distinguishing “good cause” 17 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 18 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
How later courts described this case
- distinguishing “good cause” 17 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 18 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
- even stipulated protective 17 orders require good cause showing
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
WESTERN DIVISION
11
SUSAN SEYSTER, an individual; CASE NO. 2:19-cv-01042-DMG-JDE
12 and JONATHAN SEYSTER, an
individual,
13 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Plaintiffs,
14
vs.
15
16
UNITED SERVICES
17 AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION, a
Texas Corporation; USAA
18 CASUALTY INSURANCE
COMPANY, a Texas Corporation,
19 and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive,
20 Defendants.
21
22
23
24 Based on the Stipulation of the parties (Dkt. 17), and good cause appearing
25 therefor, the Court hereby orders and finds as follows:
26 / / /
27 / / /
28 / / /
1 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
3 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public disclosure
4 and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be warranted.
5 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the
6 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does
7 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that
8 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
9 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable
10 legal principles.
11 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
12
This action is likely to involve trade secrets, and other valuable research,
13
development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for
14
which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other
15
than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary
16
materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or
17
financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other
18
confidential research, development, or commercial information (including
19
information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise
20
generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise
21
protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions,
22
or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the
23
prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to
24
adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure
25
that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
26
preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the
27
litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is
28
1 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be
2 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated
3 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public
4 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this
5 case.
6 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
7 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this
8 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
9 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and
10 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file
11 material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access
12
to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive
13
motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v.
14
City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen.
15
Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony
16
Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective
17
orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or
18
compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be
19
made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The
20
parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL
21
does not— without the submission of competent evidence by declaration,
22
establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential,
23
privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.
24
Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then
25
compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the
26
relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.
27
See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For
28
1 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced
2 under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported
3 by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again,
4 competent evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal must be
5 provided by declaration.
6 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in
7 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If
8 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only
9 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall
10 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety
11 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.
12
4. DEFINITIONS
13
4.1 Action: Susan Seyster et al. v. USAA Casualty Insurance Company,
14
2:19-CV-01042-DMG-JDE.
15
4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
16
designation of information or items under this Order.
17
4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
18
how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
19
protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the
20
Good Cause Statement.
21
4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
22
their support staff).
23
4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
24
items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
25
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
26
4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of
27
the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
28
1 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
2 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.
3 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
4 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
5 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
6 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
7 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
8 counsel.
9 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or
10 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
11 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
12
to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in
13
this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared
14
on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
15
4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
16
employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
17
support staffs).
18
4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
19
Discovery Material in this Action.
20
4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
21
services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
22
demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
23
and their employees and subcontractors.
24
4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
25
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
26
4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
27
Material from a Producing Party.
28
1 5. SCOPE
2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
6 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
8 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of
9 Protected Material at trial.
10 6. DURATION
11 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
12
CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced
13
as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all
14
members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by
15
specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance
16
of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”
17
showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
18
standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
19
terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
20
7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
21
7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for
22
Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items
23
for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to
24
specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating
25
Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items or
26
oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material,
27
documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not
28
1 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
2 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
3 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
4 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
5 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
6 Party to sanctions.
7 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
8 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
9 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
10 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
11 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material
12
that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the
13
material is disclosed or produced.
14
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
15
(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
16
documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
17
proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
18
“CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
19
contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for
20
protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
21
(e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). A Party or Non-Party that
22
makes original documents available for inspection need not designate them for
23
protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would
24
like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the
25
material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After
26
the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the
27
Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for
28
1 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the
2 Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains
3 Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection,
4 the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by
5 making appropriate markings in the margins).
6 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
7 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
8 deposition all protected testimony.
9 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
10 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
11 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
12
legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
13
protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
14
portion(s).
15
7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
16
failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
17
Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
18
Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
19
efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
20
Order.
21
8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
22
8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
23
designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
24
Scheduling Order.
25
8.2. Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
26
resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
27
8.3. Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a
28
1 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
2 8.4. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
3 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
4 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
5 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
6 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
7 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
8 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
9 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
10 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
11 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
12
Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such
13
Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
14
conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
15
Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
16
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
17
location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
18
authorized under this Order.
19
9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
20
otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
21
Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
22
“CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
23
(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
24
well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
25
necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
26
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
27
the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
28
1 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
2 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A)
4 (d) the court and its personnel;
5 (e) court reporters and their staff;
6 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
7 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
8 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
10 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
11 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
12
the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
13
party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2)
14
they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
15
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
16
agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
17
deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
18
separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
19
permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
20
(i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,
21
mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
22
10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
23 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
24
If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
25
that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
26
“CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
27
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
28
1 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
2 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
3 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
4 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a
5 copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
6 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
7 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the
8 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena
9 or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as
10 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or
11 order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
12
Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that
13
court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed
14
as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
15
directive from another court.
16
11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
17
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
18
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
19
Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
20
21 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
22 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
23 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
24 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
25 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
26 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
27 confidential information, then the Party shall:
28 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
1 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
2 with a Non-Party;
3 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
4 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
5 specific description of the information requested; and
6 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
7 Party, if requested.
8 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court
9 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving
10 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the
11 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving
12
Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to
13
the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
14
Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense
15
of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
16
12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
17
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
18
Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
19
Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
20
writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
21
to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
22
persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
23
and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an
24
Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.
25
13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
26 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
27
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
28
1 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
2 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil\
3 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
4 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
5 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
6 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
7 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
8 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
9 to the court.
10 14. MISCELLANEOUS
11 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
12
person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
13
14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
14
Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
15
disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
16
Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
17
ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
18
14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
19
Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
20
only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
21
specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is
22
denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public
23
record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
24
15. FINAL DISPOSITION
25
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60
26
days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
27
all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this
28
1 | subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
2 | summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
3 | Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
4 | Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
5 | person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies
6 | (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
7| destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
8 | abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
? | of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
10 | retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
M transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
12 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if suc
13 | materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
4 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
| Section 6 (DURATION).
16. VIOLATION
Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures
8 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
19
20
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
22 | DATED: October 17, 2019
23
24 JpgR D. EARLY
35 ited States Magistrate Judge
26
27
28
-13-
STIPUT ATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1 Exhibit A
2
3
4
5
6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
7 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
8 WESTERN DIVISION
9 SUSAN SEYSTER, an individual; CASE NO.: 2:19-cv-01042-DMG-JDE
and JONATHAN SEYSTER, an
10 individual,
AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY
11 Plaintiffs, STIPULATION AND PROPOSED
PROTECTIVE ORDER
12 vs.
13
14 United Services Automobile
Association, a Texas Corporation;
15 USAA CASUALTY INSURANCE
COMPANY, a Texas Corporation,
16 and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive,
17 Defendants.
18
19
20 I hereby attest to my understanding that information or documents designated
21 as Confidential Material or Confidential Documents and the information contained
22 therein are provided to me pursuant to the terms and conditions and restrictions of the
23 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER entered in the above styled case. I have
24 been given a copy, read, and understand the STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
25 ORDER; and that I agree to be bound by it, and consent to the personal jurisdiction
26 of the Court that signed the STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER, for
27 enforcement.
28 I further agree that I shall not disclose to others in any manner, except in
1 accordance with that STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER, any Confidential
2 Material (or Confidential Documents) as defined in that Agreement and Order, and
3 that such Confidential Material shall be used only for the purposes of the captioned
4 legal proceeding. I understand that the unauthorized disclosure of Confidential
5 Material could result in the violation of the rights to privacy, and/or serious economic
6 harm to the party providing the Confidential Material which could continue to cause
7 harm even after the termination of that legal proceeding. I further agree and attest to
8 my understanding that, in the event that I fail to abide by the terms of that
9 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER, I may be subject to sanctions, including
10 sanctions by way of contempt of court, imposed by the Court for such a failure.
11
_____________________________________
12 _____
Signature Date
13
_____________________________________
14 _____
Name Printed
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28