UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

PRINZO & ASSOCIATES, LLC, on behalf of 

itself and all others similarly situated,

Plaintiff, 

v.

BMO HARRIS BANK N.A., BMO 

FINANCIAL CORP., a Delaware corporation; 

and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive,

Defendants.

Civil No. 20-cv-3256

Hon. Gary S. Feinerman

JOINT PROTOCOL AND [PROPOSED] ORDER FOR THE PRODUCTION OF 

ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION (ESI)

The parties respectfully submit the following joint proposed protocol governing the 

production of electronically stored information (“ESI”) in the above-captioned matter

1. Production Format. For all discovery requests in which electronically stored 

information ("ESI") is reasonably available and responsive, the responding party shall produce 

such information in single-page, black and white, Group IV Tagged Image File Format (“TIFF”) 

with 1 Bit depth of at least 300 dpi with an agreed-upon accompanying load file (e.g., Concordance 

*.opt and *.dat) and an accompanying multi-page extracted text file (*.txt). TIFF files shall be 

named with a unique production Bates number followed by the appropriate file extension, .tif. 

Page size shall be 8.5 x 11 inches, unless in the reasonable judgment of the producing party, a 

particular item requires a different page size. If a document is more than one page, the unitization 

of the document and any attachments and/or affixed notes shall be maintained as they existed in 

the original document. The parties will produce non-redacted Excel, PowerPoint documents, 

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 1 of 13 PageID #:77
-2-

photographs, and multimedia audio/visual files such as voice and video recordings (e.g., .wav, 

.mpeg, and .avi) in native format, except when such files contain information designated as 

privileged. If such documents contain privileged information, redacted images will be produced.

If such privileged documents cannot be rendered into images for the purposes of redacting, then 

modified natives will be produced. For files produced in native format, the producing party shall 

provide a single-page TIFF slipsheet with the applicable Bates stamp and confidentiality 

designation, if applicable, indicating that a native item was produced. Native files shall be named 

with a unique production bates number and confidentiality designation, if applicable. The 

corresponding load (.DAT) file shall include a NativeFilelink, which provides the relative path 

linking information for each native file that is produced. In addition, productions shall comply 

with the following:

a. Word documents shall be produced reflecting track changes and comments 

in the TIFF images if this information was in the document as it was stored;

b. PowerPoint documents and other presentations shall be produced with 

speaker notes and hidden slides if this information was in the document as it was stored;

c. Excel documents shall be produced in their native format;

d. The Parties will produce black and white images. The Parties will produce

a document in color, if the color in the document is needed to understand the context of the 

document.

e. The parties will produce hardcopy documents as scanned images in TIFF 

format;

f. For hardcopy documents that are collected the scanned images produced 

shall designate the custodian or source name in the metadata field “Custodian”;

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 2 of 13 PageID #:78
-3-

g. To the extent practicable, hardcopy Documents shall be unitized using 

logical document determinations or “LDD.”

h. Where a Document or group of Documents has an identification spine, 

“post-it note,” or any other label, the information on the label shall be scanned and produced to 

the extent practicable.

i. The metadata associated with each hardcopy Document need only identify 

the Bates number, the custodian associated with that hardcopy Document, and any Confidential 

Designation or Redaction applied to that Document.

j. The Parties agree that if any part of a document (including any part of an 

Email or its attachments) is responsive, the entire document (including any entire Email and/or 

attachments) will be produced, except to the extent that any Email or attachment is withheld or 

redacted on the basis of privilege or work-product protection (in which case it shall be included in 

a privilege log).1

2. System Files. System and program files, including those as defined by the NIST 

library (http://www.nsrl.nist.gov/), commonly used by e-discovery vendors to exclude system 1 

and program files from document review and production, need not be processed, reviewed, or 

produced. Additional files may be added to the list of excluded files by agreement of the parties.

3. De-duplication. To the extent that exact duplicate documents (based on MD5 or 

SHA-1 hash values at the document level or by message ID and other standard vendor 

methodology for email) reside within a party's ESI data set, each party shall use best efforts to 

produce a single complete copy of a responsive document or record. A producing party may not 

suppress an attachment if a duplicate standalone version of the attachment exists or if a standalone 

1 See also Paragraph 9.

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 3 of 13 PageID #:79
-4-

version of a document is a duplicate version of an attachment to a parent email. An “All Custodian" 

field containing the identity of each data source or custodian to a single document shall be provided 

as a metadata field in the production data file.

4. Parent-Child Relationships. The relationship between attachments, enclosures, 

embedded files, and/or exhibits to any parent document shall be preserved. "Attachments" (also 

known as "Children") and their "Parent" documents are a "Family" of documents. Children should 

be located directly after their Parent in the production set and should be sequentially Bates 

numbered. The child-document should be consecutively produced immediately after the parentdocument. Each document shall be produced with the production number for the first and last page 

of that document in the “BegBates” and “EndBates” fields of the data load file and with the 

“BegAttach” and “EndAttach” fields listing the production number for the first and last page in 

the document family.

5. Native Files. A party that receives a document produced in a format specified 

above may make a reasonable request to receive the document in its native format, and upon receipt 

of such request, the producing party shall produce the document in its native format, which shall 

include the original metadata for the document.

6. Delivery. The preferred means of producing documents is via secure FTP or secure 

file share. However, documents may also be produced via flash drive, or hard drive if (a) the size 

of the production exceeds the size limitations applicable to the producing party's secure FTP or 

file share or (b) if the interest of preserving the confidentiality of the information produced 

outweighs the speed and efficiency of producing documents via secure FTP or secure file share. 

To the extent possible, physical media should be encrypted using standard encryption software 

and methods before it is produced.

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 4 of 13 PageID #:80
-5-

7. Naming Convention for Production Media. Whether produced via secure FTP, 

file share, or physical media, the files produced should be combined into a compressed file such 

as .zip, .rar, etc. The compressed file should be named so as to indicate the producing party, the 

date of the production, and the sequence of the production (e.g., “[Producing Party 

Name]_Production_20200813-001”).

8. Bates numbering. All images shall be assigned a Bates number that must always: 

(1) be unique across the entire document production; (2) maintain a constant length (0- padded) 

across the entire production; and (3) be sequential within a given document.

9. Privilege logs. The parties agree to serve a privilege log in Excel format providing 

information regarding all documents withheld or redacted under a claim of privilege and/or workproduct. The privilege log should include columns that identify at least the following information: 

BegBates; EndBates; BegAttach; EndAttach (for redacted documents produced); Date; Custodian; 

Subject/Filename; From; To; CC; Bcc; a Description of the nature of the document or 

communication; and the Privilege Type asserted (for redacted documents produced and documents 

withheld). If necessary to prevent disclosure of privileged information, the Subject/Filename field 

may be redacted. The parties agree that communications involving trial counsel need not be placed 

on a privilege log to the extent they involve the preparation or litigation of this action.

10. Redactions. The parties agree that where ESI items need to be redacted, they shall 

be produced in TIFF format with each redaction clearly indicated, or where TIFF format is not 

practicable, in redacted native format (i.e. modified natives), as noted below. Any unaffected data 

fields shall be provided. The redaction of any material for privilege or other reason shall be 

governed by the applicable rules and case law regarding privilege and the provisions contained in 

the Protective Order entered in this action. Documents that are to be produced in native format, 

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 5 of 13 PageID #:81
-6-

but that require redactions may be produced as TIFF images with the relevant portions redacted, 

or if a TIFF image production is not practicable (e.g., the file is a video or very large spreadsheet),

the Producing party may produce a copy of the native file (i.e. modified native) with the relevant 

portions replaced with “REDACTED” or a similar mark. If modification of a native file is required

for redaction purposes, metadata information associated with that file should remain unchanged, 

unless it also requires redaction. For each document that is redacted, a Redaction field will be 

populated with the word “REDACTED” in the .DAT file. Also, the producing party will keep a 

pristine original copy of the native document. Each redacted document shall be produced with an 

OCR redacted .txt file.

11. Obligation to Preserve. The Parties shall have a continuing obligation to take 

reasonable and proportional steps to identify and preserve custodial and non-custodial ESI sources 

that may contain information that is relevant to the claims and defenses in this litigation. If a 

producing party is aware of inaccessible data that is likely to contain unique, discoverable ESI, it 

will identify the source from which it claims the data is not reasonably accessible to the receiving

party.

12. Databases. To the extent necessary, the parties will meet and confer

regarding production of relevant information from proprietary databases or enterprise 

databases, or “structured data.” In lieu of producing any databases by the discovery due date, 

the parties will meet and confer prior to the production date to gain an understanding of the 

relevant fields in the database, agree upon a set of queries to be made for discoverable 

information, and generate a report in a reasonably usable and exportable electronic file (e.g., 

Excel or CSV format) for review by the requesting party. Upon review of the report(s), the 

requesting party may make reasonable requests for additional information to explain the 

database schema, codes, abbreviations, and different report formats, or to request specific 

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 6 of 13 PageID #:82
-7-

data from identified fields, platforms, and cloud-based ESI. The parties agree that noncustodial ESI will be preserved during this litigation.

13. ESI Processing, Filtering, Review, and Production. The process for 

identification, review, and production of potentially responsive information may consist of: (1) 

loading of ESI into a review platform selected by the producing party; (2) the application of file 

type, date, and other metadata filters; (3) the use of search terms; (4) deduplication of identical 

files; (5) the use of analytics technologies, including email threading, clustering, categorization, 

and technology-assisted review; (6) attorney review for responsiveness and privilege or other 

protection from disclosure; and (7) production of responsive, non-privileged ESI in the format 

described herein. If Analytics or Technology Assisted Review (TAR), with the exception of email 

threading, will be used by a producing party, that party will notify the opposing party to discuss 

the protocol for that type of review.

14. TAR and Document Analytics. If a producing party is using TAR or other 

advanced technology methods, with the exception of email threading, the producing party agrees 

to disclose this fact in advance to the receiving party. If any party has disagreements regarding any 

aspect of the application of TAR, the parties will meet and confer regarding a TAR protocol and 

attempt to resolve such dispute(s) prior to seeking judicial intervention.

15. Compressed Files and Encrypted Files. Compressed file types (i.e., .CAB, .GZ, 

.TAR .Z, .ZIP) shall be decompressed in a reiterative manner to ensure that a zip within a zip is 

decompressed into the lowest possible compression resulting in individual files. The Producing 

Party will take reasonable steps, prior to application of search terms or TAR, to unencrypt any 

discoverable electronically stored information that exists in encrypted format (e.g., because 

password-protected) and that can be reasonably unencrypted, so that the document can be included 

in the searchable population, reviewed, and/or produced.

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 7 of 13 PageID #:83
-8-

16. Printing Specifications for Excel and PowerPoint files. For Excel and 

PowerPoint type files that are printed to TIFF for redaction and redacted, the following printing 

options shall be enabled:

Excel Print to TIFF Options

• Unhide columns and rows

• Unhide worksheets

• Autofit columns and rows, settings to be over by columns first and, then down by 

rows • Wrap text • Print gridlines

• Do not apply Autofilter

• Display headings

• Display comments

• Header and Footer filename field handling: Show field code

PowerPoint Print to TIFF Options

• Print notes pages

• Print hidden slides

• Print comments

The producing party shall also make reasonable efforts to ensure that any spreadsheets produced 

only as TIFF images because of redactions are formatted so as to be legible. For redacted items 

which were originally ESI, all metadata fields noted in this protocol that do not contain privileged 

or protected information will be provided and will include all non- redacted data. A document’s 

status as redacted does not relieve the producing party from providing all of the metadata required 

herein.

17. Meet and Confer Obligations. The parties recognize that the production of 

electronic documents often involves unforeseen issues and difficulties and therefore agree to act 

in good faith to negotiate any modifications to these production guidelines that are reasonably 

necessary to avoid undue cost or burden. To the extent there is any dispute with respect to the 

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 8 of 13 PageID #:84
-9-

provisions of this Order, or with the method(s) or manner(s) of the production of ESI, the parties 

shall meet and confer in an attempt to resolve such dispute(s) prior to seeking judicial intervention.

18. Third Party Productions (i.e., entities whose documents are not in the control 

of the parties in the lawsuit). A party that issues a non-Party subpoena shall timely notify other 

parties when it receives non-party productions, and shall within seven (7) days of receipt, timely 

provide copies of such productions in the format in which they were received from the third-party.

19. Preservation. The parties shall discuss their preservation obligations and needs to 

ensure that potentially relevant ESI will be preserved in a manner that is reasonable and 

proportionate. The parties will work together in good faith to reduce the costs and burdens of 

preservation and to ensure proper ESI is preserved. 

20. Time Zone Standard. Whenever possible, when the producing party produces 

time information, it will produce using Universal Time Coordinated [UTC].

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 9 of 13 PageID #:85
-10-

APPENDIX 1: ESI METADATA AND CODING FIELDS

The chart below describes the metadata fields to be produced, where reasonably available, 

in generic, commonly used terms which the producing party is to adapt to the specific types of 

ESI it is producing, to the extent such metadata fields exist associated with the original electronic 

Documents and are automatically generated as part of the electronic data discovery process. Any 

ambiguity about a metadata field should be discussed with the receiving party prior to processing 

the subject ESI for production.

Field Name Field Description

BegBates First Bates number (production number) of an item.

EndBates Last Bates number (production number) of an item.

**The EndBates field should be populated for single-page 

items.

BegAttach/Group ID First Bates number of family group.

EndAttach Last Bates number of attachment range (i.e., Bates number of 

the last page of the last attachment).

PgCount Number of pages in the item.

Custodian Name of person or data source from whose/which files the item is 

produced.

FileSize Size (in kilobytes) of the source native file.

All Custodians Identifies all Custodians for which a single duplicate document was 

collected 

DuplicateFilename If collected from multiple sources, the name of each additional file. 

HashValue The MD5 or SHA-1 or IntMsgID hash value of the item.

NativeFileLink Relative path for documents provided in native format only.

**The linked file must be named per the BegBates value.

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 10 of 13 PageID #:86
-11-

Field Name Field Description

RecordType Indicates item type (e.g., email, edoc, attachment).

FileType OR Relativity 

Native Type

E.g., Outlook, Adobe Acrobat, MS Word, etc.

FileExtension OR 

DocExtension

Indicates file extension of the file (e.g., .docx, .pptx).

DateSent (mm/dd/yyyy) Date and time email or calendar item was sent.

Date Sort The parent email date [UTC time zone]

DateReceived Date and time email or calendar item was received.

To The names and/or SMTP email addresses of all recipients that were 

included on the “To” line of the email or calendar item.

From The name and/or SMTP email address of the sender of the 

email or calendar item.

CC The names and/or SMTP email addresses of all recipients that were 

included on the “CC” line of the email or calendar item.

BCC The names and/or SMTP email addresses of all recipients that were 

included on the “BCC” line of the email or calender item.

Number of Attachments

OR Attachment Count

Number of attached, embedded or grouped items.

DateCreated 

(mm/dd/yyyy)

Date and time the item was created.

Last Mod (mm/dd/yyyy)

OR DateMod

Date and time the item was last modified.

FileName The filename of the source native file for an ESI item.

Title OR DocTitle Any value populated in the Title field of the source file 

metadata or item properties.

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 11 of 13 PageID #:87
-12-

Field Name Field Description

Subject/E-Mail Subject Any value populated in the Subject field of the source file metadata 

or document properties (e.g., subject line of email or calendar 

item).

Author Creator of the document; any value populated in the Author 

field of the source file metadata or document properties.

TextPath Full relative path to the location of the document-level text file.

Redacted OR 

"Production: Has 

Redactions Field"

User-generated field that will indicate redactions with the word 

“REDACTED.” Otherwise, blank.

Confidentiality User-generated field that will indicate confidentiality with the 

word “CONFIDENTIAL.” Otherwise, blank.

SO ORDERED. 

Dated: _________________________________

 U.S. District Judge

As Stipulated, Dated: August 14, 2020

/s/ Leigh M. Perica

Derek Y. Brandt (#6228895)

Leigh M. Perica (#6316756)

MCCUNE WRIGHT AREVALO, LLP

231 North Main Street, Suite 20

Edwardsville, Illinois 62025

Tel: (618) 307-611

Fax: (618) 307-6161

DYB@mccunewright.com

LMP@mccunewright.com

Richard D. McCune (pro hac vice)

Michele M. Vercoski (pro hac vice)

MCCUNE WRIGHT AREVALO, LLP

3281 East Guasti Road, Suite 100

Ontario, California 91761

/s/ Jeffrey E. Jamison

Jeffrey E. Jamison

BMO HARRIS BANK N.A.

111 West Monroe

19th Floor

Chicago, IL 60603

Tel: (312) 461-4694

jeffrey.jamison@bmo.com

Julie Rodriguez Aldort

BMO HARRIS BANK N.A.

111 W. Monroe Street

Fl. 11E

Chicago, IL 60603

Tel: (312) 461-7905

julie.aldort@bmo.com

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 12 of 13 PageID #:88
-13-

Tel: (909) 557-1250

RDM@mccunewright.com

MMV@mccunewright.com

Counsel for Plaintiff Prinzo & 

Associates, LLC

Counsel for Defendants BMO Harris Bank N.A. 

and BMO Financial Corp.

Case: 1:20-cv-03256 Document #: 25-1 Filed: 08/14/20 Page 13 of 13 PageID #:89