Law v. BLST Receivables & Servicing LLC, No. 3:2023cv05343 - Document 29 (W.D. Wash. 2023)
Court Description: ORDER granting Parties' 28 Stipulated Motion for Protective Order. Signed by Judge Thomas S. Zilly. (SS)
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Law v. BLST Receivables & Servicing LLC Doc. 29 Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 1 of 11 The Honorable Thomas S. Zilly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 9 AT TACOMA 10 CHARLES ALBERT LAW, Case No. 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Plaintiff, 11 v. 12 13 14 15 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER BLST RECEIVABLES & SERVICING, LLC, a limited liability company; EXETER FINANCE LLC, a Delaware corporation; and TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORPORATION, a California corporation, NOTE ON MOTION CALENDAR: October 5, 2023 Defendants. 16 17 18 19 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or 20 private information for which special protection may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties 21 hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The 22 parties acknowledge that this agreement is consistent with LCR 26(c). It does not confer blanket 23 protection on all disclosures or responses to discovery, the protection it affords from public 24 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to 25 confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles, and it does not presumptively entitle 26 parties to file confidential information under seal. STIPULATED ORDER - 1 COMPLAINTPROTECTIVE - Page 1 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Dockets.Justia.com Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 2 of 11 1 2. “CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL 2 “Confidential” material shall include the following documents and tangible things 3 produced or otherwise exchanged: (1) consumer credit data; (2) account records from proprietary 4 account-servicing systems and software; and (3) documents reflecting sensitive personal 5 identifying information. To the extent that a Party—that produces documents in response to a 6 discovery request, subpoena, or Court order in this action—produces account records of 7 Defendants’ customers, including the plaintiff, those records may be produced as “Confidential.” 8 3. 9 SCOPE The protections conferred by this agreement cover not only confidential material (as 10 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from confidential material; (2) 11 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of confidential material; and (3) any testimony, 12 conversations, or presentations by parties or their counsel that might reveal confidential material. 13 However, the protections conferred by this agreement do not cover information that is in 14 the public domain or becomes part of the public domain through trial or otherwise. 15 4. 16 ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL 4.1 Basic Principles. A receiving party may use confidential material that is disclosed 17 or produced by another party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 18 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Confidential material may be disclosed only to 19 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this agreement. Confidential 20 material must be stored and maintained by a receiving party at a location and in a secure manner 21 that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this agreement. 22 4.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 23 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the designating party, a receiving party may 24 disclose any confidential material only to: 25 26 (a) the receiving party’s counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation; STIPULATED ORDER - 2 COMPLAINTPROTECTIVE - Page 2 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 3 of 11 1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including in house counsel) of the 2 receiving party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, unless the parties 3 agree that a particular document or material produced is for Attorney’s Eyes Only and is so 4 designated; 5 (c) experts and consultants to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 6 this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 7 (Exhibit A); 8 (d) the court, court personnel, and court reporters and their staff; 9 (e) copy or imaging services retained by counsel to assist in the duplication of 10 confidential material, provided that counsel for the party retaining the copy or imaging service 11 instructs the service not to disclose any confidential material to third parties and to immediately 12 return all originals and copies of any confidential material; 13 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 14 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 15 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the designating party or ordered by the court. Pages of 16 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal confidential material must 17 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 18 under this agreement; 19 20 21 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 4.3 Filing Confidential Material. Before filing confidential material or discussing or 22 referencing such material in court filings, the filing party shall confer with the designating party, 23 in accordance with Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(A), to determine whether the designating party will 24 remove the confidential designation, whether the document can be redacted, or whether a motion 25 to seal or stipulation and proposed order is warranted. During the meet and confer process, the 26 designating party must identify the basis for sealing the specific confidential information at issue, STIPULATED ORDER - 3 COMPLAINTPROTECTIVE - Page 3 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 4 of 11 1 and the filing party shall include this basis in its motion to seal, along with any objection to 2 sealing the information at issue. Local Civil Rule 5(g) sets forth the procedures that must be 3 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to 4 file material under seal. A party who seeks to maintain the confidentiality of its information must 5 satisfy the requirements of Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(B), even if it is not the party filing the 6 motion to seal. Failure to satisfy this requirement will result in the motion to seal being denied, 7 in accordance with the strong presumption of public access to the Court’s files. 8 5. 9 DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each party 10 or non-party that designates information or items for protection under this agreement must take 11 care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 12 standards. The designating party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 13 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify, so that other portions of the 14 material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 15 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this agreement. 16 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 17 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 18 unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose unnecessary 19 expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the designating party to sanctions. 20 If it comes to a designating party’s attention that information or items that it designated 21 for protection do not qualify for protection, the designating party must promptly notify all other 22 parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 23 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 24 agreement (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(b) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 25 ordered, disclosure or discovery material that qualifies for protection under this agreement must 26 be clearly so designated before or when the material is disclosed or produced. STIPULATED ORDER - 4 COMPLAINTPROTECTIVE - Page 4 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 5 of 11 1 (a) Information in documentary form: (e.g., paper or electronic documents 2 and deposition exhibits, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 3 proceedings), the designating party must affix the word “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that 4 contains confidential material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for 5 protection, the producing party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by 6 making appropriate markings in the margins). 7 (b) Testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial proceedings: the parties 8 and any participating non-parties must identify on the record, during the deposition or other 9 pretrial proceeding, all protected testimony, without prejudice to their right to so designate other 10 testimony after reviewing the transcript. Any party or non-party may, within fifteen days after 11 receiving the transcript of the deposition or other pretrial proceeding, designate portions of the 12 transcript, or exhibits thereto, as confidential. If a party or non-party desires to protect 13 confidential information at trial, the issue should be addressed during the pre-trial conference. 14 (c) Other tangible items: the producing party must affix in a prominent place 15 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the word 16 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, 17 the producing party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 5.3 18 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 19 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the designating party’s 20 right to secure protection under this agreement for such material. Upon timely correction of a 21 designation, the receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is 22 treated in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. 23 /// 24 /// 25 6. 26 CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any party or non-party may challenge a designation of STIPULATED ORDER - 5 COMPLAINTPROTECTIVE - Page 5 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 6 of 11 1 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a designating party’s confidentiality 2 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 3 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a party does not waive its right to 4 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 5 original designation is disclosed. 6 6.2 Meet and Confer. The parties must make every attempt to resolve any dispute 7 regarding confidential designations without court involvement. Any motion regarding 8 confidential designations or for a protective order must include a certification, in the motion or in 9 a declaration or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith meet and confer 10 conference with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action. The 11 certification must list the date, manner, and participants to the conference. A good faith effort to 12 confer requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference. 13 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 14 intervention, the designating party may file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under 15 Local Civil Rule 7 (and in compliance with Local Civil Rule 5(g), if applicable). The burden of 16 persuasion in any such motion shall be on the designating party. Frivolous challenges, and those 17 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 18 other parties) may expose the challenging party to sanctions. All parties shall continue to 19 maintain the material in question as confidential until the court rules on the challenge. 20 7. 21 LITIGATION 22 PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 23 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that 24 party must: 25 26 (a) promptly notify the designating party in writing and include a copy of the subpoena or court order; STIPULATED ORDER - 6 COMPLAINTPROTECTIVE - Page 6 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 7 of 11 1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 2 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 3 subject to this agreement. Such notification shall include a copy of this agreement; and 4 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 5 by the designating party whose confidential material may be affected. 6 8. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed confidential 8 material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this agreement, the receiving 9 party must immediately (a) notify in writing the designating party of the unauthorized 10 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the protected material, 11 (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of 12 this agreement, and (d) request that such person or persons execute the “Acknowledgment and 13 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 14 9. 15 MATERIAL INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED When a producing party gives notice to receiving parties that certain inadvertently 16 17 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 18 receiving parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This 19 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery 20 order or agreement that provides for production without prior privilege review. The parties agree 21 to the entry of a non-waiver order under Fed. R. Evid. 502(d) as set forth herein. 22 10. 23 NON TERMINATION AND RETURN OF DOCUMENTS Within 60 days after the termination of this action, including all appeals, each receiving 24 party must return all confidential material to the producing party, including all copies, extracts 25 and summaries thereof. Alternatively, the parties may agree upon appropriate methods of 26 destruction. STIPULATED ORDER - 7 COMPLAINTPROTECTIVE - Page 7 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 8 of 11 1 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain one archival copy of all 2 documents filed with the court, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, correspondence, 3 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 4 work product, even if such materials contain confidential material. 5 6 7 The confidentiality obligations imposed by this agreement shall remain in effect until a designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise. IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 8 9 Dated: October 3, 2023. LARKINS VACURA KAYSER LLP 10 11 By: s/ Brett Applegate Brett Applegate, WSBA No. 54679 bapplegate@lvklaw.com 121 SW Morrison Street, Suite 700 Portland, OR 97204 P: 503-222-4424 F: 503-827-7600 Attorneys for Defendant BLST Receivables & Servicing, LLC 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Dated: October 3, 2023. BAXTER & BAXTER, LLP By: s/ Justin M. Baxter Justin M. Baxter. WSBA No. 39182 justin@baxterlaw.com 8835 SW Canyon Lane, Suite 130 Portland, OR 97225 P: 503-297-9031 F: 503-291-9031 Attorneys for Plaintiff Charles Albert Law 24 25 26 STIPULATED ORDER - 8 COMPLAINTPROTECTIVE - Page 8 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 9 of 11 1 Dated: October 3, 2023. LAW OFFICE OF SARAELLEN HUTCHISON LLC By: s/ SaraEllen McCay Hutchison SaraEllen McCay Hutchison, WSBA No. 36137 saraellen@saraellenhutchison.com 2367 Tacoma Avenue S Tacoma, WA 98402 P: 206-529-5195 F: 253-302-8486 2 3 4 5 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff Charles Albert Law 7 8 Dated: October 3, 2023. 9 POLISINELLI PC By: s/ Jessica M. Andrade Jessica M. Andrade, WSBA No. 39297 jessica.andrade@polsinelli.com 1000 Second Avenue, Suite 3500 Seattle, WA 98104 P: 206-393-5415 F: 206-299-9423 10 11 12 13 Attorneys for Defendant Exeter Finance LLC 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Dated: October 3, 2023. WONG FLEMING By: s/ Noel S. Yumo Noel S. Yumo, WSBA No. 30584 nyumo@wongfleming.com 9840 Willows Road, NE, Suite 200 Redmond, WA 98052 P: 425-869-4040 F: 425-869-4050 21 Attorneys for Defendant Toyota Motor Credit Corporation 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 9 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 10 of 11 1 PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED 2 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), the production of any 3 documents, electronically stored information (ESI) or information, whether inadvertent or 4 otherwise, in this proceeding shall not, for the purposes of this proceeding or any other federal or 5 state proceeding, constitute a waiver by the producing party of any privilege applicable to those 6 documents, including the attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product protection, or any 7 other privilege or protection recognized by law. This Order shall be interpreted to provide the 8 maximum protection allowed by Fed. R. Evid. 502(d). The provisions of Fed. R. Evid. 502(b) 9 do not apply. Nothing contained herein is intended to or shall serve to limit a party’s right to 10 conduct a review of documents, ESI or information (including metadata) for relevance, 11 responsiveness and/or segregation of privileged and/or protected information before production. 12 Information produced in discovery that is protected as privileged or work product shall be 13 immediately returned to the producing party. 14 Dated: October 6, 2023 15 16 A 17 Thomas S. Zilly United States District Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 10 3:23-cv-05343-GJL Case 3:23-cv-05343-TSZ Document 29 Filed 10/06/23 Page 11 of 11 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, ____________________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 ___________________________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of 5 perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was 6 issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on October 5, 7 2023, in the case of Charles Albert Law v. BLST Receivables and Servicing, LLC, et al., 3:23-cv8 05343. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective 9 Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions 10 and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any 11 manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 12 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 14 Western District of Washington for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 15 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 16 Date: 17 City and State where sworn and signed: 18 Printed name: 19 Signature: 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER - 11 3:23-cv-05343-GJL
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