Anthony Shacar v. Trans Union LLC

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

8

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

9

10

Case No. 2:20-cv-11115-AB-RAO

11 Anthony Shacar,

12 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

ORDER1

13

14 Trans Union LLC, et al.

15

16

17 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

18 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

19 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public

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

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

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

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

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

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

26 under the applicable legal principles.

27

1 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

2 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, private financial information, or

3 company specific policies and procedure and/or proprietary information for which

4 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than

5 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials

6 and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial

7 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or commercial

8 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),

9 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be

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

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

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

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

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

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

16 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such

17 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information

18 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so

19 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,

20 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public

21 record of this case.

22 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL

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

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

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

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

27 to file material under seal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

7 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling

8 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with

9 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere

10 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—

11 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the

12 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or

13 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.

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

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

16 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.

17 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For

18 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced

19 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking

20 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal

21 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting

22 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.

23 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in

24 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted.

25 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting

26 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document

27 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their

1 2. DEFINITIONS

2 2.1 Action: Shacar v. Trans Union LLC, et al., 2:20-cv-11115-AB-RAO.

3 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the

4 designation of information or items under this Order.

5 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

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

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

8 the Good Cause Statement.

9 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

10 their support staff).

11 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

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

13 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

14 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

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

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

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

18 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

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

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

21 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

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

23 counsel.

24 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or

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

26 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a

27 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and

1 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

2 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

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

4 support staffs).

5 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

6 Discovery Material in this Action.

7 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation

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

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

10 and their employees and subcontractors.

11 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

12 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

13 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery

14 Material from a Producing Party.

15

16 3. SCOPE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

24

25 4. DURATION

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

27 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced

1 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by

2 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance

3 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”

4 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”

5 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the

6 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

7

8 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

9 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

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

11 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that

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

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

14 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items

15 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably

16 within the ambit of this Order.

17 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

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

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

20 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating

21 Party to sanctions.

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

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

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

25 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

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

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

1 produced.

2 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated

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

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

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

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

16 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,

17 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the

18 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a

19 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

20 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings

21 in the margins).

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

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

24 deposition all protected testimony.

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

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

27 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the

1 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the

2 protected portion(s).

3 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

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

5 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.

6 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable

7 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this

8 Order.

9

10 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

11 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

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

13 Scheduling Order.

14 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

15 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.

16 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on

17 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper

18 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other

19 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating

20 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall

21 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is

22 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the

23 challenge.

24

25 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

26 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

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

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

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

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

4 DISPOSITION).

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

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

7 authorized under this Order.

8 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

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

10 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

11 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

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

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

14 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

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

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

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

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

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

20 (d) the court, its personnel and any juror or alternate juror;

21 (e) court reporters and their staff;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

8 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

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

10

11 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

12 IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

15 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

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

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

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

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

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

21 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

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

24 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with

25 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this

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

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

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

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

3 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

4

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

6 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

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

8 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information

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

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

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

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

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

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

15 confidential information, then the Party shall:

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

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

18 agreement with a Non-Party;

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

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

21 specific description of the information requested; and

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

23 Non-Party, if requested.

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

25 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party

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

27 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall

1 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.

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

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

4

5 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

7 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

8 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in

9 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts

10 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or

11 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,

12 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and

13 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

14

15 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

16 PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

18 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,

19 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil

20 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever

21 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production

22 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and

23 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a

24 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work

25 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated

26 protective order submitted to the court.

27 //

1 12. MISCELLANEOUS

2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

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

4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

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

6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

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

8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

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

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

12 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material

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

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

15

16 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

17 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60

18 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return

19 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in

20 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,

21 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

22 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving

23 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same

24 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies

25 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or

26 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,

27 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any

1 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing

2 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert

3 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such

4 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or

5 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in

6 || Section 4 (DURATION).

7

8 || 14. VIOLATION

9 |} Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including,

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

11 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

12

13 || DATED: July 19, 2021

14 || /s/ Youssef H. Hammoud

3 Attorneys for Plaintiff

16

DATED: July 19, 2021

17

/s/ Jennifer Bergh

18 || Attorneys for Defendant

19 Transunion, LLC

20

DATED: July 19, 2021

21

Jeffrey A. Topor

22 || Attorneys for Defendant _

Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

24

DATED: July 20, 2021

25

26 Rapelis, Qa. Q@.

27 || HON. ROZELLA A. OLIVER

3g United States Magistrate Judge

1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO COMPLY

3

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

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

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

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

8 on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the

9 number and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with all the

10 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that

11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of

12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any

13 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person

14 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.

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

16 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective

17 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.

18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of

19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and

20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with

21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective

22 Order.

23 Date: ______________________________________

24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

25

26 Printed name: _______________________________

27