Federal Judiciary

Counsel Ordered to Meet and Confer for Deposition Confidentiality Designations

By Michael C. Smith

Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions v. Intersil, 4:08cv451

Judge: Don Bush

Holding: Motion to Dedesignate Depositions TAKEN and RUN WITH

You have to read this one to appreciate it.  Download TAOS v Intersil Defendant moved to dedesignate a deposition as confidential. Judge Bush reviews the deposition statements and indicates that he doesn't think at least parts are terribly confidential.  "The parties should now get the drift of the Court?s position on this," he concludes.  "Much of this is just plain silly."  he then orders the following:

The Court refuses to issue a ruling on this matter unless the parties conduct meaningful discussions. Therefore, the motion (Dkt. 63) is ORDERED STRICKEN from the record for both parties? refusal to engage in civil, professional, and meaningful discussions. The Court notes that an unreasonable failure to meet and confer in accordance with the very detailed provisions of Local Rule CV-7(h) violates Local Rule AT-3 and is grounds for disciplinary action. See E.D. TEX. L.R.CV-7(h).
Within seven (7) days of the date of this Order, counsel are instructed to sit down and meet and confer, line by line, as to the entire deposition. What is truly in dispute should be designated by page and line number and should indicate the applicable portion of the Protective Order. Written designation by TAOS is to be served on Intersil within 24 hours of the sit and confer. If Intersil opposes the designation, it is directed to submit the opposition in writing within 24 hours of TAOS?s designation. The Court will then rule on any disputed designations. If the Court finds that any one party has been unreasonable or is engaging in gamesmanship, the Court will consider an appropriate motion for sanctions for discovery abuse. By failing to comply with the rules of this Court, the attorneys in this case are unnecessarily incurring expenses on behalf of their clients, and, as such, all counsel are directed to serve a copy of this Order on their clients.

(Emphasis mine). 

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on March 04, 2010 (boomark / email).