# Paul Atteukenian v. New York Life Insurance Company

> District Court, C.D. California · August 21, 2020

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10038798

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, C.D. California
- **Decided:** August 21, 2020
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, WESTERN DIVISION
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11 PAUL ATTEUKENIAN, Case No. 2:20-cv-01639 PSG (PVCx)
12 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER
13 v.
14 NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY, and DOES 1 through 100,
15 Inclusive,
16 Defendants.
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19 Good cause having been shown, the Court hereby GRANTS the parties’
20 Stipulated Protective Order and ORDERS as follows:
21 1. INTRODUCTION
22 1.1 Purposes and Limitations
23 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
24 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
25 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
26 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
27 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
1 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
2 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
3 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
4 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
5 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
6 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
7 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
8 1.2 Good Cause Statement
9 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve
10 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
11 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than
12 prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. It is expected that the discovery will
13 include Plaintiff’s financial and proprietary information, and may also include
14 confidential corporate and proprietary information from Defendant. Specifically
15 with regard to Plaintiff, he maintains business relationships with high-profile
16 clientele whose identities must be kept confidential. The parties agree that this will
17 not preclude Defendant from deposing such named individuals during discovery.
18 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the
19 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does
20 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that
21 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
22 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable
23 legal principles.
24
25 2. DEFINITIONS
26 2.1 Action: the above-captioned pending federal lawsuit.
27 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
1 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
2 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
3 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
4 the Good Cause Statement.
5 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
6 their support staff).
7 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
8 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
9 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
10 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
11 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
12 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
13 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
14 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
15 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
16 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
17 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
18 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
19 counsel.
20 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
21 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
22 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
23 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
24 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
25 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
26 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
27 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
1 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
2 Discovery Material in this Action.
3 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
4 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
5 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
6 and their employees and subcontractors.
7 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
8 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
9 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
10 Material from a Producing Party.
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12 3. SCOPE
13 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
14 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
15 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
16 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
17 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
18 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the
19 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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21 4. DURATION
22 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
23 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will
24 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
25 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
26 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of
27 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
1 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
2 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
3 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
4 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
5 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
6 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
7 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
8 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
9 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
10 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
11 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
12 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
13 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
14 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
15 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
16 Party to sanctions.
17 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
18 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
19 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
20 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
21 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
22 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
23 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
24 produced.
25 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
26 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
27 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
1 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
2 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
3 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
4 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
5 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
6 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
7 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
8 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be
9 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
10 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
11 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
12 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
13 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
14 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
15 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
16 markings in the margins).
17 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the
18 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all
19 protected testimony.
20 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
21 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
22 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
23 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
24 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected
25 portion(s).
26 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
27 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
1 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
2 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
3 Order.
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5 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
6 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
7 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
8 Scheduling Order.
9 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
10 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1
11 et seq.
12 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on
13 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
14 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
15 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
16 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will
17 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
18 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
19 challenge.
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21 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
22 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
23 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
24 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
25 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
26 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
27 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
1 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
2 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
3 authorized under this Order.
4 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
5 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
6 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
7 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
8 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well
9 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
10 to disclose the information for this Action;
11 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
12 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
13 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
14 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
16 (d) the Court and its personnel;
17 (e) court reporters and their staff;
18 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
19 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
20 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
21 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
22 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
23 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the
24 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
25 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
26 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
1 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
2 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
3 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
4 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
5 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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7 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
8 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
9 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
10 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
11 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
12 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will
13 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
14 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
15 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
16 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of
17 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
18 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
19 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
20 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
21 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this
22 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
23 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
24 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking
25 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
26 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
27 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
1 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
4 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
5 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
6 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
7 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
8 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
9 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
10 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
11 confidential information, then the Party will:
12 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
13 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
14 agreement with a Non-Party;
15 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
16 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
17 specific description of the information requested; and
18 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
19 Non-Party, if requested.
20 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
21 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
22 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
23 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will
24 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
25 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
26 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense
27 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
1 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
3 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
4 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
5 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
6 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
7 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
8 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
9 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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11 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
12 PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
14 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
15 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
16 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever
17 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production
18 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and
19 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
20 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
21 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated
22 protective order submitted to the court.
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24 12. MISCELLANEOUS
25 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
26 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
27 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
1 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
2 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
3 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
4 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
5 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
6 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
7 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material
8 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
9 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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11 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
12 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
13 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
14 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
15 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
16 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
17 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
18 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
19 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
20 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
21 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
22 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
23 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
24 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
25 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
26 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
27 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
1 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
2 || Section 4 (DURATION).
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4 || 14. 9 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
5 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
6 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
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g || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
Mo
i9 || DATED: August 21, 2020 fuk
HON. PEDRO V. CASTILLO
1] United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _________________ [full name], of __________________________ [full
5 address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of Paul
8 Atteukenian v. New York Life Insurance Company, United States District Court,
9 Central District of California, Case No. 2:20-cv-01639-PSG. I agree to comply with
10 and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand
11 and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
12 punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in
13 any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective
14 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this
15 Order.
16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
17 for 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 ______________________ [full name]
20 of _______________________________________ [full address and telephone
21 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this
22 action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
23
24 Date: ______________________________________
25 City and State where signed: ______________________________________
26 Printed name: ______________________________________
27 Signature: ______________________________________

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10038798. Public record. Not legal advice.