IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO 

Civil Action No. 11-cv-2588-MSK-KMT 

ROBERT P. HAMMOND, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a New York corporation, 

Defendant. 

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER CONCERNING 

CONFIDENTIALITY OF DISCOVERY MATERIALS

Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), each party and each Counsel of Record stipulates and 

moves the Court for a Protective Order concerning the treatment of Confidential Information (as 

hereinafter defined), and, as grounds therefore, state as follows: 

1. In this action, plaintiff Robert P. Hammond has sought the production of 

Confidential Information (as defined in paragraph 2 below). Defendant Metropolitan Life 

Insurance Company asserts that the disclosure of such information outside the scope of this 

litigation could result in significant injury to one or more of the Parties’ business or privacy 

interests. The parties have entered into this Stipulation and request the Court enter the within 

Protective Order for the purpose of preventing the disclosure and use of Confidential Information 

except as set forth herein. 

2. “Confidential Documents” means any document designated by one of the Parties 

in the manner provided in paragraph 3 below as containing confidential proprietary information. 

“Confidential” documents as used herein means documents that the producing party in good faith 

designates as “Confidential” at the time of production by means of a listing of the production 

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numbers appearing on such documents or by means of a “Confidential” stamp or legend placed 

on such documents. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a producing party’s inadvertent failure to 

designate a document “Confidential” in accordance with the terms of this Order will not preclude 

a later designation to the extent that confidential treatment can still be obtained without undue 

burden or expense on any party to the Litigation. 

3. Where Confidential Information is produced, provided or otherwise disclosed by 

a Party in response to any discovery request, it will be designated in the following manner: 

By imprinting the words “Confidential Information” on every page of any 

document produced that the producing party considers to contain Confidential 

Information. The imprinting of the words “Confidential Information” shall not 

cover any text or other content of the document. 

4. All Confidential Information provided by a Party in response to a discovery 

request shall be subject to the following restrictions: 

a. It shall be used only for the purpose of this litigation and not for any 

business or other purpose whatsoever; 

b. It shall not be communicated or disclosed by any Party’s counsel or a 

Party in any manner, either directly or indirectly, to anyone except for 

purposes of this case and unless an affidavit in the form of Exhibit A has 

been signed. 

5. Confidential documents, or information derived therefrom, may only be disclosed 

or made available by the party receiving such information to “Qualified Persons,” who consist 

of: 

a. the Court; 

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b. outside counsel of record or in-house counsel to the parties to the 

Litigation, and clerical, secretarial and paralegal staff employed by such counsel; 

c. clerical or ministerial service providers, such as outside copying or 

litigation support personnel, retained by the parties or counsel; 

d. court reporters; 

e. experts or consultants and their staff assisting in the Litigation who are not 

otherwise employed by any party to the Litigation, and the party receiving such 

information shall keep a list of the names of these individuals; 

f. all individuals who are named parties and the officers, employees and 

affiliates of corporate named parties who are assisting in the prosecution or defense of the 

Litigation or who will be responsible for making decisions with respect to the Litigation; 

and 

g. any other person the producing party agrees to in writing. 

6. Confidential documents shall not be disclosed to persons other than Qualified 

Persons and no action shall be taken (other than in connection with this Litigation) on the basis 

of any Confidential documents by the party receiving them. Nothing contained herein shall 

prevent any party from using or disclosing its own Confidential documents or information as it 

deems appropriate. 

7. Prior to seeing or receiving Confidential documents, all persons specified in 

paragraphs 5(e) and 5(g) will execute an Agreement to be Bound by Order in the form of Exhibit 

A attached hereto. 

8. Individuals authorized to review Confidential Information pursuant to this 

Protective Order shall hold Confidential Information in confidence and shall not divulge the 

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Confidential Information, either verbally or in writing, to any other person, entity or government 

agency unless authorized to do so by court order. 

9. The Party’s counsel who discloses Confidential Information shall be responsible 

for assuring compliance with the terms of this Protective Order with respect to persons to whom 

such Confidential Information is disclosed and shall obtain and retain the original affidavits 

signed by qualified recipients of Confidential Information, and shall maintain a list of all persons 

to whom any Confidential Information is disclosed. 

10. During the pendency of this action, opposing counsel may upon court order or 

agreement of the parties inspect the list maintained by counsel pursuant to paragraph 9 above 

upon a showing of substantial need in order to establish the source of an unauthorized disclosure 

of Confidential Information and that opposing counsel are unable otherwise to identify the 

source of the disclosure. If counsel disagrees with opposing counsel’s showing of substantial 

need, then counsel may seek a court order requiring inspection under terms and conditions 

deemed appropriate by the Court. 

11. No copies of Confidential Information shall be made except by or on behalf of 

counsel in this litigation and such copies shall be made and used solely for purposes of this 

litigation. 

12. During the pendency of this litigation, counsel shall retain custody of Confidential 

Information, and copies made therefrom pursuant to paragraph 11 above. 

13. If opposing counsel objects to the designation of certain information as 

Confidential Information, he or she shall promptly inform the other parties’ counsel in writing of 

the specific grounds of objection to the designation. All counsel shall then, in good faith and on 

an informal basis, attempt to resolve such dispute. If after such good faith attempt, all counsel 

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are unable to resolve their dispute, opposing counsel may move for a disclosure order consistent 

with this order. Any motion for disclosure shall be filed within 14 days of receipt by counsel of 

notice of opposing counsel’s objection, and the information shall continue to have Confidential 

Information status from the time it is produced until the ruling by the Court on the motion. 

14. In the event Confidential Information is used in any court filing or proceeding in 

this action, it shall not lose its confidential status as between the parties through such use. 

Confidential Information and pleadings or briefs quoting or discussing Confidential Information 

will not be accepted for filing “under seal” or otherwise kept out of the public record in this 

action, however, except by court order issued upon motion of the party seeking to file the 

documents under seal. Any motion requesting leave to file documents under seal shall 

demonstrate that the Confidential Information at issue is entitled to protection under the 

standards articulated in Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598-602 (1978) 

(applied in United States v. Hickey, 767 F.2d 705, 708 (10th Cir. 1985) and Crystal Grower’s 

Corp. v. Dobbins, 616 F.2d 458, 461 (10th Cir. 1980)). 

15. The termination of this action shall not relieve counsel or other persons obligated 

hereunder from their responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of Confidential Information 

pursuant to this Protective Order, and the Court shall retain continuing jurisdiction to enforce the 

terms of this Protective Order. 

16. By agreeing to the entry of this Protective Order, the Parties adopt no position as 

to the authenticity or admissibility of documents produced subject to it. 

17. The inadvertent production of any documents during the Litigation shall be 

without prejudice to any claim that such material is privileged under the attorney-client privilege, 

work-product doctrine or any other legally recognized privilege, and no party shall be held to 

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have waived any rights by such inadvertent production. Upon written request by the 

inadvertently producing party, the receiving party shall (a) return the original and all copies of 

such documents and (b) shall not use such information for any purpose unless allowed by Order 

of the Court. No party shall be precluded from arguing that it would be prejudiced if it were (a) 

forced to return material to the inadvertently producing party, or (b) precluded from utilizing 

such inadvertently produced materials in the Litigation. 

18. Upon termination of this litigation, including any appeals, each Party’s counsel 

shall immediately return to the producing party all Confidential Information provided subject to 

this Protective Order, and all extracts, abstracts, charts, summaries, notes or copies made 

therefrom. Each Party’s counsel shall not be required to provide any privileged documents or 

confidential work product to the producing party, and, instead, will destroy any such privileged 

or work product documents. At that time, counsel shall also file under seal with this Court the 

list of individuals who have received Confidential Information which counsel shall have 

maintained pursuant to paragraph 6 herein, and counsel shall provide the Court with verification 

that any of counsel’s work product or privileged documents referencing Confidential Information 

has been destroyed. Notwithstanding the requirements of this paragraph, the Party’s counsel 

may retain any court filings or exhibits to court filings containing Confidential Information for 

up to ten years subject to the restrictions on disclosure set forth in this Protective Order. 

19. This Order shall be applicable to discovery provided by any third-party witnesses 

or other parties in the Litigation who agree in writing to be subject to and bound by the terms of 

this Order. 

20. The binding effect of this Order shall survive termination of the Litigation and the 

Court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce the Order. 

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21. Nothing in this Protective Order shall preclude any Party from filing a motion 

seeking further or different protection from the Court under Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of 

Civil Procedure, or from filing a motion with respect to the manner in which Confidential 

Information shall be treated at trial. 

Dated this 10th day of April, 2012. 

 BY THE COURT: 

 

Kathleen M. Tafoya 

United States Magistrate Judge 

 

STIPULATED AND AGREED BY: 

s/ James A. Cederberg 

James A. Cederberg 

Cederberg Law Firm, P.C. 

1200 28th Street, Suite 302 

Boulder, CO 80303 

clfpc@aol.com 

303-499-0449 

ATTORNEYS FOR ROBERT P. HAMMOND

s/Jack M. Englert, Jr. 

Jack M. Englert, Jr. 

HOLLAND & HART LLP 

6380 South Fiddlers Green Circle, Suite 500 

Greenwood Village, CO 80111 

jenglert@hollandhart.com 

303-290-1087 

ATTORNEYS FOR METROPOLITAN LIFE 

INSURANCE COMPANY

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EXHIBIT A 

AFFIDAVIT 

STATE OF _________________ ) 

 ) ss. 

COUNTY OF ) 

 , swears or affirms and states under penalty of perjury: 

1. I have read the Protective Order in Hammond v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., Civil 

Action No. 11-cv-2588-MSK-KMT, a copy of which is attached to this Affidavit. 

2. I have been informed by ___________________________, Esq., counsel for 

______________________, that the materials described in the list attached to this Affidavit are 

Confidential Information as defined in the Protective Order. 

3. I promise that I have not and will not divulge, or undertake to divulge to any 

person or recording device any Confidential Information shown or told to me except as 

authorized in the Protective Order. I will not use the Confidential Information for any purpose 

other than this litigation. 

4. For the purposes of enforcing the terms of the Protective Order, I hereby submit 

myself to the jurisdiction of the court in the civil action referenced above. 

5. I will abide by the terms of the Protective Order. 

 

(Signature) 

 

(Print or Type Name) 

Address: 

 

 

Telephone No.: (_____) 

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5478699_1.DOC 

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