Villamizar v. Senior Care Pharmacy Services, Inc.

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 PAUL VILLAMIZAR, Case No. 2:14-cv-01737-DAD-KJN 7

Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 8 ORDER v. 9 Complaint Filed: July 23, 2014 SENIOR CARE PHARMACY Trial Date: Sept. 23, 2024 10 SERVICES, INC., SAMITENDU BANERJEE, ARA KEUSGARIAN, 11 and TONY NGUYEN,

12 Defendants. 13 14 SAMITENDU BANERJEE, 15 Counterclaimant, 16 v. 17 PAUL VILLAMIZAR, 18 Counterdefendant. 19 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 may be warranted 23 from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting or 24 defending this lawsuit. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the 25 Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge 26 that this 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 1 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 2 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in 3 Section 13.4 (Filing Protected Material), below, that this Stipulated Protective Order 4 does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local Rule 141 sets 5 forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when 6 a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 7 This action is likely to involve private medical information for which special 8 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution 9 of this action is warranted. Such information is otherwise generally unavailable to 10 the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under 11 state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law, such as the Health 12 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) (42 U.S.C. § 13 1320d), including the federal privacy regulations as contained in 45 CFR Part 164 14 (“Privacy Rule”), and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act 15 (“CMIA”). (Cal. Civ. Code, § 56.10 et seq.) Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 16 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 17 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 18 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such 19 material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the 20 end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 21 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 22 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 23 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 24 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 25 record of this case. 26 27 1 2. DEFINITIONS 2 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 3 of information or items under this Order. 4 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 5 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 6 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and L.R. 141.1. 7 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House 8 Counsel (as well as their support staff). 9 2.4 Designated House Counsel: House Counsel who seek access to 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” information in this matter. 11 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL”. 14 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 15 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 16 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 17 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 18 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 19 pertinent to the litigation who (1) has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 20 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this action, (2) is not a past or current 21 employee of a Party or of a Party’s competitor, and (3) at the time of retention, is not 22 anticipated to become an employee of a Party or of a Party’s competitor. 23 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. 24 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 25 counsel. 26 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 27 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 2 to this action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have 3 appeared in this action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 4 has appeared on behalf of that party. 5 2.11 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, 6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 7 support staffs). 8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 9 Discovery Material in this action. 10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 11 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 13 and their employees and subcontractors. 14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL”.” 16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 17 from a Producing Party. 18 3. SCOPE 19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 20 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 21 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 22 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 23 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. However, the protections 24 conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following information: (a) 25 any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving 26 Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party 27 as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming 1 the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after 2 the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully. Any use of 3 Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 4 4. DURATION 5 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 6 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees 7 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be 8 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this action, with 9 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and 10 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, 11 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time 12 pursuant to applicable law. 13 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 14 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 15 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 16 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 17 under the appropriate standards. To the extent it is practical to do so, the Designating 18 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or 19 oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, 20 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 21 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 22 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 23 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 24 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to 25 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating 26 Party to sanctions. 27 1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 2 designated for protection do not qualify for protection at all or do not qualify for the 3 level of protection initially asserted, that Designating Party must promptly notify all 4 other parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 5 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 6 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 7 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 8 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 9 produced. 10 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 11 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 12 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 13 Producing Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains 14 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for 15 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 16 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, for each 17 portion, the level of protection being asserted. 18 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for 19 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 20 indicated which material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection 21 and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 22 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 23 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 24 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 25 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the appropriate legend 26 (“CONFIDENTIAL”) to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion 27 or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 1 in the margins). 2 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, 3 that the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, 4 hearing, or other proceeding, all protected testimony. When it is impractical to 5 identify separately each portion of testimony that is entitled to protection and it 6 appears that substantial portions of the testimony may qualify for protection, the 7 Designating Party may invoke on the record (before the deposition, hearing, or other 8 proceeding is concluded) a right to have up to 21 days to identify the specific portions 9 of the testimony as to which protection is sought and to specify the level of protection 10 being asserted. Only those portions of the testimony that are appropriately designated 11 for protection within the 21 days shall be covered by the provisions of this Stipulated 12 Protective Order. Alternatively, a Designating Party may specify, at the deposition or 13 up to 21 days afterwards if that period is properly invoked, that the entire transcript 14 shall be treated as “CONFIDENTIAL”. 15 Parties shall give the other parties notice if they reasonably expect a deposition, 16 hearing or other proceeding to include Protected Material so that the other parties can 17 ensure that only authorized individuals who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 18 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) are present at those proceedings. The use of a 19 document as an exhibit at a deposition shall not in any way affect its designation as 20 “CONFIDENTIAL”. 21 Transcripts containing Protected Material shall have an obvious legend on the 22 title page that the transcript contains Protected Material, and the title page shall be 23 followed by a list of all pages (including line numbers as appropriate) that have been 24 designated as Protected Material and the level of protection being asserted by the 25 Designating Party. The Designating Party shall inform the court reporter of these 26 requirements. Any transcript that is prepared before the expiration of a 21-day period 27 for designation shall be treated during that period as if it had been designated 1 otherwise agreed. After the expiration of that period, the transcript shall be treated 2 only as actually designated. 3 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 4 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior 5 of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend 6 “CONFIDENTIAL” . If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant 7 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 8 portion(s) and specify the level of protection being asserted. 9 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 10 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 11 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 12 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 13 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 14 Order. 15 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 16 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 17 designation of confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating 18 Party’s confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial 19 unfairness, unnecessary economic burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the 20 litigation, a Party does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality designation 21 by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the original designation is 22 disclosed. 23 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 24 resolution process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging 25 and describing the basis for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a 26 challenge has been made, the written notice must recite that the challenge to 27 confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph of the 1 must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice-to-voice dialogue; other forms 2 of communication are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of notice. 3 In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that the 4 confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an 5 opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, 6 if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. 7 A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it 8 has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that the Designating 9 Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely manner. 10 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without 11 court intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain 12 confidentiality under Local Rule 251. Failure by the Designating Party to make such 13 a motion within 21 days shall automatically waive the confidentiality designation for 14 each challenged designation. In addition, the Challenging Party may file a motion 15 challenging a confidentiality designation at any time if there is good cause for doing 16 so, including a challenge to the designation of a deposition transcript or any portions 17 thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to this provision must be accompanied by a 18 competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet and 19 confer requirements imposed by the preceding paragraph. 20 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 21 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges and those made for an improper purpose 22 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 23 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 24 the confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion to retain confidentiality as 25 described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level 26 of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the 27 court rules on the challenge. 1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 3 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case 4 only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected 5 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 6 described in this Order. When the litigation has been terminated, a Receiving Party 7 must comply with the provisions of section 14 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 8 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 9 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 10 authorized under this Order. 11 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 12 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 13 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 14 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 15 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as 16 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 17 disclose the information for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment 18 and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A; 19 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 20 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and 21 who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 23 is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment 24 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 25 (d) the court and its personnel; 26 (e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, and 27 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation 1 A); 2 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 3 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to 4 Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or 5 ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 6 depositions that reveal Protected Material must be separately bound by the court 7 reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated 8 Protective Order. 9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 10 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 11 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 12 OTHER LITIGATION 13 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 14 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as 15 “CONFIDENTIAL” that Party must: 16 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 17 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 18 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 19 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 20 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 21 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 22 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 23 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 24 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 25 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 26 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 27 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 1 of its confidential material – and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 2 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful 3 directive from another court. 4 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 5 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 6 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 7 Party in this action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL”. Such information 8 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 9 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 10 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 11 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 12 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 13 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 14 confidential information, then the Party shall: 15 1. promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 16 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 17 with a Non-Party; 18 2. promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 19 Protective Order in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 20 specific description of the information requested; and 21 3. make the information requested available for inspection by the 22 Non-Party. 23 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court 24 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 25 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 26 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 27 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to 1 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense 2 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 3 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 5 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 6 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 7 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 8 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 9 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 10 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 11 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 12 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 13 PROTECTED MATERIAL 14 If information is produced in discovery that is subject to a claim of privilege or 15 of protection as trial-preparation material, the party making the claim may notify any 16 party that received the information of the claim and the basis for it. After being 17 notified, a party must promptly return or destroy the specified information and any 18 copies it has and may not sequester, use or disclose the information until the claim is 19 resolved. This includes a restriction against presenting the information to the court for 20 a determination of the claim. This provision is not intended to modify whatever 21 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 22 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), 23 insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 24 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 25 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 26 protective order submitted to the court. 27 1 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 3 person to seek its modification by the court in the future. 4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 5 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the 10 Designating Party or a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested 11 persons, a Party may not file in the public record in this action any Protected Material. 12 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with Local 13 Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order 14 authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. Pursuant to Local 15 Rule 141, a sealing order will issue only upon a request establishing that the Protected 16 Material at issue is privileged, protectable as a trade secret, or otherwise entitled to 17 protection under the law. If a Receiving Party's request to file Protected Material 18 under seal pursuant to Local Rule 141 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party 19 may file the Protected Material in the public record pursuant to unless otherwise 20 instructed by the court. 21 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 23 4, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or 24 destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes 25 all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or 26 capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned 27 or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing 1 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material 2 that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not 3 retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format 4 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this 5 provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion 6 papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, 7 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant 8 and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such 9 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 10 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 11 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 12 13 DATED: KRONGOLD LAW CORP., P.C. 14 15 By: _________________________________ 16 Steven L. Krongold Attorney for Defendants Senior Care 17 Pharmacy Services Inc., Samitendu 18 Banerjee, Ara Keushgerian and Tony Nguyen, and Counterclaimant 19 Samitendu Banerjee 20 DATED: MASTAGNI HOLSTEDT, APC 21

23 By: _________________________________ 24 Grant A. Winter 25 Attorney for Plaintiff Paul Villamizar 26

27 1 ORDER 9 The court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order. (ECF Nos. 172, 173.) The 3 stipulation comports with the relevant authorities and the court’s applicable local rule. See L.R. 4 141.1. The court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following clarification. Once an action is closed, “the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any ° protective order filed in that action.” L.R. 141.1(f); see also, e.g., MD Helicopters, Inc. v. ° Aerometals, Inc., 2017 WL 495778 (E.D. Cal., Feb. 03, 2017) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the 8 case). Thus, the court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed. 9 || Dated: December 26, 2023 10 LL 11 Pec Ahern KENDALL 12 SD, vill.1737 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 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, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that 5 I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was 6 issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California on 7 [date] in the case of Villamizar v. Senior Care Pharmacy, et al., Case No. 2:14-CV- 8 01737-DAD-KJN. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 9 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that 12 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 13 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 15 for the Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 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 Printed name: ______________________________ 26 [printed name] Signature: __________________________________ 27 [signature]