Ucharima Alvarado v. Western Range Association

• Court: District Court, D. Nevada
• Decided: August 31, 2023
• Docket: 3:22-cv-00249
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 THIERMAN BUCK LLP EDELSON PC LEAH L. JONES, Nev. Bar No. 13161 Natasha Fernández-Silber (Pro Hac Vice)* 2 leah@thiermanbuck.com nfernandezsilber@edelson.com 7287 Lakeside Drive 350 N La Salle Dr., 14th Floor 3 Reno, Nevada 89511 Chicago, IL 60654 Telephone: (775) 284-1500 Tel: 312-589-6370 4 Facsimile: (775) 703-5027 *Admitted in New York and Michigan 5 FAIRMARK PARTNERS, LLP Attorneys for Plaintiff and the Putative Class JAMIE CROOKS, ESQ. (Pro Hac Vice) (Cont’d) 6 jamie@fairmarklaw.com 1825 7th St NW, #821 WOODBURN AND WEDGE 7 Washington, DC 20001 ELLEN JEAN WINOGRAD, Nev. Bar No. 815 8 TOWARDS JUSTICE JOSE TAFOYA, Nev. Bar No. 16011 DAVID H. SELIGMAN, ESQ. (Pro Hac 6100 Neil Road, Ste. 500 9 Vice) Reno, NV 89511 ALEXANDER HOOD, ESQ. (Pro Hac 10 Vice) ewinograd@woodburnandwedge.com alex@towardsjustice.org Telephone: (775) 688-3000 11 PO Box 371680, PMB 44465 Facsimile: (775) 688-3088 Denver, CO 80237 12 Attorneys for Defendant Western Range EDELSON PC Association 13 YAMAN SALAHI, ESQ. (Pro Hac Vice) ysalahi@edelson.com 14 150 California Street, 18th Floor San Francisco, California 94111 15 Attorneys for Plaintiff and the Putative 16 Class 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 19 CIRILO UCHARIMA ALVARADO, On 20 Behalf of Himself and All Others Similarly Case No. 3:22-cv-00249-MMD-CLB Situated; 21 ORDER GRANTING PROPOSED STIPULATED 22 Plaintiff, PROTECTIVE ORDER 23 v. 24 WESTERN RANGE ASSOCIATION, a 25 California non-profit corporation; ELLISON RANCHING COMPANY, a Nevada 26 corporation; JOHN ESPIL SHEEP CO., INC., a Nevada corporation; F.I.M. CORP., a 27 Nevada corporation; THE LITTLE PARIS 1 COMPANY, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company; HOLLAND RANCH, LLC, a 2 Nevada limited liability company; NEED MORE SHEEP CO., LLC, a Nevada limited 3 liability company; and FAULKNER LAND 4 AND LIVESTOCK COMPANY, INC., an Idaho corporation, 5 Defendants. 6 7 THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Joint Motion for Entry of Stipulated 8 Protective Order submitted by Plaintiff Cirilo Ucharima Alvarado and Defendants Western 9 Range Association, Ellison Ranching Company, John Espil Sheep Co., Inc., F.I.M. Corp., The 10 Little Paris Sheep Company, LLC, Borda Land & Sheep Company, LLC, Holland Ranch, LLC, 11 Need More Sheep Co., LLC., and Faulkner Land and Livestock Company, Inc. (hereinafter the 12 “Parties”), by which the Parties agree, and the Court finds, pursuant to FRCP 26(c), that good 13 cause exists to support the entry of a protective order over the discovery and dissemination of 14 certain information deemed confidential by one of the Parties. This Stipulated Protective Order 15 will expedite the disclosure of information and production of documents protected by privilege 16 or statutes, preserve the confidentiality of such information, protect privacy interests of the 17 Parties and their employees, and help to avoid potential discovery disputes related to 18 information that is designated confidential. The Court, being fully advised, hereby ORDERS as 19 follows: 20 GENERAL PROVISIONS 21 1. This Stipulated Protective Order is binding upon all current and Parties to this litigation 22 (including their respective corporate parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors or assigns) and 23 their respective counsel, agents, representatives, officers and employees and any others set 24 forth in this Protective Order. A third party that responds to any discovery request or 25 otherwise participates in this Litigation may avail itself of, and agree to be bound by, the terms 26 and conditions of this Protective Order. When conducting discovery from third parties, the 27 parties to this Litigation shall attach a copy of this Protective Order to any discovery request. 1 2. In this action, at least one of the Parties has sought and/or is seeking Confidential 2 Material (as defined in paragraph 6 below). This Protective Order shall apply to all documents, 3 materials, and information produced, given, or exchanged by any Party or non-party during 4 discovery, including without limitation, documents produced; answers to interrogatories, 5 requests for admission and/or subpoenas; deposition testimony; and other information disclosed 6 pursuant to the disclosure or discovery duties created by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 7 The Parties assert the disclosure of Confidential Material outside the scope of this litigation 8 could result in significant injury to one or more of the Parties’ business or privacy interests, and 9 could result in significant injury to a third party’s privacy interests, as well as significantly 10 erode the attorney-client privilege. The Parties have entered into this Stipulation and request the 11 Court enter this Protective Order for the purpose of preventing the disclosure and use of 12 Confidential Material except as set forth herein. 13 3. As used in this Protective Order, “document” is defined as designated in FRCP 14 34(a)(1)(A). A draft or non-identical copy is a separate document within the meaning of this 15 term. 16 4. This Protective Order may be modified by the Court at any time for good cause shown 17 following notice to all Parties and an opportunity for them to be heard. 18 5. Nothing in this Protective Order shall prevent any Party to this agreement from seeking 19 modification of this Order, from objecting to discovery that the party or other person believes 20 to be improper, or from filing a motion with respect to the manner in which Confidential 21 Material shall be treated at trial. Nothing in this Protective Order shall prejudice the right of 22 any party to contest the alleged relevancy, admissibility, or discoverability of confidential 23 documents or information sought. 24 25 26 CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL 27 6. “Confidential Material” means those documents or personal identifying information that 1 one of the Parties in the manner provided in paragraph 16 below, the disclosure of which the 2 designating party believes may implicate the privacy interests of any Party or non-party and/or 3 information contained in confidential business records and communications by the designating 4 party or non-party with possession or custody of such information. Any information 5 designated by a Party or non-party as confidential will first be reviewed by counsel, and 6 designation will be based on a good faith belief that the information is confidential and entitled 7 to protection under the law, including Rule 26. The documents or information so designated 8 shall be deemed “Confidential Material” subject to this Protective Order. Confidential 9 Material does not include information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a 10 Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party 11 as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of 12 the public record through trial or otherwise. 13 7. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 14 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care 15 to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. 16 The Designating Party must designate for protection only those pages of a document which 17 qualify as Confidential Material, in order to avoid sweeping an entire document unjustifiably 18 within the ambit of this Order, where only some pages contain Confidential Material. 19 Indiscriminate designations of confidentiality are inconsistent with this Order. If it comes to a 20 Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for protection do not 21 qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 22 withdrawing the mistaken designation. 23 8. Confidential Material shall not be disclosed to any person or entity not a party to this 24 lawsuit except as expressly provided herein. Confidential Material shall only be used for 25 purposes of this litigation, including any appeal. Confidential Material shall not be disclosed to 26 any person or entity other than the Parties to this suit, counsel who have entered an appearance 27 in this case and their staff, Judges, Magistrates, law clerks and other clerical personnel of the 1 Court before which the action is pending, and other individuals as designated in paragraph 12 2 of this Protective Order. 3 9. Any Confidential Material produced during the course of this action shall be used solely 4 for the purposes of this litigation and shall not be disclosed or used for any other purpose 5 including, but not limited to, any business, commercial, competitive, or publicity purpose. All 6 obligations and duties arising under this Protective Order shall survive the termination of this 7 action. The parties agree not to disclose Confidential Material to the Press but merely to state 8 that confidentiality precludes such disclosures. 9 10.Nothing herein shall prevent disclosure beyond the terms of this Order if the Court, 10 after notice to all affected Parties, orders such disclosure, or a Designating Party consents to 11 such disclosure. 12 11.It shall be the responsibility of counsel to take reasonable and proper steps to ensure 13 that this Protective Order and all provisions hereof are made known to any person who shall 14 examine Confidential Material as provided herein. Counsel to the Parties are required to advise, 15 instruct and supervise all associates, staff and employees of documents to keep designated 16 Confidential Material confidential in the strictest possible fashion. Counsel and the Parties also 17 agree to such treatment of the information by themselves, and counsel will appropriately 18 instruct their clients as to the protected nature of the information produced pursuant to this 19 Protective Order and the limitations on its use and disclosure. 20 12.All Confidential Material including any and all copies thereof shall be kept by counsel 21 in an appropriately safe and secure place, given its confidential status. Except as otherwise 22 provided, access to any Confidential Material shall be limited solely to the following persons: 23 a. Counsel for the Parties and their associates, legal assistants, and other support 24 employees who have a demonstrable need for such disclosure in order to conduct this litigation, 25 and outside vendors retained by counsel for the Parties, including messenger, copy, coding and 26 other clerical services, including document processing and conversion, archiving and database 27 services, electronic data processing firms and personnel, translators and interpreters; 1 b. Plaintiffs, Defendants, and any officers, directors, agents, or employees of 2 Plaintiff and Defendants who have a need for such disclosure in order to conduct this litigation; 3 c. The author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian 4 or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 5 d. The Court, persons employed by the Court, jury personnel, and stenographers 6 transcribing the testimony or argument at a hearing, trial or deposition in this action, or any 7 appeal therefrom; 8 e. Testifying or non-testifying experts, or other outside consultants (e.g., jury 9 consultants or focus groups), including all personnel and support staff assisting such expert or 10 consultant, who are not employees of the Parties and are utilized for purposes of this litigation; 11 but only after each such person has read this Protective Order and consented in writing to be 12 bound by the provisions thereof as indicated by execution of the Agreement attached hereto as 13 Exhibit A. If any such individual refuses to sign the Agreement, the question whether the 14 witness shall be shown and questioned about the Confidential Material shall be presented to the 15 Court, unless consent of the Designating Party or Parties is provided; 16 f. Witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, and who 17 have been disclosed by any party pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(1)(A)(i) or who are testifying in 18 deposition, and who have been given a copy of this Protective Order and consented in writing 19 to be bound by the provisions thereof as indicated by execution of the Agreement attached 20 hereto as Exhibit A, unless otherwise agreed to by the Designating Party or Parties. If any such 21 witness refuses to sign the Agreement, the question whether the witness shall be shown and 22 questioned about the Confidential Material shall be presented to the Court, unless consent of 23 the Designating Party or Parties is provided; 24 g. Any mediators engaged by the Parties or appointed by Court, and their support 25 staff; 26 h. Any person who has been designated as a Rule 30(b)(6) witness but only for 27 purposes of testimony, deposition or written interrogatories; 1 i. Representatives of any insurance company holding a policy believed in good 2 faith by any party to cover any claim in this lawsuit; but prior to disclosure to any insurance 3 representative, the insurance representative must be informed of and agree to be subject to the 4 provisions of this Protective Order requiring that the documents and information be held in 5 confidence, as indicated by execution of the Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A; 6 j. With the exception of witnesses while testifying at trial, or persons who either 7 authored or previously received Confidential Material, such information may be disclosed to 8 other persons not authorized by this Protective Order only with the mutual agreement in writing 9 between and among counsel for the Parties, in advance of any disclosure to such person, only 10 upon executing the Agreement in Exhibit A. 11 13.Prior to disclosing any Confidential Material to any expressly designated person or 12 entity listed above, counsel shall inform such person of this Protective Order and provide such 13 person with a copy of Exhibit A to be signed acknowledging that he or she has knowledge of 14 this Protective Order and agrees to be bound by its provisions. All such signed Agreements 15 shall be retained by counsel and shall be subject to in camera review by the Court if good cause 16 for review is demonstrated by counsel. 17 14.All copies, excerpts or summaries made, shown or given to those authorized hereby and 18 according to the provisions hereof shall be stamped to indicate the protected and confidential 19 nature of the disclosed information. Review of Confidential Material by counsel, experts or 20 consultants for the litigation will not constitute any waiver of the confidentiality of the 21 document or of any objections to production. The inadvertent, unintentional or in camera 22 disclosure of Confidential Material shall not, under any circumstances, be deemed a waiver, in 23 whole or in part, of any claims of confidentiality. 24 15.All Documents submitted to the Court that attach, quote from, or otherwise reveal 25 Confidential materials or information shall be electronically filed under seal with reference to 26 this Protective Order to ensure that the Documents are protected as set forth in this Protective 27 Order. Unless otherwise permitted by statute, rule, or prior court order, papers filed with the 1 documents under seal, and shall be filed consistent with the court’s electronic filing procedures 2 in accordance with Local Rule IA 10-5. Notwithstanding any agreement among the parties, the 3 party seeking to file a paper under seal bears the burden of overcoming the presumption in 4 favor of public access to papers filed in court. See Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 5 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 2006); Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-78 (9th Cir. 6 2010). If the filing party of Confidential Materials is not the Designating Party, then the filing 7 party need only note in their motion that the material has been designated Confidential by 8 another party; the Designating Party shall then carry the burden to overcome the presumption in 9 favor of public access to papers filed in court, and must file a declaration and may file a brief in 10 support of maintaining the seal within 14 days. The filing party may respond within 7 days. A 11 party that expects to file Confidential Material is encouraged to notify a Designating Party, as 12 well as all other Parties, reasonably in advance of such filing to determine if the Designating 13 Party and other Parties will consent to filing such material without sealing in order to minimize 14 the burdens associated with unnecessary sealing motions; however, failure to provide such 15 advanced notice does not preclude a party from submitting such material provisionally under 16 seal in connection with a filing. 17 16.If, through inadvertence, a party provides any documents or information containing 18 Confidential Material without designating the material as such, the party may subsequently 19 inform the other parties in writing of the Confidential Material status of the documents or 20 information. The parties in receipt of that inadvertently disclosed Confidential Material shall 21 thereafter treat the disclosed material as Confidential Material in accordance with the written 22 notification of the inadvertent disclosure. The Parties in receipt of the inadvertently disclosed 23 Confidential Material shall take reasonable steps to advise persons to whom disclosure was 24 made prior to receipt of a Confidential Material designation of such designation and of this 25 Protective Order, but shall not otherwise be required to retrieve or take any action to protect the 26 confidentiality of information or copies of documents disclosed prior to the receipt of the 27 Confidential Material designation. If a party produces any documents or information that is not 1 as Confidential Material, the receiving party may designate the material as Confidential 2 Material by notifying the other Parties of the designation, and if any other party disagrees with 3 the designation, it may follow the procedure in Paragraph 15. If a party inadvertently produces 4 documents which are subject to the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 5 Parties shall follow the procedures of FRE 502 and FRCP 26(b)(5)(B). 6 17.Where Confidential Material is produced, provided, or otherwise disclosed by a party in 7 response to any discovery request, it will be designated in one of the following manners: 8 a. By imprinting the word “Confidential” on each Confidential page of any 9 document produced (in a manner that will not interfere with their legibility), and in accordance 10 with any requirements specified in the Parties’ separate stipulated Electronically Stored 11 Information (ESI) Order; 12 b. By imprinting the word “Confidential” next to or above any response to a 13 discovery request; and 14 c. With respect to transcribed testimony, whenever a deposition involves the 15 disclosure of Confidential Material, the confidential portions thereof shall be designated as 16 Confidential and subject to this Protective Order. Such designation may be made on the record 17 during the deposition, but must also be made by giving written notice to opposing counsel 18 designating by page and line number which portions are “Confidential” no later than 21 19 calendar days after receipt of the transcribed testimony. During the 21-day period, counsel for 20 the Parties shall treat the entire transcript as if it had been designated as “Confidential.” 21 18.A party may object to the designation of particular documents as Confidential Material 22 by giving written notice to the party designating the disputed information. The written notice 23 shall identify the information to which objection is made and succinctly state the reasons for 24 the challenge. The objection to a designation as Confidential Material may be raised at any 25 time. A Party does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not 26 to mount a challenge promptly after the original designation is disclosed. All counsel shall then 27 make a reasonable, good-faith effort to resolve the discovery dispute without the need for 1 are not fruitful, it will be the obligation of the party designating the information as Confidential 2 to arrange a telephone conference with the Court in accordance with the Court’s Civil Practice 3 Standards. At the conclusion of the court-supervised conference, if the dispute over 4 confidentiality has not been resolved, it will be the obligation of the party designating the 5 information as Confidential to file an appropriate motion within fourteen (14) additional days 6 after the date of the conference, unless the Court orders or the Parties agree to a different 7 timeline, requesting that the Court determine whether the disputed information should be 8 subject to the terms of this Protective Order. If such a motion is timely filed, the disputed 9 information shall be treated as Confidential under the terms of this Protective Order until the 10 Court rules on the motion. In connection with any motion filed under this provision, the party 11 designating the information as confidential shall bear the burden of establishing that good cause 12 exists for the disputed information to be treated as confidential. 13 19.The termination of this action shall not relieve counsel or other persons obligated 14 hereunder from their responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of Confidential Material or 15 pursuant to this Protective Order. 16 20.Three years from termination of this litigation, including any appeals, or at the 17 expiration of any longer time required by counsel’s insurance or ethical obligations, counsel for 18 any party that has received Confidential Material shall destroy the Confidential Material. 19 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, 20 motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, 21 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 22 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that 23 contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order. 24 21.The Court will only retain jurisdiction over this stipulated protective order while a case 25 is pending, and its jurisdiction will cease upon dismissal of the case. 26 22.This Protective Order is not intended to address the admissibility of evidence at trial. If 27 a party seeks to limit the publication of Confidential Material at the trial or any hearing in this 1 || matter, the burden shall be on the party seeking to limit the use of such information to obtain 2 |! relief from the Court in advance of the trial or hearing. 3 Dated this 30th day of August, 2023. 5 || EDELSON, P.C. WOODBURN AND WEDGE 6 By: /s/ Yaman Salahi By: /s/ Ellen Jean Winograd 7 YAMAN SALAHI, ESQ. ELLEN JEAN WINOGRAD, ESQ. NATASHA FERNANDEZ-SILBER, JOSE TAFOYA, ESQ. 8 ESQ. Attorneys for Defendant Attorneys for Plaintiff and Putative Western Range Association 9 || Class 10 SIMONS HALL JOHNSTON, P.C. JERRY SNYDER LAW 12 By: /s/ Anthony Hall By: 13 ANTHONY HALL, ESQ. JERRY SNYDER, ESQ. JONATHAN MCGUIRE, ESQ. Attorney for Defendants 14 DUNCAN BURKE, ESQ. F.I.M. Corp.; Need More Sheep Co. Attorneys for Defendants LLC; 15 Borda Land & Sheep Company, LLC Faulkner Land and Livestock 16 The Little Paris Sheep Co., LLC; John Espil Corp., and Holland Ranch, LLC 17 FABIAN VANCOTT 18 By: /s/ David Sexton 19 DAVID SEXTON, ESQ. 20 Attorneys for Defendant Ellison Ranch 21 22 ORDER IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated this 31st day of August, 2023. * 25 26 UNITED STATES\MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 28 11

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________________________________________________ [print or type full 5 address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 6 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the District 7 of Nevada on _________________[date] in the case of Cirilo Ucharima Alvarado v. Western 8 Range Association, Case No. 3:22-cv-00249-MMD-CLB (D. Nev.). I agree to comply with 9 and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the 11 nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information 12 or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 13 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 15 District of Nevada for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, 16 even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 17 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 18 _____________________________________________________________________________ 19 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my Nevada agent for service of process in 20 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________