Crystal Steward v. The Prudential Insurance Company of America

Filing 22

PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Wistrich: GRANTED. 21 (see document for further details) (klg)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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11 CRYSTAL STEWARD,
Plaintiff,

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vs.

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14 THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE
COMPANY OF AMERICA,
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Defendant.
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Case No. 2:16-cv-07896 BRO (AJWx)
[DISCOVERY MATTER]
ORDER GRANTING
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER AND
CONFIDENTIALITY
AGREEMENT

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1.

PURPOSE AND LIMITATIONS

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Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

20 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
21 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be
22 warranted.

As evidenced by the signatures of their respective counsel below,

23 Plaintiff Crystal Steward (“Plaintiff”) and The Prudential Insurance Company of
24 America (“Prudential”), collectively “the Parties” herein, hereby stipulate to and
25 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order and
26 Confidentiality Agreement (the “Order”). The Parties acknowledge that this Order
27 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and
28 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the
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1 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the
2 applicable legal principles. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section
3 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file
4 confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures
5 that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks
6 permission from the court to file material under seal.
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(a)

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This action is likely to involve valuable commercial information, financial, or

GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

9 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
10 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted.

Such

11 confidential and proprietary materials and information may consist of, among other
12 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding
13 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or
14 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third
15 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
16 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
17 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of
18 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
19 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
20 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
21 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
22 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
23 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
24 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
25 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
26 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
27 record of this case.
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2.

DEFINITIONS

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2.1

Action: Crystal Steward v. The Prudential Insurance Company of

3 America, Case No. 2:16-cv-07896 BRO (AJWx).
2.2

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Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation

5 of information or items under this Order.
2.3

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“CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

7 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
8 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the
9 Good Cause Statement.
2.4

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Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

11 their support staff).
2.5

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Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

13 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
14 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.6

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Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of

16 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
17 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
18 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
2.7

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Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

20 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
21 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
2.8

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House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

23 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
24 counsel.
2.9

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Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or

26 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party

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28 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
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1 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
2 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

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4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
5 support staffs).
2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

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7 Discovery Material in this Action.
2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

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9 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
11 and their employees and subcontractors.
2.14 Protected Material:

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any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

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15 from a Producing Party.
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3.

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The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

SCOPE

18 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
19 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
20 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
21 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any
22 use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge.
23 This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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4.

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Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations

DURATION

26 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
27 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be
28 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with
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1 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and
2 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action,
3 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
4 pursuant to applicable law.
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5.

DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

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5.1

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

7 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
8 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
9 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
10 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
11 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
12 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
13 within the ambit of this Order.
Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

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15 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
16 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
17 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
18 Party to sanctions.
If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

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20 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
21 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
5.2

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Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

23 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
24 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
25 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
26 produced.
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,

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2 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the
3 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter
4 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a
5 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
6 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
7 markings in the margins).
A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection

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9 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
10 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
11 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
12 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.”

After the inspecting Party has identified the

13 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
14 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
15 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
16 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
17 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
18 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
19 markings in the margins).
(b)

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for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify

21 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition
22 all protected testimony.
(c)

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for information produced in some form other than documentary and for

24 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
25 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
26 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

If only a portion or portions of the information warrants

27 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
28 portion(s).
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(d)

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All copies of Confidential Information authorized to be reproduced

2 under this Agreement will be treated as though they were originals and the
3 confidentiality of each copy will be maintained in accordance with the terms and
4 conditions hereof. Copies of all documents and other tangible things containing
5 Confidential Information derived from Confidential Information shall also be treated
6 as Confidential Information.
5.3

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Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

8 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
9 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
10 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
11 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
12 Order.
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6.

CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

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6.1

Timing of Challenges.

Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

15 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
16 Scheduling Order.
6.2

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Meet and Confer.

The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

18 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
6.3

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The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on

20 the Designating Party.

Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper

21 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
22 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
23 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
24 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
25 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
26 challenge.
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7.

ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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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
4 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
5 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
6 conditions described in this Order.

When the Action has been terminated, a

7 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
8 DISPOSITION).
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a

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10 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
11 authorized under this Order.
7.2

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Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items.

Unless

13 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
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Party

may

disclose

any

information

or

item

designated

15 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as

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17 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
18 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the

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20 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

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22 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
23 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
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(d) the court and its personnel;

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(e) court reporters and their staff;

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(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

27 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
28 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
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(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

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2 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
(h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the

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4 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
5 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will
6 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
8 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
9 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
10 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
11 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

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13 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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8.

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PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

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If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation

PROTECTED

MATERIAL

SUBPOENAED

OR

ORDERED

17 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
18 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification

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20 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order

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22 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
23 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
24 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be

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26 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with

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1 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
2 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
3 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
4 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
5 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to
6 disobey a lawful directive from another court.
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9.

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PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

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(a)

A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a

10 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
11 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
12 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
13 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
(b)

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In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to

15 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
16 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
17 confidential information, then the Party shall:
(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

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19 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
20 with a Non-Party;
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated

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22 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
23 specific description of the information requested; and
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the

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25 Non-Party, if requested.
(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14

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27 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
28 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
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1 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
2 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
3 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
4 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense
5 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material
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10.

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If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

8 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
9 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
10 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
11 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
12 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
13 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
14 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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11.

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OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

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When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

INADVERTENT

PRODUCTION

OF

PRIVILEGED

OR

18 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
19 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
20 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
21 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
22 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
23 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
24 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
25 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
26 to the court.
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12.

MISCELLANEOUS

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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.
12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

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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.
12.3 Filing Protected Material.

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If a document containing Confidential

10 Information is filed with the Court in the captioned litigation, it will be filed under
11 seal, but otherwise may be disclosed only to the receiving Party, his/its attorneys and
12 supporting personnel employed by such attorneys. A Party that seeks to file under
13 seal any Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected
14 Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the
15 sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue.

If a Party’s request to file

16 Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may
17 file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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13.

FINAL DISPOSITION

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After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 30

20 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
21 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
22 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
23 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
24 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
25 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
26 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 30 day deadline that (1) identifies
27 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
28 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
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1 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
2 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
3 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
4 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
5 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
6 materials contain Protected Material.

Any such archival copies that contain or

7 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
8 Section 4 (DURATION).
14.

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Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate

10 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
11 sanctions.
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13 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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Dated: June 15, 2017
KANTOR & KANTOR, LLP
Glenn R. Kantor
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Corinne Chandler
Andrew M. Kantor
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By:

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Dated: June 15, 2017

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/s/ Corinne Chandler
Corinne Chandler
Attorneys for Plaintiff
CRYSTAL STEWARD

MESERVE, MUMPER & HUGHES LLP
Linda M. Lawson
Jason A. James
Natalie A. Bermudez

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By:

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/s/ Natalie A. Bermudez
Natalie A. Bermudez
Attorneys for Defendant
THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE
COMPANY OF AMERICA

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1 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED: June 13, 2017

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6 _____________________________________
Honorable Andrew J. Wistrich
7 United States Magistrate Judge
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1

EXHIBIT A

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

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I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of

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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 [date] in the case of Crystal Steward v. The Prudential Insurance Company of
9 America, Case No. 2:16-cv-07896 BRO (AJWx). I agree to comply with and to be
10 bound 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.
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court

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16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or
19 type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type full
20 address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
21 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
22 Stipulated Protective Order.
23 Date: ______________________________________
24 City and State where sworn and signed: _______________________________
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26 Printed name: _______________________________
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28 Signature: __________________________________
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