1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 SOUTHERN DIVISION 11 LAURENCE CHERNIAK, ) Case No. 8:21-cv-01523-SPG-JDE 12 Plaintiff, ) ) 13 ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER ) v. ) 14 ) ) 15 KARLA ORELLANA d/b/a ROKA ) DREAMS, et al., ) 16 Defendants. ) ) 17 18 Pursuant the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 76) and for good cause shown, the 19 Court finds and orders as follows. 20 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 22 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 23 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 24 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 25 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 26 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 27 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 28 1 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 2 under the applicable legal principles. 3 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 4 Good cause exists for the entry of this pretrial protective order to the extent 5 that certain documents sought by the Parties in discovery may include 6 commercially sensitive documents or information, trade secrets, and/or other 7 proprietary information that a respective Party has maintained as confidential and 8 for which the designating Party has a good faith basis to claim that special 9 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 10 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials 11 and information may consist of, among other things, confidential business or 12 financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, or 13 other confidential research, development, or commercial information (including 14 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise 15 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise 16 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, 17 or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the 18 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to 19 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 20 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 21 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of 22 23 the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information 24 is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 25 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 26 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public 27 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of 28 this case. 1 Further, good cause exists for a two-tiered, attorney-eyes-only protective 2 order that designates certain material as “Highly Confidential” since this case 3 involves allegations of copyright infringement that may require production of 4 highly confidential and closely guarded financial, customer, and supplier 5 information. Nutratech, Inc. v. Syntech Int’l, Inc., 242 F.R.D. 552, 556 (C.D. Cal. 6 2007). 7 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING 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 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 captioned above. 15 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 16 designation of information or items under this Order. 17 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 18 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 19 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 20 the Good Cause Statement. 21 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 22 23 their support staff). 24 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 25 items that it produces in disclosures or discovery responses as “CONFIDENTIAL” 26 or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 27 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 28 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 1 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 2 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 3 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 4 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 5 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 SOUTHERN DIVISION 11 LAURENCE CHERNIAK, ) Case No. 8:21-cv-01523-SPG-JDE 12 Plaintiff, ) ) 13 ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER ) v. ) 14 ) ) 15 KARLA ORELLANA d/b/a ROKA ) DREAMS, et al., ) 16 Defendants. ) ) 17 18 Pursuant the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 76) and for good cause shown, the 19 Court finds and orders as follows. 20 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 22 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 23 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 24 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 25 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 26 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 27 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 28 1 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 2 under the applicable legal principles. 3 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 4 Good cause exists for the entry of this pretrial protective order to the extent 5 that certain documents sought by the Parties in discovery may include 6 commercially sensitive documents or information, trade secrets, and/or other 7 proprietary information that a respective Party has maintained as confidential and 8 for which the designating Party has a good faith basis to claim that special 9 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 10 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials 11 and information may consist of, among other things, confidential business or 12 financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, or 13 other confidential research, development, or commercial information (including 14 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise 15 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise 16 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, 17 or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the 18 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to 19 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 20 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 21 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of 22 23 the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information 24 is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 25 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 26 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public 27 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of 28 this case. 1 Further, good cause exists for a two-tiered, attorney-eyes-only protective 2 order that designates certain material as “Highly Confidential” since this case 3 involves allegations of copyright infringement that may require production of 4 highly confidential and closely guarded financial, customer, and supplier 5 information. Nutratech, Inc. v. Syntech Int’l, Inc., 242 F.R.D. 552, 556 (C.D. Cal. 6 2007). 7 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING 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 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 captioned above. 15 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 16 designation of information or items under this Order. 17 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 18 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 19 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 20 the Good Cause Statement. 21 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 22 23 their support staff). 24 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 25 items that it produces in disclosures or discovery responses as “CONFIDENTIAL” 26 or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 27 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 28 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 1 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 2 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 3 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 4 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 5 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 6 4.8 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 7 Information: extremely sensitive confidential information or items, the disclosure 8 of which to another Party or Non-Party would create a substantial risk of serious 9 harm that could not be avoided by less restrictive means. 10 4.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 11 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 12 outside counsel. 13 4.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 14 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 15 4.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 16 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have 17 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 18 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 19 4.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 20 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 21 support staffs). 22 23 4.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 24 Discovery Material in this Action. 25 4.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 26 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 27 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 28 and their employees and subcontractors. 1 4.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 2 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 3 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 4 4.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 5 Material from a Producing Party. 6 5. SCOPE 7 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 8 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 9 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 10 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 11 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 12 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover any 13 information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving 14 Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party 15 as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order. 16 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 17 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 18 Protected Material at trial. 19 6. DURATION 20 Once a case proceeds to trial, unless ordered to the contrary by the Court, 21 information that was designated as CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to 22 23 this protective order used or introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and 24 will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, 25 unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed 26 otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 27 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents 28 produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related 1 documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order 2 do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 3 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 5 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 6 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation 7 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating 8 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items 9 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the 10 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not 11 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 12 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 13 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 14 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 15 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 16 Designating Party to sanctions. 17 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 18 designated for protection do not qualify for protection or do not qualify for the 19 level of protection initially asserted, that Designating Party must promptly notify 20 all other Parties that it is withdrawing or modifying the inapplicable designation. 21 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 22 23 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 24 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 25 the material is disclosed or produced. 26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 27 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 28 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 1 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 2 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 3 ONLY” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains 4 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies 5 for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 6 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 7 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 8 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 9 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 10 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 11 deemed “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”. After the 12 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the 13 Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for 14 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the 15 Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that 16 contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 17 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 18 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 19 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 20 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 21 deposition all protected testimony. When it is impractical to identify separately 22 23 each portion of testimony that is entitled to protection and it appears that substantial 24 portions of the testimony may qualify for protection, the Designating Party may 25 invoke on the record (before the deposition, hearing, or other proceeding is 26 concluded) a right to have up to 21 days to identify the specific portions of the 27 testimony as to which protection is sought and to specify the level of protection 28 being asserted. Only those portions of the testimony that are appropriately 1 designated for protection within the 21 days shall be covered by the provisions of 2 this Stipulated Protective Order. Alternatively, if appropriate, a Designating Party 3 may specify, at the deposition or up to 21 days afterwards if that period is properly 4 invoked, that the entire transcript shall be treated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or 5 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 6 Parties shall give the other parties notice if they reasonably expect a 7 deposition, hearing or other proceeding to include Protected Material so that the 8 other parties can ensure that only authorized individuals who have signed the 9 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) are present at those 10 proceedings. The use of a document as an exhibit at a deposition shall not in any 11 way affect its designation as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL 12 – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Transcripts containing Protected Material shall 13 have an obvious legend on the title page that the transcript contains Protected 14 Material, and the title page shall be followed by a list of all pages (including line 15 numbers as appropriate) that have been designated as Protected Material and the 16 level of protection being asserted by the Designating Party. The Designating Party 17 shall inform the court reporter of these requirements. Any transcript that is 18 prepared before the expiration of a 21-day period for designation shall be treated 19 during that period as if it had been designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 20 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” in its entirety unless otherwise agreed. After the 21 expiration of that period, the transcript shall be treated only as actually designated. 22 23 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 24 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 25 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is 26 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the 27 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 28 shall identify the protected portion(s). 1 (d) For information produced solely in electronic form and that is 2 not rendered electronically as an image (such as, for example, a Microsoft Excel 3 file, an electronic audio file, or an electronic video file), the designation 4 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 5 ONLY” shall be added to the electronic file’s filename. 6 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 7 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 8 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 9 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 10 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 11 provisions of this Order. 12 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 13 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 14 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 15 Scheduling Order. 16 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 17 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 18 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 19 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 20 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 21 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 22 23 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 24 parties) or are shown to be clearly unjustified (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the 25 development of defenses) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. 26 Likewise, designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or made for an 27 improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development, harass or 28 to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 1 Designating Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 2 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 3 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the 4 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 5 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 7 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 8 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 9 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 10 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 11 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL 12 DISPOSITION). 13 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 14 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 15 authorized under this Order. 16 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 17 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 18 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 19 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 20 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 21 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 22 23 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 24 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 25 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 26 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 27 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 28 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) ; 1 (d) the court and its personnel; 2 (e) court reporters and their staff; 3 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 4 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 5 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 6 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 7 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 8 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 9 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 10 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 11 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 12 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 13 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 14 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 15 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 16 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 17 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 18 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 19 9.3 Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 20 ONLY” Information or Items. 21 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the 22 23 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item 24 designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only to: 25 (a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 26 action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record 27 to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information 28 for this litigation; 1 (b) Experts of the Receiving Party (1) to whom disclosure is 2 reasonably necessary for this litigation, (2) who have signed the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), 4 and (3) as to whom the procedures set forth in paragraph 8.4, 5 below, have been followed; 6 (c) The court and its personnel; 7 (d) Court reporters and their staff, 8 (e) Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 9 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably 10 necessary for this litigation and who have signed the 11 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (f) The author or lawful recipient of a document containing the 13 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise 14 possessed or knew the information; and 15 (g) Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 16 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged 17 18 in settlement discussions. 9.4 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 19 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” information or items may be disclosed to an Expert 20 without disclosure of the identity of the Expert as long as the Expert is not a 21 current owner, shareholder, member, officer, director, agent, or employee of a 22 competitor of a Party or anticipated to become one. 23 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 24 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 25 26 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 27 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 28 1 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 2 ONLY,” that Party must: 3 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 4 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 5 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 6 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 7 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 8 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 9 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 10 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 11 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 12 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 13 as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 14 ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order 15 issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 16 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that 17 court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be 18 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to 19 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 20 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 21 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 22 23 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 24 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 25 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Such information produced 26 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and 27 relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 28 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 2 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 3 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 4 confidential information, then the Party shall: 5 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 6 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 7 agreement with a Non-Party; 8 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 9 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 10 specific description of the information requested; and 11 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 12 Non-Party, if requested. 13 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 14 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 15 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 16 to the discovery request bearing one of the Protected Material designations, as 17 appropriate. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party 18 shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 19 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 20 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 21 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 22 23 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 25 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 26 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 27 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 28 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 1 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 2 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 3 “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 4 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 5 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 8 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 9 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 10 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 11 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 12 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 13 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 14 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 15 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 16 14. MISCELLANEOUS 17 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 18 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 19 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 20 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 21 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 22 23 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 24 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 25 Order. 26 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 27 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 28 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 1 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under 2 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the 3 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 4 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 5 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 6 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must 7 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 8 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 9 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 10 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 11 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if 12 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that 13 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 14 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any 15 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 16 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel 17 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, 18 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition 19 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 20 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 21 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 22 23 Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / I 16. VIOLATION 2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 3 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 4 5 6 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 g || DATED: April 12, 2023 9 10 ho fl za G 11 JO . EARLY Uretéd States Magistrate Judgé 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, [full name], of 4 [address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in 5 its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the 6 United States District Court for the Central District of California on 7 [date] in the case of 8 [case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms 9 of this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure 10 to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 11 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 12 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 13 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Stipulated 14 Protective Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 16 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms 17 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur 18 19 after termination of this action. I hereby appoint [full 20 name] of [address and 21 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 22 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 23 Order. 24 Signature: 25 Printed Name: 26 Date: 27 28 City and State Where Sworn and Signed: