John Roe NR 52 v. Doe 1

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: February 24, 2025
• Docket: 5:24-cv-02560
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 Lauren A. Welling (SBN: 291813) lwelling@sssfirm.com 2 Sarah Kissel Meier (SBN: 305315) skmeier@sssfirm.com 3 SLATER SLATER SCHULMAN LLP 8383 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 255 4 Beverly Hills, CA 90211 Telephone: (310) 341-2086 5 Facsimile: (310) 773-5573

6 Attorneys for Plaintiff John Roe NR 52 7

8 Rick Richmond (SBN 194962) rrichmond@larsonllp.com 9 Andrew E. Calderón (SBN 316673) acalderon@larsonllp.com 10 Jina Yoon (SBN 331948) jyoon@larsonllp.com 11 LARSON LLP 555 South Flower Street, 30th Floor 12 Los Angeles, California 90071 Telephone:(213) 436-4888 13 Facsimile: (213) 623-2000

14 Attorneys for Defendants Doe 1, a Utah corporation sole, and Doe 2, a Utah 15 nonprofit corporation

16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 17 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 18 19 JOHN ROE NR 52, Case No. 5:24−cv−02560 JGB-SP 20 Plaintiff, Judge: Hon. Jesus G. Bernal 21 vs. DISCOVERY MATTER: 22 Magistrate Judge: Sheri Pym DOE 1, a corporation; DOE 2, a 23 corporation; DOE 3, an entity of STIPULATED PROTECTIVE unknown form; and DOES 4 to 100, ORDER 24 Inclusive,

25 Defendants.

27 1 1. GENERAL 2 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve 3 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special 4 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 5 prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby 6 stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. 7 The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 8 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public 9 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled 10 to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further 11 acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective 12 Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local 13 Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will 14 be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 15 1.2 Good Cause Statement. 16 This Action arises from allegations of childhood sexual abuse and is likely to 17 involve medical records, psychiatric records, confidential church membership 18 records, and other private information implicating the privacy rights of third parties 19 for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose 20 other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Accordingly, to expedite the flow 21 of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 22 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 23 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 24 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 25 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 26 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 27 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 1 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 2 record of this case. 3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 2.1 Action: John Roe NR 52 v. Doe 1, et al, No. 5:24−cv−02560 JGB-SP 5 (C.D. Cal. 2024). 6 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 7 of information or items under this Order. 8 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 9 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 10 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 11 the Good Cause Statement. 12 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 13 their support staff). 14 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 15 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 16 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 17 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 18 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 19 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 20 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 21 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 22 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 23 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 24 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action, 25 and, for purposes of Defendants, attorneys from Kirton McConkie and their staff. 26 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 27 counsel. 1 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 2 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 3 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 4 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 5 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 6 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff. 7 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 8 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 9 support staffs). 10 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 11 Discovery Material in this Action. 12 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 13 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 14 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 15 and their employees and subcontractors. 16 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 17 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 19 from a Producing Party. 20 3. SCOPE 21 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 22 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 23 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 24 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 25 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 26 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 27 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 1 4. DURATION 2 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court filed information to be introduced at 3 trial, that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this 4 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members 5 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific 6 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of trial. 7 See Kamakana v. City of and Cty. Of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 8 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 9 discovery from “compelling” reasons standard when merits related documents are 10 part of court record). Court filed information that remains confidential and is not 11 made available to the public at trial, shall remain subject to the confidentiality 12 obligations imposed by this Order until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in 13 writing or a court order otherwise directs, even after final disposition of this 14 litigation. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all 15 claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment 16 herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, 17 trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or 18 applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 19 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 21 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 22 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 23 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 24 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 25 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 26 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 27 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 1 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 2 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 3 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 4 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 5 Party to sanctions. 6 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 7 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 8 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 9 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 10 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 11 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 12 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 13 produced. 14 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 15 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 16 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 17 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend 18 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 19 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 20 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 21 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 22 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 23 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 24 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 25 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 26 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 27 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 1 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 2 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 3 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 4 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 5 markings in the margins). 6 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 7 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 8 deposition. 9 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 10 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 11 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 13 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 14 portion(s). 15 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 16 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 17 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 18 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 19 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 20 Order. 21 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 22 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 23 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 24 Scheduling Order. 25 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 26 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must 27 strictly comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3. 1 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 2 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 3 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 4 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 5 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all 6 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to 7 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on 8 the challenge. 9 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 11 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 12 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 13 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 14 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 15 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 16 DISPOSITION). 17 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 18 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 19 authorized under this Order. 20 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 21 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 22 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 23 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 24 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 25 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary 26 to disclose the information for this Action; 27 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 1 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 2 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 4 (d) the Court and its personnel; 5 (e) court reporters and their staff; 6 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 7 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 8 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 10 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 11 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 12 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 13 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 14 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 16 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 17 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 18 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 19 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 21 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 22 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 23 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 24 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 25 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 26 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 27 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 2 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 3 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 4 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 5 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 6 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 8 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 9 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 10 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 11 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 12 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 13 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 14 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 15 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 16 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 18 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 19 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 20 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 21 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 22 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 23 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 24 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 25 confidential information, then the Party shall: 26 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 27 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 2 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 3 specific description of the information requested; and 4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 5 Non-Party, if requested. 6 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 7 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 8 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 9 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 10 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 11 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. 12 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 13 expense of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material. 14 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 16 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 18 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 19 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 20 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 21 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 22 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 23 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 24 PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 26 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 27 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 1 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 2 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 3 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 4 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 5 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 6 protective order submitted to the Court. 7 12. MISCELLANEOUS 8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 11 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 16 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material 17 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 18 specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file 19 under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the 20 Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 21 otherwise instructed by the Court. 22 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 23 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request 24 by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to 25 the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all 26 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any 27 other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the 1 written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to 2 the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 3 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) 4 affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 5 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 6 Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival 7 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal 8 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney 9 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials 10 contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute 11 Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 12 (DURATION). 13 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER 14 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 15 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 16 sanctions. 17 18 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 19 20 Dated: February 11, 2025 SLATER SLATER SCHULMAN LLP

22 By: /s/ Lauren A. Welling Lauren A. Welling 23 Sarah Kissel Meier 24 Attorneys for Plaintiff 25 John Roe NR 52

26 27 1 Dated: February 11, 2025 LARSON LLP

3 By: /s/ Rick Richmond1 Rick Richmond 4 Andrew E. Calderón 5 Jina Yoon 6 Attorneys for Defendants Doe 1, a Utah corporation sole, and Doe 2, a Utah nonprofit 7 corporation 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i), filer hereby attests that all signatories 27 listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have authorized the filing. 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 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issue by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on ________________ [date] in 8 the case of _________________________________________________________ 9 [insert formal name of the case and the number and initials assigned to it by the 10 Court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 11 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 12 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 13 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject 14 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance 15 with the provisions of this Order. 16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 17 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 18 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 19 termination of this action. I hereby appoint _________________________ [print or 20 type full name] of __________________________________________________ 21 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service 22 of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement 23 of this Stipulated Protective Order. 24 Date: ___________________________ 25 City and State where sworn and signed: ____________________________ 26 Printed Name: __________________________ 27 Signature:______________________________ 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 2 3 JOHN ROE NR 52, Case No. 5:24−cv−02560 JGB-SP 4 Plaintiff, Judge: Hon. Jesus G. Bernal 5 vs. DISCOVERY MATTER: 6 Magistrate Judge: Sheri Pym DOE 1, a corporation; DOE 2, a 7 corporation; DOE 3, an entity of ORDER RE STIPULATED unknown form; and DOES 4 to 100, PROTECTIVE ORDER 8 Inclusive,

9 Defendants.

10 Having considered the papers, and finding that good cause exists, the Parties’ 11 Stipulated Protective Order is granted. 12

13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14

15 DATED: February 24, 2025 16 17 18 Sheri Pym 19 United States Magistrate Judge

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27