Bridenbaugh v. Ford Motor Company ( 2024 )

1 Vaughn A. Crawford, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 7665 2 Dawn L. Davis, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 13329 3 SNELL & WILMER L.L.P. 3883 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 1100 4 Las Vegas, Nevada 89169 Telephone: (702) 784-5200 5 Facsimile: (702) 784-5252 Email: ddavis@swlaw.com 6 vcerawford@swlaw.com 7 || Attorneys for Defendant Ford Motor Company 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 10 MARIA BRIDENBAUGH, Case No.: 2:24-cv-00188-GMN-BNW 11 INDIVIDUALLY; and JOHN BRIDENBAUGH,, Individually, 2 12 = Plaintiffs STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER ip 13 | V. zees 15 FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a Delaware Corporation, DOES 1 Through 20; and ROE 2-16 || BUSINESS ENTITIES 1 Through 20 17 Defendant 18 In order to preserve and maintain the confidentiality of certain confidential, commercial 19 |} and/or proprietary documents and information produced or to be produced by FORD MOTOR 20 || COMPANY (“Ford”) or by any party in this action, (collectively, “Ford,” or any party in this action 21 || shall be referred to herein as “Producing Party”), it is ordered that: 22 1. Documents or information to be produced or provided by Ford or any party in this 23 || litigation that contain confidential, commercially sensitive, private personal information and/or 24 || proprietary information may be designated as confidential by marking or placing the applicable 25 || notice “Subject to Non-Sharing Protective Order,” “Subject to Protective Order,” or “Confidential,” 26 || or substantially similar language on media containing the documents, on the document itself, or on 27 || a copy of the document, in such a way that it does not obscure the text or other content of the 28 || document. 1 2. As used in this Order, the terms “documents” or “information” mean all written 2 || material, electronic data, videotapes and all other tangible items, produced in whatever format (e.g., 3 || hard copy, electronic, digital, etc.) and on whatever media (e.g., hard copy, videotape, computer 4 || diskette, CD-ROM, DVD, by secure electronic transmission, hard drive or otherwise). 5 3. Documents or information designated as “Subject to Non-Sharing Protective Order,” 6 || “Subject to Protective Order,” or “Confidential” or substantially similar language in accordance 7 || with the provisions of this Order (“Protected Documents” or “Protected Information”) shall only 8 || be used, shown or disclosed as provided in this Order. However, nothing in this Order shall limit 9 || a party’s use or disclosure of his or her own information designated as a Protected Document or 10 || Protected Information. 11 4. If a receiving party disagrees with the “Protected” designation of any document or 2 12 || information, the party will notify the Producing Party in a written letter and identify the challenged | ie 13 || document(s) with specificity, including Bates-number(s) where available, and the specific grounds 14 |] for the objection to the designation. Ifthe parties are unable to resolve the issue of confidentiality 1 15 || regarding the challenged document(s), the Producing Party will thereafter timely apply to the Court | 16 || to set a hearing for the purpose of establishing that the challenged document(s) or information is/are 17 || confidential. Protected Documents will continue to be treated as such pending determination by 18 || the Court as to the confidential status. 19 5. Protected Documents and any copies thereof shall be maintained confidential by the 20 || persons authorized to receive the documents pursuant to paragraph 6 and shall be used only for 21 || prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation, subject to the limitations set forth 22 || herein. 23 6. Protected Documents shall be disclosed only to “Qualified Persons.” Qualified Persons 24 || are limited to: 25 a. Counsel of Record for the parties, and the parties; 26 b. Paralegals and staff employed by Counsel of Record and involved in the 27 preparation and trial of this action; 28 c. A vendor hired by a party to host data and maintain a database of electronic ] data or perform other work related to the collection, review or production of 2 documents in the case; 3 d. Experts and non-attorney consultants retained by the parties for the 4 preparation and/or trial of this case, provided that no disclosure shall be 5 made to any expert or consultant who is employed by a competitor of Ford; 6 €. The Court, the Court’s staff, witnesses, and the jury in this case; and 7 f. With respect to documents designated as “Sharing” or “Subject to Protective 8 Order,” attorneys representing Plaintiff(s) and the experts and non-attorney 9 consultants retained by such attorneys, in other cases pending against Ford 10 involving a 2003-2011 Lincoln Town Car (FN145) vehicle with claims that 11 the front seat heater assemblies are defective, provided no disclosure shall 2 12 be made to any expert or consultant who is employed by a competitor of | ie 13 Ford. 14 7. The receiving party must make reasonable efforts to ensure the individuals described in 1 15 || paragraphs 6(b), 6(c), 6(d) and 6(f) above are Qualified Persons. | 16 8. Before receiving access to any Protected Document or the information contained 17 || therein, each person described in paragraphs 6(b), 6(c), 6(d) and 6(f) above shall execute a “Written 18 || Assurance” in the form contained in Exhibit A, attached hereto. The receiving party shall retain 19 || each such executed Written Assurance and shall keep a list identifying (a) all persons described in 20 || paragraphs 6(b), 6(c), 6(d) and 6(f) above to whom Protected Documents have been disclosed, and 21 || (b) all Protected Documents disclosed to such persons. Each such executed Written Assurance and 22 || list shall be submitted to counsel for Ford at the termination of this litigation or upon Order of the 23 || Court requiring production, whichever comes first. However, for consulting experts who were not 24 || designated as testifying experts, the receiving party may redact the name, address, and signature of 25 || the consultant before disclosing the executed Exhibit A and document list for that person. To the 26 || extent the “Qualified Persons” described in paragraphs 6(d) and 6(f) above include privileged non- 27 || testifying expert consultants, the receiving party shall retain each such executed Exhibit A and shall 28 || keep a list identifying (a) all such non-testifying expert consultants described in paragraphs 6(d) 1 || and 6(f) above to whom Protected Documents have been disclosed, and (b) all Protected Documents 2 || disclosed to such persons. In the event that the Producing Party seeks to compel the production of 3 || each unredacted and executed Exhibit A for good cause, the receiving party shall submit each 4 || unredacted and executed Exhibit A and list to the Court for in camera inspection. Persons described 5 || in paragraph 6(b) shall be covered under the signature of Counsel of Record. 6 9. As the Protected Documents may only be distributed to Qualified Persons, Qualified 7 || Persons may not post Protected Documents on any website or internet accessible document 8 || repository, excepting a vendor hosted review platform for the sole purpose of reviewing the 9 || information for the subject case and not for any other purpose, and shall not under any circumstance 10 || sell, offer for sale, advertise, or publicize either the Protected Documents and the Confidential 11 |} information contained therein or the fact that such persons have obtained the Producing Party’s 2 12 || Protected Documents and confidential information. | 13 10. To the extent that Protected Documents or information obtained therefrom are used in 14 |] the taking of depositions (including exhibits) or other pretrial testimony and/or used as exhibits at ] 15 || trial, such documents or information shall remain subject to the provisions of this Order, along with | 16 || the transcript pages of the deposition testimony and/or trial testimony dealing with, referring to or 17 || referencing the Protected Documents or information. Designation of the portion of the transcript 18 || G@ncluding exhibits) which contains references to Protected Documents or information shall be 19 || made (i) by a statement to such effect on the record during the proceeding in which the testimony 20 || is received, or (11) by written notice served on counsel of record in this Litigation within thirty (30) 21 || business days after the receipt of the draft or final transcript (whichever is received earlier) of such 22 || proceeding (as used herein, the term “draft transcript” does not include an ASCII or rough 23 || transcript). However, before such thirty (30) day period expires, all testimony, exhibits and 24 || transcripts of depositions or other testimony shall be treated as Protected Documents. All portions 25 || of transcripts not designated as Confidential within the time frame provided herein shall be deemed 26 || not confidential. 27 11. If any party disagrees with the designation of all or part of a deposition transcript 28 || designated as “Protected” pursuant to Paragraph 10 above, such party must notify the designating _A. 1 || party in a written letter and identify the testimony (by line and page designation) and the specific 2 || grounds for the objection to the designation. If the parties are unable to resolve the issue of 3 || confidentiality regarding the challenged deposition testimony, the designating party will thereafter 4 || timely apply to the Court to set a hearing for the purpose of establishing that the challenged 5 || deposition testimony is confidential. The designated deposition testimony at issue, and any related 6 || exhibits, will continue to be treated as a Protected Document, in accord with its respective 7 || designation, pending determination by the Court as to the confidential status. 8 12. All documents that are filed with the Court that contain any portion of any Protected 9 || Document or information taken from any Protected Document shall be filed under seal by following 10 || the protocols for sealed filings in this Court. The parties agree that there is good cause and there 11 |} exist compelling reasons to seal the requested information. However, if a party believes that 2 12 |} documents designated as Protected Documents cannot or should not be sealed, pursuant to the | ie 13 || protocols and rules in this Court, then the party wishing to file the materials shall particularly 14 |} identify the documents or information that it wishes to file to the Producing Party, in writing. The 1 15 || parties will then meet and confer, in a good faith effort to resolve the dispute. Failing agreement, | 16 || the party wishing to file the materials must request a ruling from the Court on whether the Protected 17 || Documents in question must be submitted under seal. The Producing Party shall have the burden 18 || of justifying that the materials must be submitted under seal. Absent written permission from the 19 || Producing Party or a court Order denying a motion to seal, a receiving party may not file in the 20 || public record any Protected Documents. 21 13. To the extent the Producing Party is requested to produce documents it has determined 22 || should not be subject to the sharing provision of this protective order in paragraph 6(f), the 23 || Producing Party will designate such documents as “Non-Sharing.” Documents designated as ““Non- 24 || Sharing” shall not be shared under paragraph 6(f). Ifa receiving party disagrees with the “Non- 25 || Sharing” designation, the party will follow the procedure set forth in paragraph 4 above. 26 14. With respect to Protected Documents designated as “Non-Sharing,” within one hundred 27 || and twenty (120) days after the conclusion of this case, counsel for the parties who received 28 || Protected Documents, including any documents that any such party disclosed to any person 5] 1 || described in paragraph 6(b) or (c) above, shall either (a) return to the Producing Party the Protected 2 || Documents; or (b) securely destroy the Protected Documents and certify such destruction to Ford 3 || (or the Producing Party) within one hundred and fifty (150) days after the conclusion of this case. 4 15. With respect to documents designated as “Sharing” or “Subject to Protective Order,” 5 || Counsel for the parties shall not be required to return the Protected Documents to the Producing 6 || Party after the conclusion of this case and may retain the documents pursuant to the terms of this 7 || Order. 8 16. Submission to regulatory agency or governmental entity: 9 a. This protective order shall not be construed to prohibit the Producing Party’s 10 disclosure or production of safety-related information to a regulatory agency 11 or governmental entity with an interest in the safety-related information. 2 12 Material subject to this protective order may only be disclosed to a regulatory | ie 13 agency or governmental entity with an interest in the safety-related 14 information by the Producing Party, and such disclosure shall be made 1 15 pursuant to 49 CFR 512 or similar applicable rules. | 16 b. If other parties to this protective order have a reasonable belief that certain 17 documents are safety-related and need to be disclosed to a regulatory agency 18 or governmental entity, they are not prohibited from advising the regulatory 19 agency or governmental entity that they believe such documents were 20 produced in this case, however, any disclosure of such documents shall 21 adhere to the procedure described in Paragraph 16(a). 22 17. Inadvertent or unintentional production of documents or information containing 23 || confidential information that should have been designated as Protected Document(s) shall not be 24 || deemed a waiver in whole or in part of the party's claims of confidentiality. 25 18. The parties may disclose and produce responsive documents to each other in this 26 || litigation, and seek to do so without risking waiver of any attorney-client privilege, work product 27 || or other applicable privilege or protection. As such, the parties will adhere to the following 28 || procedures with regard to the production of privileged or protected material, should that occur: _k. ] a. The production of documents (including both paper documents and 2 electronically stored information or “ESI”) subject to protection by the 3 attorney-client and/or work product doctrine or by another legal privilege 4 protecting information from discovery, shall not constitute a waiver of any 5 privilege or other protection, provided that the Producing Party notifies the 6 receiving party, in writing, of the production after its discovery of the same. 7 b. If the Producing Party notifies the receiving party after discovery that 8 privileged materials (hereinafter referred to as the “Identified Materials”) 9 have been produced, the Identified Materials and all copies of those 10 materials shall be returned to the Producing Party or destroyed or deleted, on 11 request of the Producing Party. The Producing Party will provide a privilege 2 12 log providing information upon request or if required by the Federal Rules | ie 13 of Civil Procedure and applicable case law to the receiving party at the time 14 the Producing Party provides the receiving party notice of the Identified 1 15 Materials. If the receiving party has any notes or other work product | 16 reflecting the contents of the Identified Materials, the receiving party will 17 not review or use those materials unless a court later designates the Identified 18 Materials as not privileged or protected. 19 c. The Identified Materials shall be deleted from any systems used to house the 20 documents, including document review databases, e-rooms and any other 21 location that stores the documents. The receiving party may make no use of 22 the Identified Materials during any aspect of this matter or any other matter, 23 including in depositions or at trial, unless the documents have been 24 designated by a court as not privileged or protected. 25 d. The contents of the Identified Materials shall not be disclosed to anyone who 26 was not already aware of the contents of them before the notice was made. 27 The receiving party must take reasonable steps to retrieve the Identified 28 Materials if the receiving party disclosed the Identified Materials before □□ ] being notified. 2 e. If any receiving party is in receipt of a document from a Producing Party 3 which the receiving party has reason to believe is privileged, the receiving 4 party shall in good faith take reasonable steps to promptly notify the 5 Producing Party of the production of that document so that the Producing 6 Party may make a determination of whether it wishes to have the documents 7 returned or destroyed pursuant to this Stipulation and Order. 8 f. The party returning the Identified Materials may move the Court for an order 9 compelling production of some or all of the Identified Material returned or 10 destroyed, but the basis for such motion may not be based on the fact or 11 circumstances of the production. 2 12 g. The disclosure of Identified Materials in this action is not a waiver of the | 13 attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine or any other asserted 14 privilege in any other federal or state proceeding, pursuant to the Federal | 15 Rules of Civil Procedure. | 16 19. No provision of this stipulated order shall constitute a concession by any party that any 17 || documents are subject to protection by the attorney-client privilege, the work product doctrine or 18 || any other potentially applicable privilege or doctrine. No provision of this stipulated order is 19 || intended to waive or limit in any way either party’s right to contest any privilege claims that may 20 || be asserted with respect to any of the documents produced except to the extent set forth herein. 21 20. In the event that a party inadvertently produces a confidential, commercially sensitive, 22 || or proprietary document without a confidentiality designation as permitted by this Order, the 23 || following procedures shall apply: 24 a. The Producing Party shall, within fourteen (14) days of the discovery of the 25 disclosure, notify the other party in writing. The party receiving such notice 26 shall promptly destroy the document, including any copies it has, or return 27 the document on request of the Producing Party. Within ten (10) days after 28 such document is returned or its destruction certified, the Producing Party ] will produce a new version of any such document that was returned or 2 destroyed, which will contain the appropriate confidentiality designation. 3 b. If the receiving party disputes the Producing Party’s claim of confidentiality, 4 that party may move the Court to challenge the confidential designation in 5 accordance with Paragraph 4 of this Order. If the receiving party elects to 6 file such a motion, the receiving party may retain possession of the 7 document, but shall treat it in accordance with the terms of the Protective 8 Order pending resolution of the motion. If the receiving party's motion 1s 9 denied, the parties shall promptly comply with Paragraph 20(a) of this Order. 10 c. The production of such document does not constitute a waiver of any claim 11 of confidentiality as set forth in this order or any other matter in any other 2 12 Jurisdiction, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. | ie 13 21. This Protective Order may not be waived, modified, abandoned or terminated, in whole 14 |] or part, except by an instrument in writing signed by the parties. If any provision of this Protective 1 15 || Order shall be held invalid for any reason whatsoever, the remaining provisions shall not be affected | 16 || thereby. 17 22. After termination of this litigation, the provisions of this Order shall continue to be 18 || binding. This Court retains and shall have jurisdiction over the parties and recipients of the 19 || Protected Documents for enforcement of the provisions of this Order following termination of this 20 || litigation. 21 || /// 22 || /// 23 || /// 24 || /// 25 || /// 26 || /// 27 | /// 28 || /// _Q. 1 23. This Protective Order shall be binding upon the parties hereto, upon their attorneys, and 2 || upon the parties’ and their attorneys’ successors, executors, personal representatives, 3 || administrators, heirs, legal representatives, assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, employees, agents, 4 || independent contractors, or other persons or organizations over which they have control. Approved 5 || by Counsel for all parties, by their signature below. 6 7 || DATED this 4th day of April, 2024. DATED this 4th day of April, 2024. 8 SNELL & WILMER L.L.P. BERTOLDO CARTER SMITH & CULLEN 9 10 /s/ Dawn Davis /s/ Cliff Marcek Vaughn A. Crawford, Esq. Brett A. Carter, Esq. 11 Nevada Bar No. 7665 Nevada Bar No. 5904 Dawn L. Davis, Esq. Cliff W. Marcek, Esq. g ]| Nevada Bar No. 13329 Nevada Bar No. 5061 2 3883 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 1100 7408 W. Sahara Avenue | a2 13 Las Vegas, Nevada 89169 Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 14 Attorneys for Defendant Ford Motor Attorneys for Plaintiffs | 15 Company 3 27 16 18 19 || IT ISSO ORDERED. 20 || DATED: 4/5/2024 LK pur le AO Een, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 |IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any motions to seal must be made pursuant to Kamanaka v. Cit 24 || & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 2006). 25 26 27 28 _1N_ 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 MARIA BRIDENBAUGH, Case No.: 2:24-cv-00188-GMN-BNW INDIVIDUALLY; and JOHN 4 BRIDENBAUGH,, Individually, 5 Plaintiffs EXHIBIT A TO STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 6 Vv. 7 FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a Delaware 8 Corporation, DOES 1 Through 20; and ROE BUSINESS ENTITIES 1 Through 20 ° Defendant 10 11 AFFIDAVIT OF , being duly sworn and 2 12 || personally appearing before the undersigned attesting officer, duly authorized by law to administer 13 |} oaths, deposes and says that the within statements are true and correct: 15 I have read the Stipulated Sharing and Non-Sharing Protective Order attached hereto, and I | 16 || understand its terms and meanings. 2. 18 I agree that my signature below submits me to the jurisdiction of the United States District 19 |} Court, District of Nevada in the above captioned case and binds me to the provisions of the 20 || Stipulated Sharing and Non-Sharing Protective Order, including to all promises undertaken in the 21 || Order, as if originally agreed by me. 22 Further Affiant sayeth not. 23 This dayoff ,20_.. 24 25 AFFIANT = =——“‘“‘“C;C;C;*‘:S™ 26 27 28 _11-_ 1 SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me 2 || this day of , . 3 4 || NOTARY PUBLIC Name: 5 || No.: My Commission Expires: 6 7 8 9 10 1] 2 12 | (2B 228 | 1 27 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 _19_.