KANDIS A. WESTMORE, Magistrate Judge.
Subject to the approval of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division (the "Court"), this Stipulated Protective Order Concerning Discovery and Confidentiality ("Discovery Order") among Plaintiffs Amber Kristi Marsh and Stacie Evans and Defendants Zaazoom Solutions, LLC, Zaza Pay LLC (dba Discount Web Member Sites, LLC, Unlimited Local Savings, LLC, Web Discount Club, Web Credit Rpt. Co., MegaOnlineClub, LLC, and RaiseMoneyForAnything), MultiECom, LLC (dba Online Discount Membership, Web Discount Company, and Liberty Discount Club), Online Resource Center, LLC (dba Web Coupon Site, USave Coupon, and UClip), First Bank Of Delaware, First National Bank Of Central Texas, Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (dba ProfitStars), Automated Electronic Checking, Inc., and Data Processing Systems, LLC (individually a "Party," collectively the "Parties"), by and through their counsel of record, is made in the above-captioned action with respect to the following recitals:
WHEREAS, on May 9, 2011, Plaintiffs filed the instant action, now entitled Marsh, et al. v. Zaazoom Solutions, LLC, et al., United States District Court, Northern District of California, Oakland Division, Case Number 3:11-cv-05226-YGR, in state court, and Defendants subsequently removed it to federal court on October 26, 2011;
WHEREAS, the Parties expect to conduct discovery among themselves and with Non-Parties (each a "Non-Party" and collectively, the "Non-Parties");
WHEREAS, disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted;
WHEREAS, good cause exists to establish procedures for the designation and protection of "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" information in this Action; and,
Accordingly, the Parties herby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Discovery Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Discovery Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The Parties further acknowledge that this Discovery Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a Party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal.
NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby stipulated and agreed, by and among the Parties, through their respective counsel, as follows:
The following definitions shall apply to this Discovery Order:
1. "Action" shall mean and refer to the above-captioned matter, Marsh, et al. v. Zaazoom Solutions, LLC, et al., United States District Court, Northern District of California, Oakland Division, Case Number 3:11-cv-05226-YGR, including all appellate proceedings relating thereto.
2. "Challenging Party" shall mean any person that challenges the designation of Confidential Information as "Confidential" or "Confidential-Attorney's Eyes Only" under this Discovery Order.
3. "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only Information" shall include (i) personal financial and banking information about clients and customers of Defendants, (ii) any information protected from public Disclosure pursuant to any state or federal law regarding the protection of private customer and/or financial information, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6801 et seq., and any other similar state or federal law or case or order or constitutional provision; and (iii) any trade secret. "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only Information" does not include any information that a Party has made publicly available.
4. "Confidential Document" shall mean Documents that contain Confidential Information, that have not been publicly disclosed, and that the Producing Party (as defined below) designates as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" in the manner set forth in this Discovery Order; provided, however, that by agreeing to this Discovery Order, no Party waives the right to challenge any Producing Party's designation of any Document as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" or right to seek a protective order for protection of "Confidential Information."
5. "Confidential Information" shall mean confidential, private consumer, and/or proprietary information that has not been made available to the general public that concerns or relates to proprietary, business or personal financial information, and/or any other information that the Producing Party contends should be protected from disclosure and that may be subject to a protective order under FRCP (26)(c) and any other applicable law or orders in any other federal case, including Confidential Documents.
6. "Designating Party" shall mean a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" under this Discovery Order
7. "Disclose" or "Disclosure" means shown, divulged, revealed, produced, described, or transmitted, in whole or in part.
8. "Disclosure or Discovery Material" shall mean all items or information, regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
9. "Document" means and refers to all things that come within the definition of "document" contained in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34(a)(1), including without limitation, documents of any kind, however reproduced and however transcribed; electronic recordings of any kind, electronically stored information, including computer program files, data files, source code, CD-ROM or electronic mail; photographs or other visual or audio-visual recording of any kind, including still or motion pictures, microfilm, microfiche, videotapes or laser discs; and sound recording of any kind, including voice mail, cassette, microcassettes, or compact discs. Every original draft, iteration or non-identical copy is a separate Document as that term is used herein and any "Document" which is the subject of another order in any other Federal Action.
10. "Legend" as used herein shall mean a stamp or similar insignia stating "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only," or other appropriate term or terms identifying the level of confidentiality of the Document.
11. "Non-Party" shall mean any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this Action.
12. "Party" shall mean any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and outside counsel of record (and their support staffs).
13. "Producing Party" shall mean a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action.
14. "Protected Material" shall mean any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as "Confidential" or "Confidential-Attorney's Eyes Only" under this Discovery Order.
15. "Receiving Party" means a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a Producing Party.
16. When reference is made in this Discovery Order to any Document, the singular shall include the plural, and plural shall include the singular.
The protections conferred by this Discovery Order cover not only Protected Material, but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel to third parties not affiliated with the Action that might reveal Protected Material. However, the protections conferred by this Discovery Order do not cover the following information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Discovery Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order.
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a. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Discovery Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 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 Discovery Order.
b. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
c. If it comes to a Designating Party's attention that information or items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.
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a. A Producing Party may designate non-publicly disclosed Documents as "Confidential" that the Producing Party reasonably and in good faith believes contain or refer to Confidential Information. Further, a Producing Party may designate non-Case publicly disclosed Documents as "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" that the Producing Party reasonably and in good faith asserts contain Confidential-Attorney's Eyes Only Information.
b. A Producing Party may designate a Document as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" by affixing the appropriate Legend to all copies of the Document at the time of production. The Producing Party must make Document designations at the time of production or within a reasonable time thereafter if such designations are inadvertently omitted.
c. A Party may designate as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" a Confidential Document produced by someone else by informing in writing all Parties of the Bates-number of such Document within thirty (30) days of that Party's receipt of the Document or within thirty (30) days of the entry of this Discovery Order, whichever is later. All Parties receiving written notice of such designation shall affix the appropriate Legend to all pages of any copy or copies of such Document in their possession.
d. Any Party may designate a deposition or hearing transcript (or any portion thereof or exhibit thereto) as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" by: (i) making such designation on the record during the deposition or hearing (in which case the stenographer shall affix the appropriate Legend to the cover page and all designated pages of the transcript and all copies thereof); or (ii) informing counsel for all other Parties of such designation in writing within seven (7) days after receipt of the final transcript (in which case any Party in possession of an original or copy of the transcript shall affix the appropriate Legend to the cover page and all designated pages and exhibits).
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a. All Protected Material in the Action shall be used solely for purposes of the prosecution, defense, or settlement of the Action, and for no other purpose, except as otherwise stated within this Discovery Order. This Discovery Order does not affect the admissibility or the use of Protected Material for purposes of the prosecution, defense, or settlement of the Action.
b. Unless the Designating Party agrees otherwise, and subject to the other provisions of this Discovery Order, Documents designated "Confidential" and any summaries, charts or notes made therefrom, and any facts or information contained therein or derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to any person except: (i) the Court and its officers; (ii) counsel of record and employees of counsel of record; (iii) the Parties to the Action (including any current employees, agents, officers or directors of such Parties); (iv) independent contractors, experts, consultants or advisors who are employed or retained by, or on behalf of, any of the Parties or counsel for the Parties to this Action to assist in preparation of the trial ("Contractors"); (v) stenographic reporters who are involved in depositions or any Court hearings or proceedings ("Court Reporters"); (vi) copy service vendors ("Vendors"); and (vii) any other person as to whom the Parties agree in writing that disclosure is appropriate ("Other Authorized Persons").
c. Unless the Designating Party agrees otherwise, and subject to the other provisions of this Discovery Order, Documents designated "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" and any summaries, charts or notes made therefrom, and any facts or information contained therein or derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to any persons except: (i) the Court and its officers; (ii) Designated Counsel of record and employees of Designated Counsel of record; (iii) independent contractors, experts, consultants or advisors who are employed or retained by, or on behalf of, any of the Parties or counsel for the Parties to this Action to assist in preparation of the trial ("Contractors"); (iv) stenographic reporters who are involved in depositions or any Court hearings or proceedings ("Court Reporters"); (v) copy service vendors ("Vendors"); and (vi) any other person as to whom the Parties agree in writing that disclosure is appropriate ("Other Authorized Persons"). Documents designated "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" and any summaries, charts or notes made therefrom, and any facts or information contained therein or derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to in-Case house counsel.
d. "Designated Counsel" as set forth in Section C.3.c.(ii) above are limited to counsel of record in the Action. Other than persons as expressly set forth in this Section, no other counsel shall be permitted access to Documents designated "Confidential — Attorney's Eyes Only" in this Action unless otherwise agreed to by all of the Parties in writing. "Designated Counsel" does not include in-house counsel.
e. Documents designated "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only" shall not be disclosed to a Party, or to any officer, director, employee or agent of a Party, unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or Parties in writing.
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a. Following the receipt of Documents marked "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only," any Party may object to the designation of such Document and seek a modification of such designation by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for the challenge to the Designating Party as set forth in Sections 7(b) and (c) herein.
b. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written notice must recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph of the Discovery Order, the Parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely manner.
c. If the objecting Party and the Designating Party are unable to resolve the objection, the objecting Party may move the Court for an order with respect to the disputed information. Each such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. The objecting Party's obligation to seek de-designation of Documents does not affect the Designating Party's burden to show that the Document is correctly designated as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only." In the event that any Party files a motion to release a Document from a designation as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorneys' Eyes Only," the motion must be filed under seal (in compliance with Civil Local Rule 79-5) to the extent it discloses Protected Material. Until the Court rules on the motion, all parties shall continue to afford the Protected Material at issue the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party's designation.
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a. The terms of this Discovery Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as "Confidential" or "Confidential — Attorney's Eyes Only." Such Protected Material produced by a Non-Party in this Action is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Discovery Order. Nothing in these provisions shall be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
b. In the event a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-Party's Confidential Information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party's Protected Material, then the Party shall:
(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Discovery Order for this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information requested; and
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party.
c. If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this Court within 21 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party's Protected Material responsive to the Discovery Request subject to appropriate designation as Confidential Information or under this Discovery Order. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court order to the contrary or an agreement between the Non-Party and a Party, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking the protection of its Confidential Information.
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18. By stipulating to the entry of this Discovery Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Discovery Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Discovery Order.
19. This Discovery Order may be executed in counterparts with the same force and effect as if executed in one complete document, and facsimile or scanned PDF copies of original signatures shall have the same force and effect as originals.
20. The Parties agree to be bound by the terms of this Discovery Order pending entry of the Discovery Order by the Court.
IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
By this Acknowledgement and Agreement to be Bound (the "Certification"), I, ____________________________, hereby declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulation and Order Concerning Discovery and Confidentiality ("Discovery Order") that was issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in the case entitled, Marsh, et al. v. Zaazoom Solutions, LLC, et al., Case No. 11-cv-05226-YGR (the "Action"). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Discovery Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply may expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I agree that I will not disclose in any manner any Protected Material (as defined in the Discovery Order) or any other item that is subject to this Discovery Order to any person or entity except in compliance with the Discovery Order.
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Discovery Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this Action.
Based upon the foregoing Stipulation of the Parties, and good cause appearing thereby, IT IS SO ORDERED.