Young-Mi Kwon v. The Prudential Insurance Company of America

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: August 15, 2023
• Docket: 2:22-cv-08640
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 | JOSEPH S. FOGEL Joe@adeptlawtirm com 2 | ADEPT LAW FIRM 4500 PARK GRANADA, SUITE 202F 3 | CALABASAS, CA 91302-1663 Telephone: 818-986-7100 4 || Facsimile: 818-986-7106 5 Attomeys for Plaintiff YOUNG-MI KWON 6 ANDREW S. AZARMI (SBN 241407) 7 andrew .azarm@dentons.com DENTONS US LLP g || 1999 Harrison Street Suite 1300 9 |} Oakland, CA 94612-4709 Telephone: 415 882 5000 10 || Facsimile: 415 882 0300 11 | ANNE E. WADDELL (SBN 311388) anne-waddell@dentons.com 12 | DENTONS US LLP 4675 MacArthur Court, Suite 1250 = 13 | Newport Beach, California 92660 Telephone: 949 732 3727 14 || Attorneys for Defendant 5 15 Attorneys for Defendant THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA 16 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 19 0 YOUNG-MI KWON, an individual, Case No. 2:22-cv-08640-JAK-AGR Hon. John A. Kronstadt STIPULATED PROTECTIVE V. ORDER 23 | THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE NOTE CHANGES MADE BY THE COMPANY OF AMERICA, a business COURT 24 || entity, form unknown; and DOES 1 through 15, Inclusive, 25 Defendant. 26 27 28 1 Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 Subject to the approval of this Court, Plaintiff Young-Mi Kwon and 2 || Defendant The Prudential Insurance Company of America, by and through their 3 || respective counsel of record, hereby stipulate to the following protective order: 41. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 5 Discovery in this action 1s likely to involve production of confidential, 6 |] proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 7 || disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 8 || be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 9 || enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 10 || Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 11 || discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends = 12 } only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment z 13 |) under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 5 14 || in Paragraph 8, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to 15 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 2 16 |] procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a 17 |] party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 18 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 19 The parties acknowledge that information produced in discovery, regardless 20 || of its designation under this Order, may contain personal and health information 21 || subject to the protections of, inter alia, the Health Insurance Portability and 22 || Accountability Act of 1996, the applicable requirements of the Standards for 23 || Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information and its implementing 24 || regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (45 25 || C_F_R. Parts 160-64; HIPAA Privacy Regulations), and California Civil Code §§ 56 26 |] et seq., and 1798.82 et seq., which protect the confidentiality of individually- 27 || identifiable personal and health information. Discovery may also involve trade 28 |] secrets, customer and pricing lists and other valuable research, development, Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -2- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 || commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special 2 || protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 3 || prosecution of this action is warranted. 4 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 5 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 6 |] protect information the parties are entitled or required to keep confidential, to 7 || ensure that the parties are permitted reasonably necessary uses of such material in 8 || preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 9 | litigation, and to serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 10 |] justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 1] || designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated © 12 | without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public z 13 |] manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of 5 14 | this case. 15/2. DEFINITIONS 16 2.1. Action: Young Mi-Kwon v. The Prudential Insurance Company of 17 || America, et al., Case No. 2:22-cv-08640-JAK-AGR. 18 2.2. Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 19 |] designation of information or items under this Order. 20 2.3. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 21 || how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 22 || protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 23 || the Good Cause Statement. It also includes the following types of documents and 24 || information: 25 a. information that is proprietary or constitutes a trade secret, 26 || including, without limitation, information, materials, and other documents 27 || reflecting non-public business or financial strategies and confidential competitive 28 Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -3- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 information that, if disclosed, could result in prejudice or harm to the disclosing 2 || party: 3 b. non-public financial or business information; 4 c. information that is otherwise generally unavailable to the public; 5 d. __ policyholder-specific information, including private medical 6 || information. 7 Any copies or reproductions, excerpts, summaries, or other documents or 8 || media that contain or incorporate CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION will also be 9 |] treated as CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION under this Order. 10 Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order will be construed as requiring 11 || Defendant to produce any personal or identifying information regarding any © 12 } individual or any other policyholder, nor policyholder information that is protected z 13 || from disclosure under applicable state or federal law. 5 14 2.4. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 15 || their support staff). 2 16 2.5. Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 17 |] items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 18 | “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.” 19 2.6. Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 20 || of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 21 || among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or 22 || generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 23 2.7. Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 24 || pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 25 || an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 26 2.8. House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 27 || House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 28 || counsel. Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -4- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 2.9. Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 2 |] other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 3 2.10. Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 4 | party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 5 | have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 6 |] that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 7 2.11. Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 8 || employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 9 || support staffs). 10 2.12. Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 11 |] Discovery Material in this Action. Ss 12 2.13. Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation z 13 || support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 5 14 || demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 5 15 |] and their employees and subcontractors. 2 16 2.14. Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is Z 17 || designated as “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.” 18 2.15. Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 19 |] Material from a Producing Party. 20 13. SCOPE 21 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 22 || Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 23 || extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 24 || compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 25 || presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 26 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 27 |j trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 28 Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -5- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

DURATION 2 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 3 | CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION or maintained pursuant to this protective order 4 || used or introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively 5 || available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 6 || reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the 7 || trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, g | 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for g || sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when 10 || merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this 1] || protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 1245. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 13 5.1. Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise stipulated or : 14 || ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this E 38 15 || Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. A 16 || document constitutes or contains CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION when it has 17 || been given that designation by the Designating Party. A Party or Non-Party may 18 || designate documents or information as CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION as 19 || follows: 20 a. _ In the case of documents and information contained in 2] || documents, designation must be made by placing the following legend on each page 22 || of the document before production: 23 “CONFIDENTIAL SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER.” 24 b. In the case of discovery responses and information contained in 25 || discovery responses, designation must be made by (i) placing a statement at the 26 || start or end of the responses specifying that the responses, or part of the responses, 27 || are designated CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, and (11) placing the following 28 Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -6- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 |] legend on each page (including the caption page) of any discovery response 2 || containing designated CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION: 3 “CONFIDENTIAL SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER.” 4 c. In the case of depositions, designation of the portions of the 5 transcript (including exhibits) that contain CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 6 || must be made by the Designating Party by identifying the Disclosure or Discovery 7 || Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all protected testimony. 8 || Once designated, the original and each copy of the transcript that contains 9 | CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION must bear (or must be modified by counsel to 10 |] bear) the following legend on its cover: 11 “CONFIDENTIAL SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER.” Ss 12 5.2. Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent z 13 |] failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 5 14 | the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 15 |] material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 2 16 || reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 17 |] provisions of this Order. 1816. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 19 6.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 20 || designation of confidentiality at any time prior to the close of the discovery period 21 || established by the Court. 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. Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 25 || shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 26 |] improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 27 || other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 28 |] Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -7- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 ]| parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to 2 || which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on 3 |] the challenge. 417. 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). Ss 12 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a z 13 | location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 5 14 |] authorized under this Order. 15 7.2. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION” or Items. Unless 2 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 INFORMATION” only to: 19 a. The Parties to this action: 20 b. The Parties’ Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 21 || as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary 22 | to disclose the information for this Action; 23 c. The officers, directors, and employees (including House 24 || Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 1s reasonably necessary for this 25 || Action: 26 d. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 27 || whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 28 | “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -8- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 e. Any witness from whom testimony is taken or will be taken in 2 | this Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, except that the witness 3 | may be shown copies of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION only during his or her 4 || testimony, and only to the extent relevant to the testimony, provided the deposing 5 || party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto. Pages of 6 || transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 7 || Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 8 || anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order. The witness may 9 || not retain any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION; 10 f. Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 11 |] Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action = 12 | and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 13 | A): 5 14 g. Court reporters used in connection with this action and their 5 15 |] employees; 2 16 h. —_ The jury in the trial of this case; 17 1. The Court and its staff: 18 j- The author or recipient of a document containing the 19 |] information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the 20 | information: 21 k. | Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 22 || personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 23 || discussions. 24 7.3. Understanding and Agreement. No disclosure may be made to any 25 || person under Paragraphs 7.2(d), (e) or (f) until that person has executed an 26 | “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” in the form attached as Exhibit A. 27 || With respect to Paragraphs 7.2(d) and (f), Exhibit A must be fully executed by the 28 |] Expert, jury or trial consultant or Professional Vendor and retained by counsel for Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -9- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 }| the party employing the Expert, jury or trial consultant or Professional Vendor. In 2 || the event that any Expert, jury or trial consultant or Professional Vendor employed 3 || by the parties to this litigation ceases to be engaged in the preparation of this 4 || Action, access by such person to discovery material designated as Protected 5 || Material shall be terminated. Any such material in the possession of any such 6 || person shall be returned or destroyed. The provisions of this Order and the 7 || obligations not to disclose any portions of such material shall remain in full force 8 || and effect as to all such persons. 9 All persons described in Paragraphs 7.2 above are prohibited from disclosing 10 || any portion of Protected Material to any other person, or from using any 1] | information obtained from the Protected Material, except as permitted by this S12 } stipulation. 13/8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED : g 4 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 15 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 2 16 |] that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 17 | “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION,” that Party must: 18 a. promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 19 || notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 20 b. — promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 21 || order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 22 || subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 23 || a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 24 c. cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 25 || pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 26 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 27 || the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 28 |] action as “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION?” before a determination by the court Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -10- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 || from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the 2 || Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and 3 || expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing 4 || in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving 5 |] Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. In the event 6 |] that Protected Material is produced to a Non-Party, that material shall still be 7 || treated as Protected Material by the parties to this Protective Order. 819. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 10 || Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 11 || Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in © 12 || writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best z 13 | efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the 5 14 || person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of 15 |] this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment 2 16 |] and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 17110. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 8 PROTECTED MATERIAL

19 The inadvertent, unintentional, or in camera disclosure of Protected Material 20 || shall not be deemed a waiver in whole or in part of any party’s claims of 21 || confidentiality. Moreover, where a Designating Party has inadvertently produced a 22 || document which the Designating Party later claims should not have been produced 23 || because of privilege, the Designating Party may at any time require the return of 24 || any such document. A request for the return of any document shall identify the 25 || document by Bates number and the basis for asserting that the specific document 26 |i (or portions thereof) is subject to the attorney-client privilege, the work product 27 | doctrine, or any other applicable privilege or immunity from discovery, the basis 28 || for asserting that the production was inadvertent, and the date of discovery that Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -ll- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 ]| there had been an inadvertent production. The inadvertent production of any 2 || document which a Designating Party later claims should not have been produced 3 || because of a privilege will not be deemed to be a waiver of any privilege to which 4 || the Designating Party would have been entitled had the privileged document not 5 || inadvertently been produced. If a Designating Party requests the return, pursuant to 6 |] this Paragraph, of any such document from another party, the party to whom the 7 || request is made shall within THIRTY (30) days return to the Designating Party all 8 || copies of the document within its possession, custody, or control, including all 9 || copies in the possession of experts, consultants, or others to whom the document 10 || was provided. In the event that only portions of the document contain privileged 1] |) subject matter, the Designating Party shall substitute a redacted version of the = 12 | document at the time of making the request for the return of the requested z 13 || document. 5 14 Nothing herein shall be deemed to waive any applicable privilege or work 5 15 |] product protection, nor shall an inadvertent disclosure of material protected by 2 16 |] privilege or work product protection constitute a waiver of such privilege or 17 |] protection. 18/11. MISCELLANEOUS 19 11.1. Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order prevents the use of 20 || information that is publicly available. 21 11.2. Any motion papers, briefs, memoranda, affidavits, declaration, 22 || exhibits, transcripts, or other papers filed with the Clerk of the Court that contain 23 || any Protected Material must be accompanied by an application to file the papers — 24 || or the confidential portion thereof — under seal in compliance with Local Rule 79-5. 25 || The application shall be directed to the judge to whom the papers are directed. 26 |] Pending the ruling on the application, the papers or portions thereof subject to the 27 || sealing application shall be lodged under seal. 28 Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -12- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 11.3. If any party or nonparty bound by this Stipulated Protective Order 2 |] intends to disclose, discuss, or otherwise refer to any Protected Material in open 3 || court at any hearing or trial, that person must notify the Designating Party, and all 4 || other parties to this action of its intention to do so. 5 11.4. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Stipulated Protective 6 || Order, any party may use the following documents or information without 7 | restriction, regardless of whether they have been designated as Protected Material: 8 |] a. its own documents or information; b. documents that the party has previously 9 || received or sent, including final versions of letters and emails listing the party as a 10 || recipient or sender; and c. documents or information developed or obtained 1] |) independently of discovery, including party and non-party discovery, in this action. Ss 12 11.5. This Stipulated Protective Order applies with equal force to any and all 13 |] copies, extracts, compilations, summaries, and oral recitation of Confidential 5 14 |] Material. 15 11.6. Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order shall prevent a party from 2 16 |] seeking modification of this Order. 11.7 The terms of this Stipulated Protective 17 |] Order shall survive and remain in effect after termination of this action. 18/12. FINAL DISPOSITION 19 Within sixty days of final termination of this action, or sooner if so ordered 20 || by this Court, counsel for the party receiving any Protected Material must transmit 21 all Protected Material (including all copies) to counsel for the Designating Party or 22 || destroy such material, and in either case must submit a written certification to the 23 || Designating Party by the sixty day deadline that (a) identifies (by category, where 24 || appropriate) all the Protected Material that was transmitted or destroyed and (b) 25 || affirms that the party receiving the Protected Material has not retained any copies, 26 |] abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing 27 || any of the Protected Material. 28 Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -13- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 13. VIOLATION 2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 3 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 4 | IT ISSO STIPULATED. 5 Dated: March 21, 2023 ADEPT LAW FIRM 6 7 By: /s/ Joseph S. Fogel 8 Joseph S. Fogel 9 Attorneys for Plaintiff Young-Mi Kwon 10 il Dated: March 23, 2023 DENTONS US LLP Ss 12 2 13 By: /s/ Anne E. Waddell Se 14 Anne E. Waddell B28 Andrew S. Azarmi aoe 16 Attorneys for Defendant The Prudential Insurance Company of So 17 America 18 ATTESTATION OF CONCURRENCE IN FILING 19 In accordance with Civil Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(1), I attest the concurrence 20 in the filing of this document has been obtained. 21 22 || Dated: March 23, 2023 DENTONS US LLP 23 24 By: /s/ Anne Waddell Anne E. Waddell 25 26 7 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 28 Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -14- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 | DATED: August 15, 2023

Honorable Alicia G. Rosenberg 4 United States Magistrate Judge 5 6 7 9 10 11 g 12 < 13 = 214 2 15 2 16 Z 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Case No. 2:22-cv-08640 -15- STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 3 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 4 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of Young Mi- 5 Kwon v. The Prudential Insurance Company of America, et al., U.S. District Court Case No. 2:22-cv-08640-JAK-AGR. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the 6 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that 7 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 8 or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity 9 except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 10 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 11 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 12 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 13 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 14 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 15 Date: ______________________________________ 16 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 17 Printed name: _______________________________

18 Signature: __________________________________