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  • ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP  vs.  BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC, et alPROPERTY document preview
  • ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP  vs.  BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC, et alPROPERTY document preview
  • ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP  vs.  BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC, et alPROPERTY document preview
  • ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP  vs.  BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC, et alPROPERTY document preview
  • ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP  vs.  BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC, et alPROPERTY document preview
  • ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP  vs.  BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC, et alPROPERTY document preview
  • ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP  vs.  BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC, et alPROPERTY document preview
  • ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP  vs.  BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC, et alPROPERTY document preview
						
                                

Preview

CAUSE NO. DC-20-17150 ROYAL LAND ACQUISITION, LP, IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF §§§§§§§§§§§§§§ PlaintijY, v. BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, LLC; ROYAL PRESTON PARTNERS, LLC; DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS PETER FONBERG, AS TRUSTEE 0F THE JEANNETTE SCHWARTZ TRUST; And FONBERG REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS, LTD., Defendants. 95th JUDICIAL DISTRICT AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER This matter came before the Court on the Joint Motion for Entry of Agreed Protective Order of Plaintiff Royal Land Acquisition, LP (“Plaintiff”) and Defendants Burk Realty Investments, LLC, Royal Preston Partners, LLC, Peter Fonberg, as Trustee of the Jeannette Schwartz Trust, and Fonberg Real Estate Investment, Ltd. (“Defendants”) (collectively, the “Parties” and each, individually, a “Party”). WHEREAS, Plaintiff instituted the above-captioned lawsuit (the “Lawsuit”) against Defendants; and WHEREAS, certain documents the Parties will or may produce in connection with the Lawsuit contain or may contain material of a confidential and/or proprietary nature, including trade secrets or other confidential research, development, security, sensitive personal, financial, or commercial information; and AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER Page 1 3775163V2 WHEREAS, the Parties believe that no less restrictive means than restricting the use and disclosure of these confidential documents will adequately and effectively protect the specific interests asserted. NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties and their attorneys agree, and the Court ORDERS, as follows: l. This Agreed Protective Order (the “Order”) shall govern the production of documents and other information or material in this case produced by any Party (as such term is used in Paragraph 7.0., below) during the course of discovery or pre-trial procedures in the Lawsuit to the extent that the producing Party invokes the provisions of this Order as to such documents or other information or material by taking the action specified below. Documents produced in this action by non-parties (“Producing Non-Party”) pursuant to a subpoena or other request may also be subject to the provisions of this Order if a Party or the Producing Non-Party takes the action specified herein to designate produced documents as “Confidential.” 2. Documents or information may be designated as “Confidential” for purposes of this Order by a Party or a Producing Non-Party if the designating party in good faith reasonably believes that the documents or information contain trade secrets or other confidential research, development, security information, or sensitive personal, financial, or commercial information. 3. Any document or thing produced by any Party or Producing Non-Party or any testimony taken in this action may be designated by a Party as “Confidential.” Only a Party or Producing Non-Party to this action may so designate discovery or pre-trial information exchanged by marking “Confidential” on documents produced pursuant to discovery or exhibit exchange or on those specific portions of interrogatory answers deemed confidential, or by stating on the record that portions of live testimony offered at a hearing or trial are to be treated as confidential. AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER Page 2 3775163v2 4. With respect to deposition testimony, a Party may designate specific portions of a witness’s deposition testimony as “Confidential” by either identifying on the record those portions of the testimony which are to be treated as confidential or, in writing, identifying confidential portions of the witness’s testimony within thirty (30) days after a transcript of the deposition has been prepared and received by the Parties from the court reporter. This Order does not prohibit a Party from using excerpts from a deposition transcript in accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Excepting such use, the transcript shall be maintained as confidential pursuant to the terms of this Order during the thirty (30) days following receipt of any deposition transcript. 5. Documents consisting of multiple pages may be marked as “Confidential” under this Order as follows: a. Counsel shall make reasonable efforts to prevent documents and information that are not of the type specified in paragraph 2, above, fiom being marked “Confidential.” b. Documents and information that are of the type specified in paragraph 2, above, may be designated confidential by marking each page of the document as “Confidential.” 6. Nothing in this Order is intended to nullify or terminate any confidentiality provisions that might apply to a document under the terms of any other order or agreement concerning confidentiality entered by any Court in any other case. Moreover, nothing in this Order shall prevent any Party or Producing Non-Party from seeking permission to designate any document, discovery response, deposition testimony, exhibit, thing, or other material as “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” or from seeking other protection designed to protect the confidential material of the Party or Producing Non-Party. 7. After conferring with the other Party in an attempt to resolve any dispute regarding any confidentiality designation, any Party may challenge a designation of documents or information as “Confidential” by moving for an order determining whether such designation was AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER Page 3 3775163V2 properly claimed pursuant to the standards set forth above and applicable law. The “Confidential” designation will remain in effect until the Court orders otherwise. The burden of establishing that the document should be treated as confidential rests upon the Party designating the same as “Confidential.” 8. A Party shall not be obligated to challenge the propriety of a designation of certain material as “Confidential” at the time made, and a failure to do so shall not preclude a subsequent challenge. 9. These procedures are intended solely to facilitate the proceedings in this Lawsuit. The failure to object to the designation of information as “Confidential” shall not be an admission or an agreement that the information so designated constitutes or contains confidential or secret information. 10. Confidential material produced and designated as such in this Lawsuit shall be used by that Party solely in connection with, and only as necessary for, the Lawsuit and any related appellate proceedings, and shall not be used for any other purpose, including, without limitation, any other litigation or business purpose including any other court or administrative proceeding whether in a state or federal forum, and the appeal of any such judicial or administrative proceeding. Confidential material and information derived from Confidential material shall not be disclosed by the Party receiving production of the same except to the following persons: a. Counsel of record, including attorneys in the same firm, counsel associated with counsel of record for this cause, and counsel for any Party to this action; b. Paralegal, stenographic, clerical, and secretarial personnel regularly employed by, or contracted with, counsel referenced in subparagraph (a); c. A Party, as currently named, or any officer, director, employee, agent, counsel employees, contractors, or in-house legal personnel of a Party or any parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of a Party as necessary for the Party’s participation in the Lawsuit; AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER Page 4 3775163v2 d. A Party’s auditors and regulators, as may incidentally occur as part of an auditing or regulatory function; e. The jury and court personnel, including stenographic reporters engaged in the proceedings, as are necessarily incident to preparation for trial and trial of this action; and f. Any outside expert or prospective expert retained or anticipated to be retained in connection with this action by any Party, and any Witness, consultant, or prospective Witness associated with discovery, preparation for trial and/or the trial of this action, provided that prior to disclosure of any confidential information or material, counsel of record for the Party making such disclosure shall provide a copy of this order to the person(s) to Whom such disclosure is made and obtain a signed and dated written acknowledgment stating as follows: “I, [name], have read the attached Agreed Protective Order and I understand that l am bound by the terms contained therein. l further submit myself to the jurisdiction of, and venue in, the 95th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas, for the purpose of resolving any challenge to my obedience to the terms of this Agreed Protective Order.” 11. No person having access to any Confidential material by reason of the production of the same in this Lawsuit shall disclose in any manner its contents to any person other than those described in the preceding paragraph. No such disclosure shall be made for any purpose other than those specified in this Order. 12. In the course of producing documents or information in this case, the Parties recognize that documents may be inadvertently or unintentionally produced, which contains or concerns confidential or arguably confidential matters. The giving or public filing of any such documents or testimony shall not constitute a general or subject matter waiver of this Order, nor shall any such inadvertent disclosure preclude a Party or a Producing Non-Party from thereafter designating such information or document as “Confidential” for purposes of this Order as set forth herein above. 13. If confidential information is to be filed with the Court, it shall be the responsibility of the filing Party to ensure that all such confidential information and all documents containing AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER Page 5 3775163V2 such confidential information are filed under seal in a sealed envelope labeled “Confidential pursuant to terms of Agreed Protective Order,” or via an equivalent procedure as directed by the Clerk or Court. This Paragraph 13 shall not affect the ability of the Court to consider confidential information filed under seal in ruling upon any appropriate request for relief that relies in Whole or in part on properly-filed confidential information. 14. In the event a Party wishes to use any confidential information in any affidavits, briefs, memoranda of law, or other papers filed in Court in this action, such affidavits, briefs, memoranda of law, or other papers so filed shall be designated as “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION — SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER” and shall be treated by the Court in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 15. At the conclusion of trial and of any appeals or upon other termination of this Lawsuit, all Confidential material received under the provisions of this Order (including, without limitation, Confidential material in the possession of any outside expert) shall be destroyed or returned to the person producing same within ninety (90) days of a written request for return or destruction of any Party or Producing Non-Party; provided, however, that this provision shall not apply to transcripts of depositions, pleadings, or exhibits to pleadings actually filed of record, or trial testimony, or other sworn statements of witnesses. The provisions of this Order, insofar as they restrict the communication and use of Confidential material or information derived from Confidential material, shall continue to be binding upon all persons, including but not limited to outside experts, who are subject to the terms of this order until the further order of this Court. 16. In the event that any person or Party violates or threatens to Violate any term of this Order, the person or Party aggrieved by such violation or threatened violation may seek injunctive relief or such other similar relief as the Court may determine to be appropriate. AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER Page 6 3775163v2 17. The Parties (with the consent of a Producing Non-Party if applicable) may by written agreement waive or modify any term or provision of this Order. Nothing in this Order shall be construed as a waiver of any right to object to the furnishing of information in response to discovery on any basis, except that, after the entry of this Order, a Party may not refuse to furnish information in response to discovery solely on the basis that the information is confidential. 18. This Order is binding upon the Parties to this action and Producing Non-Parties, their officers, agents, contractors, employees, and attorneys, and upon those persons, including without limitation, outside experts in active concert or participation with them, and others identified in Paragraph 10 (including subparts) who receive actual notice of this Order by personal service or otherwise, who avail themselves of the benefits of this Order, and/or who execute the acknowledgement contemplated in Paragraph 10. The Court retains jurisdiction over all such persons for the purpose of enforcing this Order. 19. It is specifically acknowledged and agreed that the production of any documents pursuant to the terms of this Order shall not act as a waiver of any privilege applicable to such document, including but not limited to, the attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, proprietary information privilege, joint defense or common interest privilege, and/or any protection or limitation under a confidentiality agreement or protective order. Furthermore, the production of privileged or work-product protected documents, ESI, or other information in this case, whether inadvertent or otherwise, is not a waiver of the privilege or protection from discovery in this case or in any other federal or state proceeding. This provision shall not serve to limit a party’s right to conduct a review of documents, ESI or information (including metadata) for relevance, responsiveness, and/or segregation of privileged and/or protected information before production. This provision shall supplant the requirements contained in Texas Rule of Evidence AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER Page 7 3775163V2 511(b)(2) and, pursuant to Texas Rule of Evidence 511(b)(3) and/or (4), shall provide the maximum protection allowed by law. 20. The Parties acknowledge that a Party or Producing Non-Party may have acquired, before this Lawsuit commenced, and may maintain in the ordinary course of business, copies of documents which have also been produced and designated as “Confidential” for purposes of this Lawsuit (e.g., bank statements maintained by a bank Party). Nothing herein shall be construed to limit a Party’s use of such documents in the ordinary course of the Party’s business, a “Confidential” designation made for purposes of this litigation notwithstanding. 27th IT IS SO ORDERED this July day of , 2022. 7mm JUDGE PRESIDING [\CHRJEFHD PI{()T]E(TTI‘7F3()I{1)FHR IPage 8 3775163V2 APPROVED AS TO FORM AND AGREED TO BY: /s/ Richard M. Abernathy /s/ Eric W. Pinker Richard M. Abernathy Eric W. Pinker State Bar No. 00809500 State Bar No. 16016550 rabemathy@abernathy-law.com epinker@1ynnllp.com ABERNATHY, ROEDER, BOYD & LYNN PINKER HURST & HULLETT, P.C. SCHWEGMANN, LLP 1700 Redbud B1Vd., Suite 300 2100 Ross Avenue, Suite 2700 McKinney, Texas 75069 Dallas, Texas 75201 Telephone: (214) 544-4000 (2 14) 98 1 -3800 Telephone Facsimile: (214) 544-4040 (214) 98 1 -3 839 Facsimile /s/ Andrew P. Speicher ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDAN TS Andrew P. Speicher BURK REALTY INVESTMENTS, State Bar No. 24027878 LLC; ROYAL PRESTON PARTNERS, drew.speicher@figdav.com LLC; PETER FONBERG, AS FIGARI + DAVENPORT, LLP TRUSTEE OF THE JEANNETTE 901 Main Street, Suite 3400 SCHWARTZ TRUST; AND Dallas, TX 75202 FONBERG REAL ESTATE Tel: 214.939.2000 INVESTMENTS, LTD. Fax: 214.939.2090 ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER Page 9 3775163V2