Nikolos Edward Carrafield v. Trans Union LLC

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: January 5, 2026
• Docket: 8:25-cv-01509
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 Donald E. Bradley (State Bar No. 145037) d.bradley@musickpeeler.com 2 MUSICK, PEELER & GARRETT LLP 3 650 Town Center Drive, Suite 1200 Costa Mesa, CA 92626-1925 4 Heliane Fabian (State Bar No. 361563) 5 hfabian@qslwm.com 6 QUILLING, SELANDER, LOWNDS, WINSLETT & MOSER, P.C. 7 6900 N. Dallas Parkway, Suite 800 Plano, Texas 75024 8 Counsel for Defendant Trans Union LLC 9

10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 12 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 NIKOLOS EDWARD CARRAFIELD, Case No. 8:25-cv-01509-DOC-KES 14 Plaintiff, Hon. David O. Carter 15 v. [Discovery Document: Referred to 16 Magistrate Judge Karen E. Scott] 17 TRANSUNION LLC, PROPOSED PROTECTIVE ORDER 18

Defendant. 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 PROPOSED PROTECTIVE ORDER 2 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 4 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 5 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 6 warranted. Accordingly, Defendant Trans Union LLC (“Trans Union”) petitions the 7 Court to enter the following Proposed Protective Order. This Order does not confer 8 blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection 9 it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or 10 items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 11 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 12 This action is primarily based on credit reporting and, as such, will necessarily 13 involve Trans Union’s trade secrets, commercial, and proprietary information and 14 Plaintiff Nikolos Carrafield’s financial and personal identifying information for which 15 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 16 litigation of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and 17 information consist of, among other things, confidential business practices and/or 18 financial information, confidential policies and procedures, training materials, and 19 other confidential personal or commercial information (including information 20 implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable 21 to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under 22 state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to 23 expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over 24 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are 25 entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable 26 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address 27 their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective 1 order for such information is justified in this matter. Information will not be designated 2 as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 3 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there 4 is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 5 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 6 As set forth in Section 14.3 below, this Protective Order does not entitle the 7 parties to file confidential information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the 8 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 9 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption 10 that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In 11 connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing 12 under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th 13 Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002), 14 Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 15 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good 16 cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must 17 be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The 18 parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does 19 not—without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the 20 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 21 protectable—constitute good cause. 22 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 23 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 24 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos v. 25 Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677–79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type of 26 information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the party 27 seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and 1 supporting the application to file documents under seal must be provided by 2 declaration. 3 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its 4 entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 5 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the 6 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. 7 Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include 8 an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 9 4. DEFINITIONS 10 4.1 Action: Nikolos Carrafield v. Trans Union LLC, Case No. 8:25-cv-01509- 11 DOC-KES, which is currently pending in the United States Court for the Central 12 District of California – Southern Division, Santa Ana. 13 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 14 information or items under this Order. 15 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 16 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 17 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the 18 Good Cause Statement. 19 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 20 support staff). 21 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 22 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 23 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 24 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, 25 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained 26 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are 27 produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 1 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 2 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 3 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 4 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 5 counsel. 6 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 7 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 8 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 9 to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared 10 in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has 11 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 12 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 13 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 14 support staffs). 15 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 16 Discovery Material in this Action. 17 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 18 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 19 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 20 and their employees and subcontractors. 21 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 22 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 23 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 24 from a Producing Party. 25 5. SCOPE 26 The protections conferred by this Protective Order covers not only Protected 27 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 1 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by parties or their 2 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 3 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 4 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 5 Protected Material at trial. 6 6. DURATION 7 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 8 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as 9 an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of 10 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 11 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See 12 Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180–81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 13 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 14 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective 15 order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 16 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 18 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 19 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 20 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 21 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 22 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 23 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 24 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 25 7.2 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. 26 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an 27 improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or 1 Designating Party to sanctions. 2 7.3 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or 3 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating 4 Party must promptly notify all other parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 5 designation. 6 7.4 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 7 provided in this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of 8 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 9 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 10 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 11 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 12 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial 13 or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, 14 the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL 15 legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 16 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 17 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 18 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 19 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 20 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the 21 inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied 22 and produced. 23 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material 24 made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” 25 After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 26 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 27 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 1 Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each 2 page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the 3 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 4 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 5 appropriate markings in the margins). 6 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 7 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, if 8 possible, but the parties can designate portions of such testimony as 9 “CONFIDENTIAL” by providing written notice of such 10 designation to the opposing party within thirty (30) days of receipt 11 of the transcribed testimony by counsel. Until thirty (30) days after 12 receipt of the transcribed testimony, such testimony shall be treated 13 by the parties as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 15 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a 16 prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in 17 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If 18 only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 19 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 20 protected portion(s). 21 7.5 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 22 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 23 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 24 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 25 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 26 Order. 27 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 1 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 2 Scheduling Order. 3 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the 4 dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 5 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be 6 via a joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 7 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall 8 be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 9 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens 10 on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 11 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all 12 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection 13 to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court 14 rules on the challenge. 15 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 17 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 18 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 19 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 20 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 21 Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 23 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 24 authorized under this Order 25 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 26 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving 27 Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 1 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is 2 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 3 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 4 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 5 this Action; 6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 7 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 8 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 9 A); 10 (d) the court and its personnel; 11 (e) court reporters and their staff; 12 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 13 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action 14 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 15 Bound” (Exhibit A); 16 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 17 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the 18 information; 19 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 20 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the 21 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as 22 Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any 23 confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and 24 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the 25 Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 26 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 27 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not 1 Order; and 2 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 3 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 4 discussions. 5 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 6 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 7 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 8 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 9 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 10 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 11 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 12 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 13 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by 14 the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such 15 notification shall include a copy of this Protective Order; and 16 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 17 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If 18 the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served 19 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information 20 designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a 21 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, 22 unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 23 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 24 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in 25 these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 26 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from 27 another court. 1 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 4 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 5 Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this 6 litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this 7 Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting 8 a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 10 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, 11 and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to 12 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party 13 shall: 14 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 15 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject 16 to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Protective 18 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 19 reasonably specific description of the information requested; 20 and 21 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by 22 the Non-Party, if requested. 23 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 24 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying 25 information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s 26 confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the 27 Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 1 subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 2 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the 3 Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection 4 in this court of its Protected Material. 5 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 7 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 8 Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the 9 Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 10 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons 11 to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) 12 request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to 13 Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 14 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 15 PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 17 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 18 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 19 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 20 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 21 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 22 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 23 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 24 parties may incorporate their agreement in the protective order submitted to the 25 court. 26 14. MISCELLANEOUS 27 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of 1 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. No Party waives any right it 2 otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or 3 item on any ground not addressed in this Protective Order. Similarly, no Party 4 waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the 5 material covered by this Protective Order. 6 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 7 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 8 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of 9 the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 10 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the 11 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 12 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 13 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 14 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 15 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 16 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 17 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 18 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must 19 submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or 20 entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, 21 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) 22 affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 23 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 24 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 25 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 26 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and 27 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. 1 || this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION) 2 16. VIOLATION 3 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 4 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 5 6 || IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 g || DATED: January 5, 2026 ’ ong ) Set HON. KAREN E. SCOTT ? UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 The undersigned has read and understands the terms of the Agreed 3 Protective/Confidentiality Order effective in this case, Nikolos Carrafield v. Trans 4 Union LLC, Case No. 8:25-cv-01509-DOC-KES, which is currently pending in the 5 United States Court for the Central District of California – Southern Division, Santa 6 Ana. The undersigned agrees (i) to abide by the terms of the Agreed 7 Protective/Confidentiality Order; (ii) not to use or divulge, under penalty of law, any 8 documents, materials or other information covered by the Agreed 9 Protective/Confidentiality Order, including Confidential Information, except as 10 permitted by the terms of the Agreed Protective/Confidentiality Order; and (iii) to 11 submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of 12 California – Southern Division, Santa Ana, for resolution of any issues arising under 13 the Agreed Protective/Confidentiality Order. 14

15 Dated: ____________________ Signed: _________________________ 16 Printed: _________________________ 17

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