Nautilus Insurance Company v. Dreamworks Construction Inc. et al

Filing 34

PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian re Stipulation for Protective Order 31 . (see document for details) (hr)

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LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 ELDON S. EDSON (SBN CA 168896) eedson@selmanlaw.com LAURA R. RAMOS (SBN CA 186326) lramos@selmanlaw.com SELMAN LEICHENGER EDSON HSU NEWMAN & MOORE LLP 10880 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1200 Los Angeles, CA 90024 Telephone: 310.445.0800 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff, 7 NAUTILUS INSURANCE COMPANY 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 10 11 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA NAUTILUS INSURANCE Case No. 2:23-cv-02707-SB-JC COMPANY, 12 14 15 Chooljian v. 17 DREAMWORKS CONSTRUCTION, INC., a California Corporation and JAMIE D. FREED, an Individual, 18 Defendants. 16 Hon. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Plaintiff, 13 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING DISCOVERY 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS As the parties have represented that discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted, this Court enters the following Protective Order. This Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery. The protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 1 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 treatment under the applicable legal principles. Further, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, this Protective Order does not entitle the parties to file confidential information under seal. Rather, when the parties seek permission from the court to file material under seal, the parties must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5 and with any pertinent orders of the assigned District Judge and Magistrate Judge. 6 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 7 In light of the nature of the claims and allegations in this case and the parties’ 8 representations that discovery in this case will involve the production of confidential 9 records, and in order to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 10 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 11 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 12 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in connection with 13 this action, to address their handling of such material at the end of the litigation, and 14 to serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 15 matter. The parties shall not designate any information/documents as confidential 16 without a good faith belief that such information/documents have been maintained 17 in a confidential, non-public manner, and that there is good cause or a compelling 18 reason why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 19 2. 20 21 22 23 24 DEFINITIONS 2.1 Action: The instant action: Nautilus Insurance Company v Dreamworks Construction, Inc. et. al., Case No. 2:23-cv-02707-SB-JC. 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information or items under this Order. 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 25 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 26 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 27 the Good Cause Statement. 28 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 2 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 their support staff). 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 6 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 7 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 8 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 9 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 10 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 11 an expert witness or as a non-testifying consultant in this Action. 12 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 13 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 14 counsel. 15 16 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 17 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 18 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 19 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 20 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 21 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 22 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 23 support staffs). 24 25 26 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action. 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 27 support services (e.g., deposition transcripts, photocopying, videotaping, translating, 28 preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in 3 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 6 any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a Producing Party. 3. SCOPE 7 The protections conferred by this Order cover not only Protected Material (as 8 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected 9 Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; 10 and (3) any deposition testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 11 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material, other than during a court hearing or at 12 trial. Any use of Protected Material during a court hearing or at trial shall be 13 governed by the orders of the presiding judge. This Order does not govern the use 14 of Protected Material during a court hearing or at trial. 15 4. DURATION 16 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 17 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees 18 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be 19 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with 20 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and 21 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, 22 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time 23 pursuant to applicable law. 24 5. 25 DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 26 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 27 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 28 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 4 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 6 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 7 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 8 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 9 Party to sanctions. If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or 10 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating 11 Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 12 designation. 13 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 14 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of Section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 15 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 16 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 17 produced. 18 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: (a) 19 for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 20 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions), that the Producing Party affix 21 at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL 22 legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions 23 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 24 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 25 margins). 26 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 27 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 28 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 5 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 6 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 7 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 8 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 9 markings in the margins). (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 10 11 on the record, before the close of the deposition as protected testimony. 12 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 13 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 14 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 15 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 16 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 17 protected portion(s). 5.3 18 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 19 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 20 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 21 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 22 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 23 Order. 24 6. 25 CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 26 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 27 Scheduling Order. 28 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 6 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 6 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 7 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 8 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 9 challenge. 10 11 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 12 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 13 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 14 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 15 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 16 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 13 below. 17 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 18 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 19 authorized under this Order. 20 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 21 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 22 Receiving 23 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: Party may disclose any information or item designated 24 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 25 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 26 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 27 28 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 7 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); (d) the court and its personnel; (e) court reporters and their staff; (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 6 7 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action. (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 8 9 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 10 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 11 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 12 requests that the witness sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 13 form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any 14 confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to 15 Be Bound” attached as Exhibit A, unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party 16 or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 17 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court 18 reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this 19 Protective Order; 20 (i) 21 for this Action. A Non-Party witness to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary 22 (j) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 23 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions; (k) reinsurers for the plaintiff, an insurance company, or any state or 24 25 other regulator of plaintiff. 26 8. 27 IN OTHER LITIGATION 28 PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 8 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 6 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 7 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 8 a copy of this Protective Order; and (c) 9 10 cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 11 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 12 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 13 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 14 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 15 permission, or unless otherwise required by the law or court order. The Designating 16 Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its 17 confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 18 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 19 directive from another court. 20 9. 21 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 22 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 23 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 24 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 25 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 26 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 27 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 28 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 9 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 6 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Protective 7 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 8 description of the information requested; and (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 9 10 Non-Party, if requested. 11 (c) If a Non-Party represented by counsel fails to commence the process 12 called for by Local Rules 45-1 and 37-1, et seq. within 14 days of receiving the 13 notice and accompanying information or fails contemporaneously to notify the 14 Receiving Party that it has done so, the Receiving Party may produce the Non- 15 Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 16 unrepresented Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 17 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 18 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 19 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 20 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 21 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court 22 unless otherwise required by the law or court order. Absent a court order to the 23 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in 24 this court of its Protected Material. 25 10. If an UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 27 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 28 Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the 10 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 6 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 7 PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 9 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 10 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 11 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 12 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without 13 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar 14 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 15 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 16 parties may incorporate their agreement into this Protective Order. 17 12. 18 19 MISCELLANEOUS 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 20 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. No Party waives any right it 21 otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item 22 on any ground not addressed in this Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives 23 any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 24 by this Protective Order. 25 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 26 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5 and with any pertinent 27 orders of the assigned District Judge and Magistrate Judge. If a Party's request to 28 file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party 11 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 may file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 13.1 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4, within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, except for as provided in 13.2, 6 each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or 7 destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes 8 all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or 9 capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned 10 or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the 11 Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by 12 the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the 13 Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving 14 Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other 15 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 16 13.2 Counsel of record for parties to the action are entitled to retain an 17 archival copy of all Confidential pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and 18 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, 19 expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even 20 if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain 21 or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth 22 in Section 4. 23 13.3 Plaintiff, which is an insurance company and subject to state and other 24 regulations, is entitled to retain Protected Material as part of its files as required by 25 applicable insurance regulations. 26 27 28 12 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 14. ENFORCEMENT 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 6 7 DATED: September 28, 2023 8 SELMAN LEICHENGER EDSON HSU NEWMAN & MOORE LLP 9 10 By: /s/ LAURA R. RAMOS ELDON S. EDSON LAURA R. RAMOS Attorneys for Plaintiff NAUTILUS INSURANCE COMPANY 11 12 13 14 15 DATED: September 28, 2023 PHILLIPS LAW CORPORATION 16 17 By: /s/ Brent R Phillips BRENT R. PHILLIPS RONALD A. GORRIE Attorneys for Defendant JAMIE D. FREED 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 IT IS SO ORDERED. September 29, 2023 DATE: ___________________ 26 _________________________ Honorable Jacqueline Chooljian United States Magistrate Judge 27 28 13 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1 LLP 450 Sansome Street 12th 1 Floor 2 San 3 Francisco 4 , CA 5 94111 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND I, ____________________________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________________________________________________________ [print or type Company and address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have 6 read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that was issued by the United 7 States District Court for the Central District of California in the case of Nautilus 8 Insurance Company v Dreamworks Construction, Inc. et. al., Case No. 2:23-cv- 9 02707-SB-JC. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 10 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 11 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 12 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject 13 to this Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 14 provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 17 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of 18 this action. 19 name] of _______________________________________ [print or type Company 20 address, email address, and telephone number] as my California agent for service of 21 process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of 22 this Protective Order. 23 Date: ____________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed:_______________________ 25 Printed name: _______________________________ I hereby appoint ____________________________________ [full 26 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28 14 3892 103694 4856-2097-9840 .v1

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