L.D. v. EzyRoller, LLC

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

L. D., a minor, by and through her Case No.: 8:23-cv-01715-CJC-ADS guardian ad litem, JENNIFER ORDER Plaintiff, District Judge: Hon. Cormac J. Carney v. Magistrate Judge: Hon. Autumn D. Spaeth EZYROLLER LLC, a Limited Liability Company; and DOES 1 through 50, Complaint Filed: May 12, 2023 inclusive, Removal: September 14, 2023 Defendant.

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the Parties, Plaintiff L.D., by and through her guardian ad litem, JENNIFER DIENHART (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant EZYROLLER, LLC (“Defendant”), (collectively, the “Parties”), by and through their respective counsel of record, hereby enter into this Stipulated Protective Order with respect to documents disclosed by Defendant, as follows: I. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS A. Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section XIII(C), below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. II. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT A. The nature of this Action is based on Plaintiff’s alleged injuries related to her alleged use of the EzyRoller Drifter Pro X. Plaintiff’s case arises in strict liability for product design, manufacturing, and warning, as well as negligence, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of express and implied warranties. As such, Plaintiff anticipates seeking the discovery of Data or Discovery Material directly involving Defendant EzyRoller LLC’s trade secrets, customer and pricing lists, and other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is

warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business, confidential financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, applicable international law, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Disclosure of sensitive, confidential, and proprietary business and financial information in civil discovery should be done only under properly fashioned protective orders as secret information essential to the continued operation of a business or industry that may be afforded some

measure of protection against unnecessary disclosure. (Davis v. Leal (E.D. Cal. 1999) 43 F.Supp.2d 1102, 1110) Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, while adequately protecting privileged and sensitive information the Parties are entitled to keep confidential, and to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. A. Action: the above-entitled proceeding Case No. 8:23-cv-01715-CJC-ADS

and includes the proceedings from this case prior to its removal to federal COURT (California State Superior Court County of Orange, Case No. 30-2023-01325281- B. Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information or items under this Order. C. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement. D. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their support staff).

E. Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” F. Data or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. G. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. H. House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

counsel. I. Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. J. Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a Party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. K. Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). L. Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Data or Discovery

Material in this Action. M. Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. N. Protected Material: Any Data or Discovery Material that is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” O. Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a Producing Party. P. Disclose: To reveal, divulge, give, or make available materials, or any part thereof, or any information contained therein.

A. The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. B. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. C. Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order shall affect the admissibility into evidence of CONFIDENTIAL Information or Items, or abridge the rights of any Party to seek judicial review or to pursue other appropriate judicial action with respect to any ruling made by the Court concerning the status of CONFIDENTIAL Information

or Items. Agreement to the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order is without prejudice to a Party’s right to request that the Court rescind, modify, alter, or amend this Order with respect to specific documents or information. A. Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this Protective Order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this Protective Order do not extend beyond the

commencement of the trial. Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. A. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection

1. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 2. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.

3. If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that Data or Discovery Material that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. B. Manner and Timing of Designations 1. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., Section B(2)(b) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Data or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 2. Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: a. For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or

electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). b. A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall

be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). c. For testimony given in depositions, that the Designating

Party identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all protected testimony. i. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be Disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order. d. For information produced in form other than document and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).

C. Inadvertent Failure to Designate 1. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate as “CONFIDENTIAL”, qualified Data or Discovery Material, does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. A. Timing of Challenges 1. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of CONFIDENTIALITY at any time that is consistent with the Court’s

Scheduling Order. B. Meet and Confer 1. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq., as modified in VII(b)(2)-(4) below. 2. The Parties must meet and confer within 5 days after the Challenging Party serves a letter requesting such conference; 3. If the Designating Party fails to meet and confer with the Challenging Party within the 5-day time period, the confidentiality designation is deemed waived; 4. If the Parties are unable to reach resolution during their informal conference, the Designating Party shall have twenty (20) days from the

receipt of the Challenging Party’s notice to apply to the Court for an order designating the material as confidential. If designating party does not file a motion in said time frame, the materials shall be deemed non confidential. C. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the CONFIDENTIALITY designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the

challenge. A. Basic Principles 1. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is Disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be Disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section XIV below. 2. Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. Any recipient of

Protected Materials shall exercise due and proper care with respect to the storage, custody, access, and use of all such Protected Material. In addition, any summary or copy of Protected Material shall be subject to the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order to the same extent as the Protected Material of which summary or copy is made and must be clearly labeled as containing “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. B. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items 1. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party shall not Disclose any Data or Discovery Material designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” to any persons other than (except otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., Section VIII (B))):

a. The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; b. The officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; c. Experts, Professional Vendors and their respective staff (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom Disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); d. The Court and its personnel;

e. Court reporters and their staff; f. any other non-party witnesses or deponents, mock jurors, and jury consultants who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A)in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order, or deponents who agree on the record to maintain the confidentiality of the Protected Material in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order; and g. Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 2. Protected Material received by any of the persons in the categories

listed above shall be used only for purposes of this litigation Action and for no other purposes, including for any other litigation, whether on the same issues in this case or others, or for any business or personal purpose. Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order shall prevent the Designating Party from any use of its own confidential documents. 3. Protected Material may not be Disclosed to the persons described in category (c) and (f), above, unless the Receiving Party determines in good faith that the Disclosure is necessary for the purposes of developing testimony or other evidence or for other strategy purposes in connection with this litigation Action. 4. Protected Material may be copied or reproduced only to the extent reasonably necessary for the conduct of this litigation Action. All such copies or reproductions shall be subject to the terms of this Stipulated

Protective Order. 5. If during their deposition, the witness declines to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound,” then Protected Material may not be used at a deposition, UNLESS a. Witness agrees on the record to maintain the confidentiality of the Protected Material in accord with this Stipulated Protective Order; b. Designating Party of relevant Protected Material otherwise agrees; or c. By obtaining leave of Court prior to Disclosure of Protected Material to non-consenting witness. IN OTHER LITIGATION A. If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 1. Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 2. Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 3. Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be

pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. B. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. X. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION A. The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation Action is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. B. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 1. Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 2. Promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 3. Make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if requested. C. If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall

not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. A. If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (1) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized Disclosures, (2) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized Disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (4) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit

A. XII. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL A. When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted to the Court. XIII. MISCELLANEOUS A. Right to Further Relief 1. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. B. Right to Assert Other Objections 1. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective

Order. C. Filing Protected Material 1. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. A. After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section V, within sixty (60) days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party

must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section V. B. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. IT ISSO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. Dated: 01/30/2024 Phe (se Attorney(s) for Plaintiff(s) Ning == Dated;__1/30/2024 Attorney(s) for Defendant(s) FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: _02/02/2024 /s/ Autumn D. Spaeth HONORABLE AUTUMN D. SPAETH

United States Magistrate Judge

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

I, [print or type full name], of [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [DATE] in the case of [L.D. v. EzyRoller, LLC, et al., Case No. 8:23- cv-01715-CJC-ADS]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint [print or type full name] of [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. Date: City and State where sworn and signed: Printed Name: Signature: