Snow Joe, LLC v. Linemart Inc.

Opinion

1 JOHNSON & PHAM, LLP Christopher D. Johnson, SBN: 222698 2 E-mail: cjohnson@johnsonpham.com Christopher Q. Pham, SBN: 206697 3 E-mail: cpham@johnsonpham.com Marcus F. Chaney, SBN: 245227 4 E-mail: mchaney@johnsonpham.com 6355 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Suite 326 5 Woodland Hills, California 91367 Telephone: (818) 888-7540 6 Facsimile: (818) 888-7544 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff SNOW JOE, LLC 8 Alan M. Kindred, SBN 135145 9 E-mail: akindred@leechtishman.com Ivan Posey, SBN 196386 10 E-mail: iposey@leechtishman.com LEECH TISHMAN FUSCALDO & 11 LAMPL, INC., A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 200 South Los Robles Avenue, Suite 300 12 Pasadena, CA 91101 Phone: (626) 796-4000 13 Fax: (626) 795-6321 14 Attorneys for Defendants Linemart, Inc., Linemart NJ, Inc., Shenzhen Sailvan Network Technology Ltd. and 15 Shenzhen Sailvan Ecommerce Co., Ltd. 16 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 19 SNOW JOE, LLC, 20 Case No.: 2:20-cv-00587 RSWL Plaintiff, (RAOx) 21 v. 22 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE LINEMART INC., et al. ORDER1 23 Defendants. 24 25 26 27 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is substantially based on the model protective 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 A. 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 prosecuting this litigation may 6 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 7 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 8 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 9 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 10 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 11 under the applicable legal principles. 12 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 13 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 14 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 15 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and 16 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 17 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 18 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding 19 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or 20 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third 21 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 22 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 23 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 24 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 25 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 26 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 27 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 1 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 2 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 3 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 4 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 5 record of this case. 6 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 7 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 8 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 9 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 10 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 11 to file material under seal. 12 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 13 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 14 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 15 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 16 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, 17 Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders 18 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling 19 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with 20 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere 21 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 22 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the 23 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 24 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 25 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 26 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 27 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 1 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 2 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 3 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 4 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 5 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 6 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 7 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. 8 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting 9 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, 10 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their 11 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 12 2. DEFINITIONS 13 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 14 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 15 designation of information or items under this Order. 16 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 17 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 18 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 19 the Good Cause Statement. 20 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 21 their support staff). 22 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 23 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 24 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 25 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 26 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 27 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 1 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 3 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 4 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 5 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 6 counsel. 7 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 8 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 9 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 10 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 11 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 12 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 13 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 14 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 15 support staffs). 16 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 17 Discovery Material in this Action. 18 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 19 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 20 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 21 and their employees and subcontractors. 22 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 23 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 24 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 25 Material from a Producing Party. 26 3. SCOPE 27 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 1 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 2 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 3 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 4 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 5 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 6 4. 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 9 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 10 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 11 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 12 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” 13 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 14 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 15 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 16 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 18 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 19 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 unjustifiably 24 within the ambit of this Order. 25 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 26 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 27 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 1 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 2 Party to sanctions. 3 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 4 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 5 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 6 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 7 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 8 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 9 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 10 produced. 11 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 12 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 13 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 14 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 15 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “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 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 20 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 21 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 22 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 23 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 24 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 25 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 26 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 27 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 1 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 2 in the margins). 3 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 4 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 5 deposition all protected testimony. 6 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 7 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 8 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 9 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 10 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 11 protected portion(s). 12 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 13 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 14 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 15 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 16 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 17 Order. 18 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 19 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 20 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 21 Scheduling Order. 22 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 23 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 24 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 25 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 26 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 27 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 1 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 2 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 3 challenge. 4 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 6 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 7 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 8 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 9 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 10 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 11 DISPOSITION). 12 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 13 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 14 authorized under this Order. 15 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 16 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 17 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 18 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 19 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 20 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 21 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 22 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 23 the Receiving Party on a need to know basis and who have signed and served on the 24 Producing Party or the Designating Party (as the case may be) the 25 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) before any disclosure 26 is made; 27 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 1 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 2 (d) the court and its personnel; 3 (e) court reporters and their staff; 4 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 5 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 6 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 7 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 8 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 9 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 10 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 11 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will 12 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 13 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 14 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 15 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 16 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 17 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 18 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 19 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 20 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 21 IN OTHER LITIGATION 22 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 23 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 24 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 25 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 26 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 27 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 1 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 2 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 3 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 4 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 5 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 6 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 7 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 8 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 9 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 10 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 11 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 12 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 13 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 14 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 15 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 16 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 17 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 18 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 19 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 20 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 21 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 22 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 23 confidential information, then the Party shall: 24 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 25 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 26 agreement with a Non-Party; 27 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 1 specific description of the information requested; and 2 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 3 Non-Party, if requested. 4 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 5 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 6 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 7 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 8 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 9 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 10 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 11 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 12 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 14 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 15 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 16 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 17 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 18 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 19 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 20 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 21 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 22 PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 11.1 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 24 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 25 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 26 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 27 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 1 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 2 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 3 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 4 protective order submitted to the court. 5 11.2 The production of privileged or work-product protected documents, 6 electronically stored information (“ESI”) or other information, whether inadvertent 7 or otherwise, is not a waiver of the privilege or protection from discovery in this 8 case or in any other federal or state proceeding. This Order shall be interpreted to 9 provide the maximum protection allowed by Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d). 10 11.3 Nothing contained herein is intended to or shall serve to limit a party’s 11 right to conduct a review of documents, ESI or other information (including 12 metadata) for relevance, responsiveness and/or segregation of privileged and/or 13 protected information before production. 14 12. MISCELLANEOUS 15 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 16 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 17 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 18 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 19 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 20 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 21 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 22 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 23 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 24 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 25 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 26 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 27 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 1 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 3 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 4 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 5 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 6 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 7 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 8 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 9 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 10 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 11 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 12 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 13 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 14 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 15 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 16 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 17 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 18 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 19 Section 4 (DURATION). 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 1 || 14. VIOLATION 2 |} Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 3 |} without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 4 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 5 6 || DATED: September 15, 2020 JOHNSON & PHAM, LLP 7 By: ___/s/ Marcus F. Chaney, Marcus F. Chaney, Esq. 9 Attorneys for Plaintiff 10 11 || DATED: September 15, 2020 LEECH TISHMAN FUSCALDO & LAMPL, INC. 13 By:___/s/ Ivan Posey i Ivan Posey, Esq. Attorneys for Defendants 15 16 17 18 19 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

20 DATED: September 16, 2020

Rapeea a, □□□ 23 || HON. ROZELLA A. OLIVER United States Magistrate Judge 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 8 on September ___, 2020 in the case of Snow Joe, LLC v. Linemart Inc., et al., 9 Case No.: 2:20-cv-00587 RSWL (RAOx). I agree to comply with and to be bound 10 by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 11 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 12 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 13 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 14 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 16 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 17 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27