Jon Levin v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A.

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: January 9, 2023
• Docket: 8:22-cv-01777
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 1 of 17 Page ID #:107

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 SOUTHERN DIVISION 11 JON LEVIN, ) Case No. 8:22-cv-01777 JWH (JDEx) ) 12 ) 13 Plaintiff, ) ) Hon. John D. Early ) 14 v. ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ) ORDER 15 ) WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., ) 16 ) ) 17 Defendant. ) ) 18

19 Pursuant to the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 13) and for good cause shown, the 20 Court finds and orders as follow. 21 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 22 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 23 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 24 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 25 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 26 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 27 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 28 -1- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 2 of 17 Page ID #:108

1 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 2 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 3 under the applicable legal principles. 4 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 5 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 6 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 7 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and 8 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 9 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 10 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding 11 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or 12 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third 13 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may 14 be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 15 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Specifically, Wells Fargo is expected 16 to produce specific loan information from its customers as part of this litigation. 17 That information contains private information from third parties regarding their 18 loans from Wells Fargo. Moreover, Wells Fargo expects to produce its loan notes 19 related to loans that Plaintiff originated or from other putative class members. 20 Those notes contain confidential customer data and information. The disclosure of 21 this information would infringe on third parties’ privacy rights and potentially 22 23 undermine Wells Fargo’s competitive advantage in the marketplace. 24 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 25 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 26 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 27 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 28 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and -2- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 3 of 17 Page ID #:109

1 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 2 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 3 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 4 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 5 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 6 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING 7 PROCEDURE 8 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 9 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 10 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 11 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 12 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right 13 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non- 14 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See 15 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), 16 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar- 17 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 18 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 19 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 20 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to 21 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material 22 23 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by 24 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 25 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 26 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 27 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and 28 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be -3- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 4 of 17 Page ID #:110

1 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed 3 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling 4 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing 5 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 6 under seal must be provided by declaration. 7 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable 8 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be 9 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, 10 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the 11 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in 12 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 13 4. DEFINITIONS 14 4.1 Action: the action Jon Levin v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Case No. 22- 15 cv-01777 JWH (JDEx), originally filed on August 11, 2022 in the California 16 Superior Court, County of Orange, Case No. 30-2022-01274813-CU-0E-CXC, and 17 removed to this Court on September 28, 2022. 18 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 19 designation of information or items under this Order. 20 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 21 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 22 23 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 24 the Good Cause Statement. 25 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 26 their support staff). 27 / / / 28 / / / -4- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 5 of 17 Page ID #:111

1 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 2 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 3 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 4 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 5 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 6 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 7 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 8 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 9 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 10 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 11 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 12 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 13 outside counsel. 14 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 15 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 16 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 17 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have 18 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 19 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 20 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 21 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 22 23 support staffs). 24 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 25 Discovery Material in this Action. 26 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 27 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 28 -5- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 6 of 17 Page ID #:112

1 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 2 and their employees and subcontractors. 3 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 4 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 5 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 6 Material from a Producing Party. 7 5. SCOPE 8 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 9 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 10 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 11 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 12 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 13 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 14 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 15 Protected Material at trial. 16 6. DURATION 17 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 18 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 19 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively 20 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 21 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the 22 23 trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 24 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 25 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 26 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend 27 beyond the commencement of the trial. 28 -6- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 7 of 17 Page ID #:113

1 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 3 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 4 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation 5 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating 6 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items 7 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the 8 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not 9 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 10 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 11 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 12 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 13 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 14 Designating Party to sanctions. 15 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 16 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 17 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 18 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 19 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 20 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 21 the material is disclosed or produced. 22 23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 25 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 26 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 28 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for -7- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 8 of 17 Page ID #:114

1 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 2 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 4 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 5 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 6 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 7 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 8 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine 9 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 10 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix 11 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If 12 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 13 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 14 appropriate markings in the margins). 15 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 16 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 17 the deposition all protected testimony. 18 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 19 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 20 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is 21 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the 22 23 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 24 shall identify the protected portion(s). 25 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 26 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 27 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 28 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make -8- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 9 of 17 Page ID #:115

1 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 2 provisions of this Order. 3 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 4 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 5 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 6 Scheduling Order. 7 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 8 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 9 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 10 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 11 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 12 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 13 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 14 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 15 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 16 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 17 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 18 challenge. 19 20 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 21 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 22 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 23 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 24 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 25 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 26 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL 27 DISPOSITION). 28 -9- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 10 of 17 Page ID #:116

1 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 2 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 3 authorized under this Order. 4 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 5 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 6 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 8 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 9 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 10 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 11 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 12 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 13 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 14 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 16 (d) the court and its personnel; 17 (e) court reporters and their staff; 18 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 19 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 20 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 21 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 22 23 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 24 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 25 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 26 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 27 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 28 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise -10- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 11 of 17 Page ID #:117

1 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 2 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 3 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 4 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 5 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 6 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 7 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 8 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

9 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 10 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 11 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 12 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 13 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 14 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 15 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 16 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 17 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 18 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 19 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 20 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 21 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 22 23 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 24 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 25 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 26 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 27 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 28 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. -11- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 12 of 17 Page ID #:118

1 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 2

3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 4 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 5 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected 6 by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions 7 should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 8 protections. 9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 10 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 11 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 12 confidential information, then the Party shall: 13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 14 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 15 agreement with a Non-Party; 16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 17 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 18 specific description of the information requested; and 19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 20 Non-Party, if requested. 21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 22 23 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 24 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 25 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the 26 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that 27 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 28 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party -12- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 13 of 17 Page ID #:119

1 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its 2 Protected Material. 3 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 4

5 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 6 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 7 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 8 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 9 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 10 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 11 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 12 “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 13 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 14 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 16 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 17 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 18 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 19 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 20 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 21 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 22 23 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 24 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 25 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 26 14. MISCELLANEOUS 27 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 28 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. -13- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 14 of 17 Page ID #:120

1 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 2 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 3 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 4 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 5 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 6 Order. 7 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 8 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 9 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 10 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under 11 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the 12 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 13 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 14 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 15 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must 16 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 17 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 18 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 19 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 20 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if 21 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that 22 23 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 24 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any 25 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 26 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel 27 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, 28 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition -14- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 15o0f17 Page ID #:121

1 □□ □□□ trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 2 || work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 3 || copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 4 || Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 5 16. VIOLATION 6 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

11 2 DATED: January 9, 2023 13 Se Ke. AG 14 15 JOHN D. EARLY United States Magistrate Judge 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -15-

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1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ , of _________________ , declare 4 5 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 7 8 the Central District of California on ________ in the case of Levin v. Wells Fargo 9 Bank, N.A., 22-cv-01777-JWH(JDEx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by 10 all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge 11 12 that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the 13 nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 14 15 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 16 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 17 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 18 19 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms 20 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur 21 after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ 22 23 of _______________________________________ as my California agent for 24 service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to 25 26 enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 27 Date: ______________________________________ 28 -16- Case 8:22-cv-01777-JWH-JDE Document 14 Filed 01/09/23 Page 17 of 17 Page ID #:123

1 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 2

3 Printed name: _______________________________ 4 5 6 Signature: __________________________________ 7

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