure is necessary for preparation, trial or other

proceedings in this case;

e. the Court, jurors and/or court staff in any proceeding herein; 

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f. stenographic reporters who are engaged in proceedings necessarily

incident to the conduct of this action;

g. deponents, witnesses or potential witnesses; and

h. other persons by written agreement of the parties. 

8. In no event shall a person or entity that is a competitor (direct or indirect)

of Defendant CRC, or who may be involved in any charge or claim against Defendant

CRC, be allowed to view or receive any information designated by Defendant CRC as

Confidential, absent Defendant CRC’s written consent, Order of the Court, or CRC’s

intentional involvement in this case of such a competitor. 

9. Before the parties or their counsel may disclose any Confidential

Information to any persons contemplated by paragraph 7 of this Stipulated Protective

Order (other than counsel, persons employed by counsel, Court Personnel and

stenographic reporters), such person shall be provided with a copy of the Stipulated

Protective Order and shall be advised that he or she shall be bound by its provisions. In

the event any counsel of record determines that persons other than those provided for in

Paragraph 7 above have a need to review any Confidential Information, written

authorization of the party who produced the Confidential Information must be obtained

in advance of such disclosure. Should the party who produced the Confidential

Information refuse such authorization, counsel may apply to the Court for authorization.

10. A party may object to the designation of particular Confidential

Information by giving written notice to the party that designated the disputed

information and all other parties to the civil action. The written notice shall identify the

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information to which the objection is made. If the parties cannot resolve the objection

within ten (10) business days after the time the notice is received, it shall be the

obligation of the party designating the information as Confidential Information to file an

appropriate motion requesting that the Court determine whether the disputed

information should be subject to the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order. If such a

motion is timely filed, the disputed information shall be treated as Confidential

Information under the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order until the Court rules on

the motion. If the designating party fails to file such a motion within the prescribed

period, the disputed information shall lose its designation as Confidential Information

and shall not thereafter be treated as Confidential Information in accordance with this

Stipulated Protective Order. In connection with a motion filed under this provision, the

party designating the information as Confidential Information shall bear the burden of

establishing that good cause exists for the disputed information to be treated as

Confidential Information.

11. At the conclusion of this case, unless other arrangements are agreed upon,

each document and all copies thereof which have been designated as Confidential

Information shall be destroyed or preserved by counsel in a manner which is fully

consistent with the terms of this Protective Order. At the end of the litigation (including

any appeals), counsel will not be required to return the material. 

12. The parties shall have the right to seek modification of this Order from the

Court upon showing of good cause.

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Dated: February 21, 2012.

By the Court:

 s/ Boyd N. Boland 

United States Magistrate Judge U.S. District

Judge 

So Stipulated:

s/Rachel E. Ellis

Charlotte N. Sweeney

Rachel E. Ellis.

SWEENEY & BECHTOLD, LLC

650 S. Cherry St., Ste. 610

Denver, CO 80246

Telephone: 303-865-3733

Facsimile: 303-865-3738

Email: cnsweeney@sweeneybechtold.com

Email: rellis@sweeneybechtold.com

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF

s/Laura J. Hazen 

Laura J. Hazen

K.C. Groves

Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC

1675 Broadway, Suite 2600

Denver, Colorado 80202

Phone: (303) 623-2700

Fax:(303) 623-2062

lhazen@irelandstapleton.com

kcgroves@irelandstapleton.com

s/Albert L. Vreeland, II

Albert L. Vreeland, II

LEHR MIDDLEBROOKS & VREELAND, P.C.

P.O. Box 11945

Birmingham, AL 35202-1945

Telephone: (205) 326-3002

Facsimile: (205) 326-3008

Email: avreeland@lehrmiddlebrooks.com

Judith A. Biggs

HOLLAND & HART LLP

One Boulder Plaza

1800 Broadway, Suite 300

Boulder, CO 80302

Telephone: (303) 473-2700

Facsimile: (303) 473-2720

Email: jbiggs@hollandhart.com

ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT CRC

INSURANCE SERVICES, INC.

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ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT JASON LEWIS

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