Rodriguez v. Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company ( 2024 )

Nevada BarNo. 11735 2 SCOTT B. VAN ALFEN, ESQ. Nevada Bar No. 5532 3 CHRISTIAN,JOHNSON,SLUGA, 4 &MUSHMECHE, LLC 8985 So. Eastern Avenue, Suite 200 5 Las Vegas, Nevada 89123 Telephone: (702) 362-6666 6 Facsimile: (702) 362-2203 Attorneys for Defendant 7 BROTHERHOOD MUTUAL INSURANCE 8 COMPANY 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 11 MAYRA RODRIGUEZ, an individual, Case No.: 2:23-cv-02108-MMD-BNW MARIO RODRIGUEZ, an individual, 12 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE Plaintiffs, ORDER 13 14 v. 15 BROTHERHOOD MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, a Foreign Corporation; DOE 16 INSURANCE COMPANY(IES) 1 through 40; DOE INSURANCE AGENT(S) 1 through 40; 17 DOE INSURANCE AGENCY(IES) 1 through 18 40; DOE(S) 1 through 40; and ROE CORPORATION(S) 1 through 40; inclusive, 19 Defendants. 20 21 COMES NOW, Defendant BROTHERHOOD MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY 22 (hereinafter “Defendant”), by and through its counsel of record, the law firm of CHRISTIAN, 23 JOHNSON, SLUGA & MUSHMECHE, LLC, and Plaintiff, MAYRA RODRIGUEZ and MARIO 24 RODRIGUEZ, by and through their counsel of record, EGLET ADAMS EGLET HAM 25 HENROID, and enter into this stipulated protective order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 26 Procedure26(c), hereby submit this Stipulated Protective Order and state as follows: 27 /// 28 /// 2 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 3 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of 4 confidential, proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 5 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 6 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following 7 Stipulated Protective Order. 8 The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 9 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 10 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under 11 the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in section X(C) below, 12 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 13 seal; rather, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure set forth the procedures that must be followed and 14 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material 15 under seal. 16 II. 17 DEFINITIONS 18 A. Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 19 information or items under this Order. 20 B. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how it is 21 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule 22 of Civil Procedure 26(c). 23 C. Counsel (without qualifier): Counsel of Record, including all attorneys in 24 counsel’s firm and their support staff. 25 D. Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designated information or items 26 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 27 E. Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of the 28 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other 2 disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 3 F. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 4 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert 5 witness or as a consultant in this action. 6 G. Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other 7 legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 8 H. Party: Any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 9 consultants, retained experts, and Counsel. 10 I. Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 11 Material in this action. 12 J. Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support services 13 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and 14 organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and 15 subcontractors. 16 K. Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 17 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 L. Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 19 Producing Party. 20 III. 21 SCOPE AND GOOD CAUSE 22 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 23 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) 24 all copies, excerpts, summaries or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 25 conversations or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 26 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not, however, cover the 27 following information: (1) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to 28 aReceivingParty orbecomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as 2 public record though trial or otherwise; and (2) any information known to the Receiving Party 3 prior to this disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who 4 obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating 5 Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 6 This action is in material part a contractual action against her own insurance carrier allegedly 7 stemming from the injuries of Plaintiff, Mayra Rodriguez, who was involved in an automobile 8 accident. Disclosures in this matter may include company files containing information of third 9 parties not parties to this litigation, and implicates certain specific privacy concerns associated 10 therewith. This litigation will also involve the review and analysis of various documents including, 11 but not limited to, underwriting files (including, but not limited to, home office, regional office, 12 local or other office) pertaining to the Policy from the time the application for the Policy was first 13 submitted up to and including the present, including, but not limited to, the file folder or file folders 14 themselves; adjacent exhibit folders; all documents, communications and investigative reports 15 regarding the Policy, including inter-office memoranda or notes pertaining to the issuance of the 16 Policy; and any and all documents communications or statements made between Brotherhood and 17 other parties, regarding the issuance of the Policy. Good cause exists to grant the parties’ request 18 for a Protective Order to maintain the confidentiality of third persons’ personal information, to 19 protect the business records and proprietary information of the Defendants, and to allow the parties 20 to exchange information in the most expeditious fashion possible, with a minimum burden, 21 expense, dispute, and delay. 22 This Protective Order is entered for the purpose of facilitating the exchange of documents 23 and information among the Parties to this litigation without involving the Court unnecessarily in 24 the process. The entry of this Protective Order does not preclude any Party from seeking further 25 order of this Court pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). Nothing in this Protective 26 Order, nor the production of any information or document under the terms of this Protective Order, 27 nor any proceedings pursuant to this Protective Order, shall be deemed to be a waiver of any rights 28 or objections to challenge the authenticity or admissibility of any document, testimony, or other 2 oppose production of any information on the grounds of attorney-client privilege, work product 3 doctrine, or any other privilege or protection provided under the law. 4 IV. 5 DURATION 6 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 7 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order 8 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims 9 and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; or (2) final judgment herein after the 10 completion and exhaustion of all appeals, re-hearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, 11 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to 12 applicable law. 13 V. 14 DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 A. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 16 Each Party or Non-Party that designated information or items for protection under this 17 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 18 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of 19 material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions 20 of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are 21 not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 22 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 23 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 24 unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary 25 expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated 27 for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other 28 Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 2 (see, e.g., second paragraph of Section V(B), below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, 3 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 4 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 6 1. For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,but 7 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that 8 the Producing Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that 9 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a 10 pagequalifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 11 protected portions (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 12 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials 13 available for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the 14 inspecting Party has indicated which material it would like copied and 15 produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material 16 made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the 17 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the 18 Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify 19 for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 20 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to 21 each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the 22 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 23 identify the protection portions (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 24 margins). 25 2. For testimony given in deposition proceedings, that the Designating Party 26 identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, , all protected 27 testimony. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits that may 28 reveal Protected Material must be separately bound by the court reporter and 2 Protective Order. This provision does not apply to any court hearings or trial 3 testimony. 4 3. For information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 5 other tangibleitems, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 6 exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored 7 thelegend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 8 or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall 9 identify the protected portion(s). 10 C. Inadvertent failure to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 11 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 12 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 13 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is 14 treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. Plaintiffs do not waive their right to object 15 to any documents or information later designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” after it was produced 16 without a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation pursuant to the terms of the Protective Order. 17 VI. 18 CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 19 A. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 20 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality 21 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 22 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to 23 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 24 original designation is disclosed. Written notice of the challenge must be sent to the designating 25 party’s counsel who then has fourteen (14) days of receipt of the notice to respond to the challenge. 26 B. Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 27 by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each 28 challenge. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must begin the 2 sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of the notice. In conferring, the Challenging Party 3 must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation is not proper and must give 4 the Designating Party 7 days for an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider 5 the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen 6 designation. 7 C. Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 8 intervention,the DesignatingParty shall file and serve a motion for a Protective Order to maintain 9 confidentiality of documents and information within 21 days of the initial notice of challenge or 10 within 14 days of the parties agreeing that the meet and confer process will not resolve their 11 dispute, whichever is earlier. Each such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration 12 affirming that the movant has complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed in the 13 preceding paragraph. Failure by the Designating Party to make such a motion including the 14 required declaration within 21 days (or 14 days, if applicable) shall automatically waive the 15 confidentiality designation for each challenged designation. 16 Unless the Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing to file a 17 motion to retain confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material 18 in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation 19 until the Courtrules on the challenge. If the designating Party files the motion as described above, 20 then the material in question retains the level of protection to which it is entitled until the Court 21 rules on the motion. If the Designating party fails to file a motion for protective order as described 22 above, then confidentiality is waived. 23 VII. 24 ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 A. Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed 26 or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 27 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only 28 to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation 2 (Final Disposition). Protected material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 3 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under 4 this Order. 5 B. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 6 ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may 7 disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 8 1. the Receiving Party’s Counsel of Record in this action, as well as 9 employees of said Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the 10 information for this litigation; 11 2. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 12 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the 13 “Acknowledgement and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A; 14 3. the Court and its personnel; 15 4. court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock 16 jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation 17 and who have signed the “Acknowledgement and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 18 5. during their deposition, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 19 reasonably necessary; 20 6. Such other persons as hereafter may be designated by written agreement 21 between the parties in this action or by order of the court. 22 VIII. 23 PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 24 LITIGATION 25 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 26 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party 27 must: 28 2 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 3 2. promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 4 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 5 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated 6 Protective Order; and 7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order within seven (7) calendar days of 8 the datewritten notice is given, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce 9 any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the 10 court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating 11 Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection 12 in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 13 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from 14 another court. 15 IX. 16 UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 18 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, 19 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the 20 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected 21 Material, and (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were 22 made of all the terms of this Order. 23 X. 24 MISCELLANEOUS 25 A. Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 26 person to seek its modification by the court in the future. 27 B. Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 28 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or 2 Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence any of the 3 material covered by this Stipulated Protective Order. 4 C. Filing Protected Material. There is a presumption of public access to 5 judicial files and records. A party seeking to file a confidential document under seal must file a 6 motion for leave to file those documents under seal concurrently therewith pursuant to Local 7 Rule IA 10-5. If papers are filed under seal under prior court order, the parties must state on the 8 first page, directly under the case number: “FILED UNDER SEAL UNDER COURT ORDER 9 (ECF No. ___).” All parties shall comply with the requirements of Local Rule IA 10-5 and the 10 Ninth Circuit’s decision in Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 11 2006). This document must be retained by the court as part of the record until further court order. 12 But the court may still require the party to file a redacted copy for the public record. A sealing 13 order will issue only upon a request establishing that the Protected Material at issue is privileged, 14 protectable as a trade secret, or otherwise entitled to protection under the law. If a party’s request 15 to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the Party may file the 16 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. 17 D. Final Disposition. Within 60 days after final termination of this case either 18 by consensual dismissal with prejudice, after final appellate review has been obtained, or after 19 the time for appeal has lapsed without the filing of an appeal by either of the parties, all material 20 and copies containing information designated CONFIDENTIAL shall be returned to the party 21 producing such information, together with any and all summaries, abstracts, notations and 22 compilations containing any Confidential Information. In the alternative, within 60 days after 23 final termination of this case, such materials and copies may be shredded or disposed of in a 24 manner to assure the destruction thereof and declaration certifying such destruction or disposal 25 shall be provided to the party producing such information. Notwithstanding the above, one copy 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 || of the files in this case, including information designated CONFIDENTIAL, may be retained by 2 || counsel of record for each party, subject to the terms 3 || of this Order. 4 5 Dated this 7" day of October, 2024. Dated this 7" day of October, 2024. 6 CHRISTIAN, JOHNSON, SLUGA, EGLET ADAMS EGLET HAM 7 & MUSHMECHE, LLC HENRIOD 8 /s/ Scott B. Van Alfen, Esa. TYLER J. WATSON, ESO. /s/ Brittney Glover, Esa. 9 Nevada Bar No. 11735 TRACY A. EGLET, ESO. SCOTT B. VAN ALFEN, ESO. Nevada Bar No. 6419 10 Nevada Bar No. 5532 BRITTNEY R. GLOVER, ESO. 8985 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 200 Nevada Bar No. 15412 11 Las Vegas, Nevada 89123 400 South 7th Street, 4th Floor Attorneys for Defendants Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 12 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 9 13 14 IT IS SO ORDERED BZ DATED: 10:23 am, October 09, 2024 16 4 17 Gua ly Are 18 BRENDA WEKSLER UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 Respectfully Submitted: 20 CHRISTIAN, JOHNSON, SLUGA, 21 | & MUSHMECHE, LLC. 22 || 4/ Scott B. Van Alfen, Esq. TYLER J. WATSON, ESQ. 23 || Nevada Bar No. 11735 SCOTT B. VAN ALFEN, ESQ. 24 || Nevada Bar No. 5532 8985 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 200 25 || Las Vegas, Nevada 89123 Attorneys for Defendant 27 28 Jones □□ eee From: Brittney Glover Sent: Monday, October 7, 2024 10:37 AM Willow Jones; Scott Van Alfen Subject: RE: [External] Rodriguez v. Brotherhood Mutual: Final Version of Stipulated Protective Order Hi Willow, have permission to affix my e-signature. Thanks. ent , Se] Pe ota ce) i eee ee ere fs tae, 8 Brittney Glover, Esq. BRITTNEY R. GLOVER, ESQ, . p: (702) 450-5400 w: www.egletlaw.com FC PPR DEEP” PPE a: 400 South 7th Street, Suite #400 Las Ve Z ap Fd i) x BRU yee err □□ □□□ be il i i. u 1 | i | Rg ee | rt ‘a nN i an A’ ' a = This transmission (including any attachments) may contain confidential information, privileged material (including material protected by the solicitor-client or other applicable privileges), or constitute non-public information. Any use of this information by anyone other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately reply the sender and delete this information from your system. Use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this transmission by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful. From: Willow Jones Sent: Friday, October 4, 2024 11:06 AM Scott Van Alfen ; Brittney Glover Subject: RE: Rodriguez v. Brotherhood Mutual: Final Version of Stipulated Protective Order Hello Ms. Glover: Thankyou. Willow K. Jones Legal Assistant to TylerJ. Watson,Esq. and Scott B. Van Alfen, Esq. Schnitzer Johnson & Watson, Chtd. LAS VEGAS www.sjwlawfirm.com Christian, Johnson, Sluga & Mushmeche, LLC LAS VEGAS PHOENIX www.cjsmlaw.com 8985 So. Eastern Avenue, Suite 200 Las Vegas, Nevada 89123 Direct: (702) 222-4139 Office: (702) 362-6666 SJW Fax: (702) 362-2203 CJSM Fax: (702) 992-1000 WJones@sjwlawfirm.com NOTE: The information in this communication and any attached documents containing information from the abovelaw firm may beconfidential and/ or privileged. Ifyou arenot theintended recipient, or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you may not read, copy, distribute or use this information. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and then delete all electronic copies and destroy any hard copies. This firm collects debt for creditors. Any information obtained from you as a result of this correspondenceorsubsequently written and/ororal communication will be used for that purpose. However, if you have previously received a discharge in bankruptcy, this message is not and should not be construed as an attempt to collect a debt, but only as an attempt to enforce a lien. This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. From:BrittneyGlover Sent:Tuesday,September17,20244:30PM To:WillowJones Cc:ScottVanAlfen Subject:RE:Rodriguezv.BrotherhoodMutual:FinalVersionofStipulatedProtectiveOrder HiWillow, Sorryforthedelay.ImissedyourFridayemail. MaybeIwastiredthedayIinitiallyreviewedthis,butIaddedafewthingsbackinthatIpreviouslydeleted.Letmeknow ifMr.VanAlfenapproves.Thanks.