UNITED STATES DISTRICT COUR

EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

TEXARKANA DIVISION

THE STATE OF TEXAS,

Plaintiff,

v.

THE AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY; R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY; BROWN & WILLIAMSON TOBACCO CORPORATION; B.A.T. INDUSTRIES, P.L.C.; PHILIP MORRIS, INC.; LIGGETT GROUP, INC.; LORILLARD TOBACCO COMPANY, INC.; UNITED STATES TOBACCO COMPANY; HILL & KNOWLTON, INC.; THE COUNCIL FOR TOBACCO RESEARCH - USA, INC. (Successor to Tobacco Institute Research Committee); and THE TOBACCO INSTITUTE, INC.

Defendants.

Civil Action No. 5:96CV91

November 13, 1996

CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER

Judge: David G. Folsom

Magistrate: Wendell C. Radford

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

1. This order ( Confidentiality Order") shall govern the use and dissemination of all Confidential Material produced within this action.

2. The term "document" or "documents" shall have the same meaning as "writings and recordings" as defined in Rule 1001(1) of the Federal rules of Evidence.

3. "Trade Secret" means documents or information not in the public domain that constitute information so proprietary or competitively sensitive that its disclosure to a competitor would cause competitive injury.

4. Any party to this action or other person who produces or supplies information, documents or other tangible items for use in this action in the course of discovery (hereinafter the "designating party" or the "producing party") may designate as "confidential" any such material that it reasonably and in good faith believes constitutes or contains true trade secret material; provided, however, documents that have been or are hereafter produced in other litigation; and that either are not designated as confidential in that litigation or that otherwise are not subject to restrictions on use or disclosure in that litigation, may not be designated as confidential in this action.

5. "Non-competitor" means a person or entity who is a party to this or other litigation who would not obtain a competitive or commercial advantage resulting from the receipt of trade secret material from a producing party.

6. Documents, information or other tangible items shall be designated as Confidential by marking the words:

CONFIDENTIAL - SUBJECT TO CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER IN CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:96CV9 1, USDC, EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, TEXARKANA DIV.

on the face of the original or photocopy of the document, information, or other tangible item, and upon each page so designated if practicable.

7. Any party may, at any time after production of material designated as confidential, object to its designation by notifying the designating party in writing of that objection and specifying the designated material to which the objection is made. The parties shall, within ten (10) days of service of the written objections, confer concerning the objection. If the objection is not resolved, the party designating the material as confidential shall, within five (5) days of the conference, file and serve a noticed motion to resolve the dispute over the designation of the material and shall bear the burden of proof on the issue. If no such motion is filed within the stated time period, the material will cease to be subject to the protection of this Order. Further, documents determined not to be confidential by any of the courts designated in paragraph 7(a) below shall, by reason of such ruling, cease to be subject to the protection of this Order. The designating party shall, at its expense, provide additional copies to each party who so requests without the stamped designation ' confidential" of any material which ceases to be subject to the protection of this order either by operation of the foregoing provisions or by order of the court.

8. Confidential Material shall be disclosed only to:

a. The Courts and their personnel in this action and in any other action, litigation or lawsuit relating to the manufacture, marketing, sale or distribution, or effects of the use, of tobacco products to which any of the named defendants is a party, provided that, in the case of other actions, a confidentiality order substantially conforming to the terms of this order has been entered in that action.

b. Counsel of record and the respective personnel of the law firms and government law offices representing non-competitor parties in the lawsuits referenced in paragraph 8(a).

c. Investigators, expert and consultants retained or consulted by non-competitor parties or by counsel of record on behalf of non-competitor parties to the lawsuits referenced in paragraph 8(a).

d. Persons who have had previous access to the designated material or the information contained therein.

e. Witnesses and potential witnesses.

f. Any local, state or federal governmental or law enforcement agency, including but not limited to the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Justice Department, states' attorney general, and counsel for units of local government.

9. If a party wishes to disclose any material designated as Confidential to any person not described in paragraph 8 of this Confidential Order, permission to so disclose must be requested from the designating party in writing. If the designating party objects to the proposed disclosure, no such disclosure shall be made unless this Court, upon application by the party requesting such permission, orders otherwise. However, each party may disclose its own Confidential Material without regard to this Confidentiality Order unless otherwise prohibited under an existing order or duty not to do so.

10. Any person to whom the Confidential Material may be shown pursuant to paragraphs 8(d), 8(e), and 8(f) and paragraph 9 hereof shall first be shown and shall read a copy of this Confidentiality Order and shall agree in writing to be bound by its terms by signing a copy of the Confidentiality Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A." The party obtaining the person's signature on the Confidentiality Agreement will retain the original signed agreement.

11. Where any Confidential Material or information derived from confidential material is included in any papers filed with the Court or in a deposition, such papers or depositories shall be marked "CONFIDENTIAL-PROTECTIVE ORDER" and placed in a sealed envelope marked with the caption of the case and held under seal in accordance with the local rules and practices of this court for such pleading and documents.

12. This Confidentiality Order does not affect any party's rights to object to discovery on grounds other than the information sought contains trade secrets.

13. This Confidentiality Order is not intended to govern the use of Confidential Material at any trial of this action. Questions of the protection of Confidential Material during trial will be presented to the Court prior to or during trial as each party deems appropriate.

14. If another court or administrative agency subpoenas or orders production of Confidential Material that a party has obtained under the terms of this Confidentiality Order, or such material is the subject of a public records request to a government party, such party shall promptly notify the party or non-party designating the material as confidential of the pendency of the subpoena, public records request, or order and shall not produce the Confidential Material until the designating party or person has had reasonable time to object or otherwise to take appropriate steps to protect the Confidential Material, unless otherwise ordered by a court.

15. This Confidentiality Order shall not prevent any of the parties from moving this Court for an order that Confidential Material may be disclosed other than in accordance with this Order. This Confidentiality Order is without prejudice to the right of any party to seek modification of it from the Court. It shall remain in effect until such time as it is modified, amended or rescinded by the Court. The Court shall have continuing jurisdiction to modify, amend or rescind this stipulation and order notwithstanding the termination of this action.


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