Opinion

C and SM Int l v.Zulily, LLC

Court
District Court, C.D. California
Filed
Apr 28, 2020
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 17.9%

even stipulated protective 19 orders require good cause showing

How later courts described this case

  • even stipulated protective 19 orders require good cause showing

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

1 CHAN YONG JEONG, ESQ. (SBN 255244)

jeong@jeonglikens.com

2

JEONG & LIKENS, L.C.

3 222 South Oxford Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90004

4

Tel: 213-688-2001

5 Fax: 213-315-5035

Attorney for Plaintiff, CS&M INT’L

6

Morgan E. Pietz (SBN 260629)

7 morgan@pstrials.com

Cyrus E. Shahriari (SBN 292166)

8 cyrus@pstrials.com

9454 Wilshire Boulevard, Ste. 310

9 PIETZ &SHAHRIARI,LLP

Beverly Hills, CA 90212

10 Telephone: (310) 424-5557

Facsimile: (310) 597-4626

11

Attorneys for Defendant ZULILY, LLC

12

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

13

14 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

15

16 CS&M INT’L, a South Korea Case No.: 2:19-cv-04472-PSG-AFM

Corporation;

17 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

ORDER1

18 Plaintiff,

19

v.

20

ZULILY, LLC, a Delaware Complaint filed: May 22, 2019

21 Corporation; and DOES 1-10, inclusive;

22

Defendants.

23

24

25

26

27

1 1. A. 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

4

disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may

5

be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to

6

enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this

7

Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to

8

discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends

9

only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment

10

under the applicable legal principles.

11

12

B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

13

This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and

14

other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or

15

proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and

16

from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such

17

confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other

18

things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding

19

confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or

20

commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third

21

parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may

22

be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,

23

court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of

24

information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of

25

discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to

26

keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses

27

of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their

1 for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that

2 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that

3 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in

4 a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be

5 part of the public record of this case.

6 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER

7 SEAL

8 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this

9 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information

10 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed

11 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court

12 to file material under seal.

13 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial

14 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions,

15 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City

16 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen.

17 Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony

18 Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective

19 orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or

20 compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be

21 made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The

22 parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as

23 CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by

24 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as

25 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.

26 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial,

27 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and

1 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir.

2 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed

3 or introduced under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party

4 seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts

5 and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence

6 supporting the application to file documents under seal must be provided by

7 declaration.

8 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable

9 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be

10 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public

11 viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable

12 portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file

13 documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of why

14 redaction is not feasible.

15

16 2. DEFINITIONS

17 2.1 Action: This pending federal law suit.

18 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the

19 designation of information or items under this Order.

20 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

21 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for

22 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in

23 the Good Cause Statement.

24 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

25 their support staff).

26 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

27 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as

1 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

2 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,

3 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced

4 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

5 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

6 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve

7 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

8 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

9 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

10 counsel.

11 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or

12 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

13 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a

14 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action

15 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law

16 firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

17 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

18 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their

19 support staffs).

20 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

21 Discovery Material in this Action.

22 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation

23 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

24 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)

25 and their employees and subcontractors.

26 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

27 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

1 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

2 from a Producing Party.

3

4 3. SCOPE

5 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

6 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or

7 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or

8 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or

9 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

10 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the

11 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

12

13 4. DURATION

14 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

15 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or

16 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively

17 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling

18 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the

19 trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81

20 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in

21 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are

22 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend

23 beyond the commencement of the trial.

24

25 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

26 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

27 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under

1 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for

2 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written

3 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,

4 items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept

5 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.

6 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

7 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper

8 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to

9 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the

10 Designating Party to sanctions.

11 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

12 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

13 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

14 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

15 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise

16 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection

17 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or

18 produced.

19 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

21 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial

22 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend

23 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that

24 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for

25 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)

26 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

27 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection

1 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and

2 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be

3 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the

4 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine

5 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order.

6 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix

7 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If

8 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing

9 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making

10 appropriate markings in the margins).

11 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies

12 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the

13 deposition all protected testimony.

14 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for

15 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the

16 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

17 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants

18 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the

19 protected portion(s).

20 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

21 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive

22 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such

23 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make

24 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the

25 provisions of this Order.

26 ///

27 ///

1 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

2 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

3 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s

4 Scheduling Order.

5 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

6 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.

7 6.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a

8 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.

9 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the

10 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose

11 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may

12 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has

13 waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to

14 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under

15 the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

16

17 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

18 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

19 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this

20 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such

21 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under

22 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a

23 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL

24 DISPOSITION).

25 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a

26 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons

27 authorized under this Order.

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

2 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

3 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

4 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as

5 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably

6 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

7 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of

8 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

9 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

10 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

11 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

12 (d) the court and its personnel;

13 (e) court reporters and their staff;

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

15 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have

16 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

17 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

18 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

19 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the

20 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing

21 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2)

22 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the

23 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise

24 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed

25 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may

26 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone

27 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

2

3 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

4 IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

6 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as

7 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

8 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification

9 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

10 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order

11 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the

12 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall

13 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

14 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be

15 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.

16 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served

17 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in

18 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which

19 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s

20 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

21 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions

22 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action

23 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

24

25 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

26 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

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

1 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the

2 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be

3 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

4 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to

5 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is

6 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s

7 confidential information, then the Party shall:

8 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

9 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality

10 agreement with a Non-Party;

11 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated

12 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably

13 specific description of the information requested; and

14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the

15 Non-Party, if requested.

16 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within

17 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving

18 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the

19 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving

20 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject

21 to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the

22 court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and

23 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

24

25 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

27 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized

1 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its

2 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform

3 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms

4 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the

5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit

6 A.

7

8 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

9 PROTECTED MATERIAL

10 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

11 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other

12 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal

13 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify

14 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for

15 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence

16 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure

17 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or

18 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the

19 stipulated protective order submitted to the court.

20

21 12. MISCELLANEOUS

22 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

23 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

24 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

25 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

26 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in

27 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on

1 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective

2 Order.

3 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

4 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material

5 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the

6 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material

7 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information

8 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

9

10 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

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

12 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must

13 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As

14 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,

15 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the

16 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the

17 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if

18 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that

19 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was

20 returned or destroyed and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any

21 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or

22 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel

23 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,

24 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition

25 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert

26 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival

27 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this

1 VIOLATION

2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures

3 ||including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

4

5 IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

6

Dated: April 28, 2020 /s/C. Yong Jeong

7

C. Yong Jeong

8

9 JEONG & LIKENS, L.C.

Attorney for Plaintiff

10

11 || Dated: April 28, 2020 /s/ Morgan E. Pietz

Morgan E. Pietz

Cyrus E. Shahriari

13 Pietz & Shahriari, LLP

14 Professional Law Corporation

Attorneys for Defendant ZULILY, LLC

15

16

17 |} FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

18

19 || DATED:— 4/28/202——W

20

21 (dy Wi

22

23 ||} HON. ALEXANDER F. MACKINNON

74 United States Magistrate Judge

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EXHIBIT A

4

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

5

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

6

_________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury

7

that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that

8

was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California

9

on [date] in the case of CS&M INT’L v. ZULILY, LLC; et al, 2:19-cv-04472-PSG-

10

AFM. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated

11

Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could

12

expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly

13

promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is

14

subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict

15

compliance with the provisions of this Order.

16

I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for

17

the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this

18

Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after

19

termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print

20

or type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or

21

type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of

22

process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of

23

this Stipulated Protective Order.

24

Date: ______________________________________

25

City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

26

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Printed name: _______________________________

1 Signature: __________________________________

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This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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