Mario Lopez et al v. Federal Insurance Company et al
Filing
17
PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Karen L. Stevenson re Stipulation for Protective Order 16 (See Order for details) (rh)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11
12
MARIO LOPEZ, an individual; and
COURTNEY LOPEZ, an individual,
13
14
15
16
17
Plaintiffs,
v.
FEDERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, a
corporation; and DOES 1 through 100,
inclusive,
Case No. 2:17-cv-05435-MWF-KS
DISCOVERY MATTER
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER
Defendants.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
The following procedures shall be employed and the following restrictions shall
2
govern during this litigation with respect to the disclosure of any information,
3
documents, or things obtained by any party to this action where such items are asserted
4
to contain or comprise trade secret, confidential, or proprietary information as follows:
5
1.
6
A.
PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
7
proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure
8
and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.
9
Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the
10
following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does
11
not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the
12
protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
13
information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable
14
legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below,
15
that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential
16
information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be
17
followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the
18
court to file material under seal.
19
B.
20
This insurance coverage action is likely to involve private, commercial,
GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
21
financial, and/or proprietary information for which special protection from public
22
disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is
23
warranted. Such confidential, private, and proprietary materials and information
24
consist of, among other things, confidential business, personal, or financial
25
information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other
26
confidential research, development, or commercial information (including information
27
implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable
28
to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under
1
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to
2
expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over
3
confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are
4
entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable
5
necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address
6
their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective
7
order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that
8
information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing
9
be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a
10
confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of
11
the public record of this case.
12
2.
DEFINITIONS
13
2.1
Action: this pending federal law suit.
14
2.2
Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
15
16
of information or items under this Order.
2.3
“CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
17
how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
18
protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
19
the Good Cause Statement.
20
21
22
2.4
Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
their support staff).
2.5
Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
23
items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
24
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
25
2.6
Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
26
of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
27
among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
28
generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
2
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
2.7
Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
2
pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
3
an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
4
2.8
House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
5
House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
6
counsel.
7
8
2.9
Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
9
2.10
Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
10
party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
11
have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
12
which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
13
2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
14
employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
15
support staffs).
16
17
2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
Discovery Material in this Action.
18
2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
19
support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
20
demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
21
and their employees and subcontractors.
22
23
2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
24
2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
25
Material from a Producing Party.
26
3.
27
28
SCOPE
The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected
Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from
3
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected
2
Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their
3
Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any use of Protected Material at trial
4
shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use
5
of Protected Material at trial.
6
4.
DURATION
7
Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations
8
imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise
9
in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the
10
later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without
11
prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all
12
appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits
13
for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.
14
5.
15
DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
5.1
Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
16
Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
17
this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
18
qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
19
protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
20
communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
21
items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
22
unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized
23
designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or
24
that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case
25
development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties)
26
may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. If it comes to a Designating Party’s
27
attention that information or items that it designated for protection do not qualify for
28
4
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is
2
withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
3
5.2
Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
4
this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
5
stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
6
under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
7
produced. Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
8
(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,
9
but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings),
10
that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL”
11
(hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected
12
material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for
13
protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
14
portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). A Party or
15
Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need not
16
designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which
17
documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before
18
the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
19
“CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it
20
wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
21
documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,
22
before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
23
“CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If
24
only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
25
Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by
26
making appropriate markings in the margins).
27
(b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
28
the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
5
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
deposition all protected testimony.
2
(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any
3
other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
4
exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
5
legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
6
warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify
7
the protected portion(s).
8
5.3
9
Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
10
the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
11
Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
12
efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
13
Order.
14
6.
15
CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
6.1
Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
16
designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling
17
Order.
18
19
6.2
Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
20
6.3
The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
21
the 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 or
24
withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
25
material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
26
Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
27
7.
28
ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
7.1
Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
6
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
2
Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
3
Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
4
conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
5
Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
6
DISPOSITION). Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving
7
Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the
8
persons authorized under this Order.
9
7.2
Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
10
otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
11
Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
12
“CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
13
(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
14
well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
15
necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
16
(b) the Receiving Party as well as the officers, directors, and employees
17
(including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is
18
reasonably necessary for this Action;
19
(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
20
disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
21
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
22
(d) the court and its personnel;
23
(e) court reporters and their staff;
24
(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
25
Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who
26
have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
27
(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
28
custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
7
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
(h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
2
Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
3
party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and
4
(2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they
5
sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless
6
otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of
7
transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected
8
Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed
9
to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
10
(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
11
mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
12
8.
PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
13
IN OTHER LITIGATION
14
If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
15
that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
16
“CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
17
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
18
shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
19
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
20
to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
21
subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall
22
include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
23
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
24
pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
25
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
26
the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
27
action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which
28
the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating
8
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of
2
seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these
3
provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party
4
in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
5
9.
A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
6
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
7
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
8
Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such
9
information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is
10
protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these
11
provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking
12
additional protections.
13
(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
14
produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party
15
is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
16
confidential information, then the Party shall:
17
(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
18
that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
19
agreement with a Non-Party;
20
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
21
Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a
22
reasonably specific description of the information requested; and
23
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
24
Non-Party, if requested.
25
(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
26
14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving
27
Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the
28
discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the
9
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control
2
that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a
3
determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party
4
shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its
5
Protected Material.
6
10.
7
UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
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.
15
11.
INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
16
PROTECTED MATERIAL
17
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
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
22
prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar
23
as the 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.
27
12.
28
MISCELLANEOUS
12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
10
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
2
12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
3
Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
4
disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
5
Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
6
ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
7
12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
8
Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
9
only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
10
specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material
11
under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
12
in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
13
13.
FINAL DISPOSITION
14
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
15
days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
16
all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
17
this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
18
summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
19
Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
20
Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
21
person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
22
(by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
23
destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
24
abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
25
of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
26
retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
27
transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
28
reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
11
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1
materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
2
constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
3
Section 4 (DURATION).
4
14.
5
measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
6
sanctions.
Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
7
8
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
9
10
11
12
Dated: November 8, 2017
_____________________________________
KAREN L. STEVENSON
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
12
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
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
5
that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
6
was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
7
in the case of Mario Lopez et al. v. Federal Insurance Company, United States
8
District Court for the Central District of California Case No. 2:17-cv-05435-MWF-KS.
9
I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective
10
Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to
11
sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not
12
disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated
13
Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions
14
of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District
15
Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of
16
this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
17
termination of this action. I hereby appoint _________________________ [printor
18
type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type full
19
address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
20
connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
21
Stipulated Protective Order.
22
Date: ______________________________________
23
City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
24
25
Printed name: _______________________________
26
27
Signature: __________________________________
28
1
EXHIBIT A
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?