Janet T. Sullivan v. Transamerica Life Insurance Company

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA—WESTERN DIVISION

10

11 || JANET T. SULLIVAN; JANET T. Case No. 2:21-cv-00645-CAS-GJS

SULLIVAN, AS TRUSTEE OF THE

12 || TEUTON IRREVOCABLE TRUST [PROEOSEDEORDER GRANTING

DATED JUNE 21, 2002, TIPULATED PROTECTIVE

13 ORDER

Plaintiffs,

14

V.

15

TRANSAMERICA LIFE

16 | INSURANCE COMPANY,

17 Defendant.

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

1 |} 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS/GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential and

3 || proprietary actuarial, business, technical, and financial information as well as

4 || private information of Plaintiffs JANET T. SULLIVAN and JANET T.

5 || SULLIVAN, AS TRUSTEE OF THE TEUTON IRREVOCABLE TRUST

6 || DATED JUNE 21, 2002 (“Plaintiffs”) or the insured for which special protection

7 || from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this

8 || litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, Plaintiffs and Defendant Transamerica

9 || Life Insurance Company (“TLIC”) hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to

10 || enter the following Stipulated Protective Order (“Order”). The parties acknowledge

11 || that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to

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

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

14 || under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth

15 }| in Section 12.3 (Filing Protected Material), below, that this Protective Order does

16 || not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5

17 || and the Court’s Guide to Electronically Filing Under Seal Documents in Civil

18 || Cases set forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be

19 || applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-2-

1 || parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL

2 || or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY does not—without

3 || the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material

4 || sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise

5 || protectable—constitute good cause.

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

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

8 || the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be

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

10 |} 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed

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

12 || seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts

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

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

15 || declaration.

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

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

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

19 || only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document,

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

21 || entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

22 || 2. DEFINITIONS

23 2.1 Acknowledgment: the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be

24 || Bound” form attached as Exhibit A to this Order.

25 2.2 Action: JANET T. SULLIVAN and JANET T. SULLIVAN, AS

26 || TRUSTEE OF THE TEUTON IRREVOCABLE TRUST DATED JUNE 21, 2002 v.

27 || Transamerica Life Insurance Company, Case No. 2:21-cv-00645-CAS-GIJS.

28

1 2.3. Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the

2 || designation of information or items under this Order.

3 2.4 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Confidential proprietary or

4 || commercially sensitive business and financial information, trade secrets, and

5 || personal information which is not generally known or publicly available and which

6 || the Designating Party would not normally reveal to third parties or information that

7 || otherwise meets the standard for protection set forth in Rule 26(c) of the Federal

8 || Rules of Civil Procedure. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be

9 || designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated

10 || without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential non-public

11 || manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of

12 || this Action.

13 2.5 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

14 || their support staff).

15 2.6 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or

16 || items that it produces or that are produced in disclosures or in response to discovery

17 || as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES

18 |} ONLY.”

19 2.7 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless

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

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

22 || or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

23 2.8 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

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

25 || an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action and who is not a past or current

26 || employee of a Party or a current employee of a Party’s competitor and who, at the

27 || time of retention, is not anticipated to become an employee of a Party or a

28

1 || competitor of a Party. This definition includes a professional jury or trial

2 || consultant retained in connection with this litigation.

3 2.9 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”

4 || Information or Items: Extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items,”

5 || disclosure of which to another Party or Non-Party would create a substantial risk of

6 || serious harm that could not be avoided by less restrictive means.

7 2.10 House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees for a Party or of an

8 || entity that owns an interest in a Party and is responsible for controlling or directing

9 || the litigation. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any

10 || other outside counsel.

11 2.11 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,

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

13 2.12 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 and

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

16 || that has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.

17 2.13 Party: Any party to this Action, including its House Counsel, officers,

18 || directors, employees, consultants, and retained experts.

19 2.14 Parent: An entity that owns, or conducts the business affairs of, the

20 || Receiving Party and is responsible for controlling and directing the litigation.

21 2.15 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

22 || Discovery Material in this Action.

23 2.16 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation

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

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

26 || and their employees and subcontractors.

27

28

1 2.17 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

2 || designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL-

3 || ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”

4 2.18 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery

5 || Material from a Producing Party.

6 2.19 Related Actions: Feller v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co., No. 2:16-

7 || cv-01378-CAS-GJSx (C.D. Cal. filed Feb. 28, 2016) (“Feller”); EFG Bank AG

8 || Cayman Branch, et al. v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co., Case No. 2:16-cv-

9 || 08104-CAS-GJSx (C.D. Cal. filed Oct. 31, 2016) (““EFG’’).

10] 3. SCOPE

11 The protections conferred by this Order cover not only Protected Material (as

12 || defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected

13 |} Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material;

14 || and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel or

15 || their Experts that might reveal Protected Material. Any use of Protected Material at

16 || trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern

17 || the use of Protected Material at trial.

18 } 4. DURATION

19 FINAL DISPOSITION of the action is defined as the conclusion of any

20 || appellate proceedings, or, if no appeal is taken, when the time for filing of an

21 || appeal has run. Except as set forth below, the terms of this Order apply through

22 || FINAL DISPOSITION. The parties stipulate that they will be contractually bound

23 || by the terms of this agreement beyond FINAL DISPOSITION, and that they will

24 || have to file a separate action for enforcement of the agreement once FINAL

25 || DISPOSITION of the action occurs.

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

27 || CONFIDENTIAL, HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY, or

28 || maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as an exhibit at trial

1 || becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public,

2 || including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual

3 || findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See

4 | Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing

5 || documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-

6 || related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this

7 || protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

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. To the extent it is practical to do so, the

13 || Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material,

14 || documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so that other

15 || portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which protection

16 || is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.

17 While mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited, the

18 || Parties recognize that manually analyzing and designating large numbers of

19 || documents one-by-one for confidentiality can be an unduly burdensome task. The

20 || Parties agree that each Party may reasonably rely on metadata information and

21 || good-faith searches to designate documents for protection. Designations that are

22 || shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose

23 || (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose

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

25 || Party to sanctions.

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

27 || designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

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

1 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

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

3 || stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection

4 || under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material 1s disclosed or

5 || produced. Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

7 || documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial

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

9 || “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES

10 || ONLY”, to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion of the

11 || material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly

12 || identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the

13 || margins).

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

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

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

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

18 || deemed “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” After the

19 || inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the

20 || Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for

21 || protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the

22 || Producing Party must affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY

23 || CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” to each page that contains

24 || 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 (b) any Party may designate as Protected Material testimony given in a

28 || deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings by informing the reporter during

1 || the deposition or by sending a letter to all Outside Counsel of Record and to the

2 || deposition reporter designating by page and line any portions of the transcript to be

3 || so restricted, or the entire transcript if applicable, within thirty (30) days after

4 || receiving the deposition transcript and specifying the level of protection being

5 || asserted.

6 During this 30-day period, a transcript will be treated as if it had been

7 || designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY?” in its

8 || entirety unless otherwise agreed. After the expiration of that period, the transcript

9 || shall be treated only as actually designated.

10 When deposition testimony is designated Protected Material by informing the

11 || reporter during the deposition, the transcript containing Protected Material shall

12 || have an obvious legend on the title page that the transcript contains Protected

13 || Material, and the title page shall be followed by a list of all pages (including line

14 || numbers-as appropriate) that have been designated as Protected Material and the

15 || level of protection being asserted by the Designating Party. The Designating Party

16 || shall inform the court reporter of these requirements.

17 Parties shall give the other parties notice if they reasonably expect a

18 || deposition, hearing, or other proceeding to include Protected Material so that the

19 || other parties can ensure that only authorized individuals who have signed the

20 || Acknowledgment are present at those proceedings. The use of a document as an

21 || exhibit at a deposition shall not in any way affects its designation as

22 || “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES

23 || ONLY.”

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

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

26 || the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the

27 || legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’

28

1 || EYES ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection,

2 || the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 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

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

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

8 || provisions of this Order.

9 5.4 Protected Health Information. Additionally, certain Confidential

10 || Information or Items may be Protected Health Information (“PHI’) as defined by

11 || the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and the

12 || regulations promulgated thereunder at 45 CFR 160.103. Without limiting the

13 || generality of the foregoing, “PHI” includes, but is not limited to, health

14 || information, including demographic information, relating to either, (a) the past,

15 || present or future physical or mental condition of an individual, (b) the provision of

16 || care to an individual, or (c) the payment for care provided to an individual, which

17 || identifies the individual or which reasonably could be expected to identify an

18 || individual. All “covered entities” (as defined by 45 CFR 160.103) are hereby

19 || authorized to disclose PHI to all attorneys now of record in this Action or who may

20 || become of record in the future in this Action. Subject to the Federal Rules of Civil

21 || Procedure, and without prejudice to any Party’s objection except as otherwise

22 || provided herein, the Parties are authorized to receive, subpoena, transmit, or

23 || disclose PHI relevant to the claims at issue in this Action, subject to all terms of

24 || this Order. All PHI disclosed under this Order must be designated as Confidential

25 || Information pursuant to this Order. A Receiving Party which receives PHI in

26 || discovery shall not use or disclose such PHI for any purpose other than this Action.

27 || To the extent documents or information produced in this Action have already been

28 || exchanged or will again be exchanged between the Parties in the normal course of

1 || business, treatment of such documents prior to or after the conclusion of this Action

2 || shall be governed by this Order.

3 5.5 Specific Provisions Concerning the Disclosure of Personally

4 || Identifiable Information (“PII”). When PII (e.g., names, addresses, Social Security

5 || numbers, phone numbers, etc.) is disclosed between the Parties as authorized by

6 || this Order, the PI of any individuals whose claims are not at issue in this lawsuit

7 || and who are otherwise identified in the Discovery Material may either be redacted

8 || to protect the identity of such individuals, or produced without redactions. Upon

9 || receipt of any PII, a Receiving Party shall take all reasonable measures necessary

10 || for protecting the PII from unauthorized disclosure as required under both state and

11 || federal law.

12 | 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS.

13 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

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

15 || Scheduling Order. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s

16 || confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness,

17 || unnecessary economic burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation,

18 || a Party does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality designation by

19 || electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the original designation is

20 || disclosed.

21 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

22 || resolution process under Local Rule 37-1. In conferring, the Challenging Party

23 || must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not

24 || proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated

25 || material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is

26 || offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation.

27 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on

28 || the Designating Party. Frivolous designations or challenges, and those designations

1 || or challenges made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary

2 || expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the respective Designating

3 || Party or Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived

4 || or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the

5 || material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the

6 || Designating Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

7 || 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

8 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

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

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

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

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

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

14 || DISPOSITION). Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving

15 || Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the

16 || persons authorized under this Order.

17 Notwithstanding anything in this Order, to the extent documents produced by

18 || TLIC in this Action were originally produced in Feller using the Feller Bates

19 || numbers or EFG using the EF'G Bates numbers, and depositions taken against

20 || TLIC or TLIC-affiliated witnesses in the Related Actions, such documents and

21 || depositions will be produced in this Action in accordance with the procedures

22 || agreed to by the parties in the Stipulated Order Regarding Electronically Stored

23 || Information and Document Production where applicable, as well as the Federal

24 || Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence as to admissibility. The

25 || treatment of Confidential Material in those documents and depositions in this

26 || Action will be governed by this Order. The Parties further stipulate that

27 || Confidential Information produced by TLIC in the Related Actions only but

28 || excluded from this Action (1.e., Owner Specific Documents) may be disclosed to

1 || Outside Counsel of Record for Plaintiffs subject to the terms of this Agreement for

2 || the sole purpose of reviewing transcripts from depositions taken in the Related

3 || Actions and reducing litigation costs incurred through document hosting platforms.

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

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

10 || necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

11 (b) the Receiving Party, including officers, directors, and employees

12 || Gncluding House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably

13 || necessary for this Action;

14 (c) the Receiving Party’s Parents’ officers, directors, employees, or

15 || consultants, advisors, insurers and/or reinsurers (1) to whom disclosure 1s

16 || reasonably necessary for this Action, and (2) who have signed the

17 || Acknowledgment;

18 (d) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

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

20 || Acknowledgment;

21 (e) the Related Actions plaintiffs’ counsel only as to Protected

22 || Material in or deriving from documents with a Feller or EFG Bates number if such

23 || Protected Material already has been disclosed to such counsel;

24 (f) the Court and its personnel;

25 (g) court reporters and their staff;

26 (h) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

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

28 || signed the Acknowledgment;

1 (1) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or

2 || a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

3 (j) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in

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

5 || party requests that the witness sign the Acknowledgment; and (2) they will not be

6 || permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the

7 || Acknowledgment, unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by

8 || the Court; and

9 (k) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

10 || mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions and

11 || who have signed the Acknowledgment.

12 7.3. Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES

13 |} ONLY Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted

14 || in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any

15 || information or item designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’

16 || EYES ONLY” only to:

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

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

19 || necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

20 (b) House Counsel and up to five additional officers, directors,

21 || employees, consultants, advisors, insurers and/or reinsurers of TLIC if it is a

22 || Receiving Party, or Plaintiffs, combined, if they are a receiving party, to whom

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

24 || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A). A House Counsel

25 || who is a member of the Bar of any state in the United States need not sign the

26 || Acknowledgment.

27

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;

4 (d) the Related Actions plaintiffs’ counsel only as to Protected

5 || Material in or deriving from documents with a Feller, or EFG Bates number if such

6 || Protected Material already has been disclosed to such counsel;

7 (e) the Court and its personnel;

8 (f) court reporters and their staff;

9 (g) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

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

11 |} signed the Acknowledgment;

12 (h) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or

13 || a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

14 (i) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in

15 || the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided the witness signs

16 || the Acknowledgment; and

17 (j) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

18 || mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions and

19 || who have signed the Acknowledgment.

20 || 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

21 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

24 || “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES

25 || ONLY” that Party must:

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

27 || include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

28

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

2 || issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena

3 || or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of

4 || this Order;

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

6 || by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected; and

7 (d) otherwise comply with any applicable HIPAA rules or regulations with

8 || respect to any response or production in connection with a discovery request or

9 || subpoena.

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

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

12 || action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’

13 || EYES ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or

14 || order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The

15 || Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that

16 || court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be

17 || construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey

18 || a lawful directive from another court.

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

20 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

21 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-

22 || Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY

23 || CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Such information produced by

24 || Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief

25 || provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as

26 || prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

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

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

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

2 || confidential information, then the Party shall:

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

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

5 || agreement with a Non-Party;

6 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Order in this

7 || Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of

8 || the information requested; and

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

10 || Non-Party, if requested.

11 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 21

12 || days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party

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

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

15 || not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the

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

17 |} Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and

18 || expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

19} 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

22 || Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating

23 || Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all

24 || unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to

25 || whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d)

26 || request such person or persons to execute the Acknowledgment.

27 || 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

28 PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

2 || inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection

3 || (e.g., work product immunity), the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set

4 || forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended

5 || to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that

6 || provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of

7 || Evidence 502(d) and (e), the parties agree that the inadvertent or unintentional

8 || disclosure by the Producing Party of material that is privileged or subject to other

9 || protection shall not be deemed a waiver in whole or in part of the claim of privilege

10 || or other protection, either as to the specific information disclosed or as to any other

11 || information relating thereto on the same or related subject matter.

12 Upon learning of an inadvertent or unintentional disclosure of privileged

13 || information, the Producing Party shall provide written notice to the parties who

14 || have received such information. If the Receiving Party does not timely challenge

15 || the assertion of privilege, then within ten business days of the date of that written

16 || notice, the documents or materials described in that notice (“Privileged

17 || Documents”) shall be returned to counsel for the Producing Party or destroyed by

18 || the Receiving Party, and in the same time frame, any notes or other writing or

19 || recordings that copy, summarize, reflect, or discuss the content of the Privileged

20 || Documents (‘Privileged Notes”) shall be destroyed by the Receiving Party. No use

21 || shall be made of such documents or materials from such inadvertent production

22 || during deposition or at trial, nor shall such documents or materials be provided to

23 || anyone who did not already have access to them prior to the request by the

24 || Producing Party that they be returned.

25 If the Receiving Party intends to challenge the assertion of privilege, it must

26 || provide written notice within this ten-day period explaining the grounds for its

27 || challenge, initiate the dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37.1, and

28 || sequester the Privileged Documents and Privileged Notes.

1 If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court intervention, the

2 || Receiving Party may move the Court for an order compelling production of any

3 || Privileged Documents in compliance with Local Rule 37, but the motion shall not

4 || assert as a ground for production the fact of the inadvertent production or

5 || disclosure. Pending the Court’s ruling, the party challenging the assertion of

6 || privilege shall sequester the Privileged Documents and Privileged Notes and shall

7 || not make any use of such information.

8 12. MISCELLANEOUS

9 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

10 || person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

11 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

12 || Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or

13 || producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Order.

14 || Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of

15 || any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

16 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

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

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

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

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

21 || in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

22 || 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

23 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4

24 || (DURATION), within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each

25 || Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy

26 || such material, except such material that exists on back-up tapes or similar storage

27 || and systems, in which case such material need not be immediately deleted or

28 || destroyed, and instead, should be overwritten and destroyed in the normal course of

1 || business. Until that material is overwritten and destroyed in the normal course of

2 || business, the Receiving Party will take reasonable steps to limit access, if any, to

3 || the persons necessary to conduct routine IT and cybersecurity functions. As used in

4 || this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,

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

6 || Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the

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

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

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

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

11 || copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or

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

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

14 || deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition

15 || and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert

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

17 || copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective

18 || Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).

19 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

20 || Dated: September 21, 2021 ARENT FOX LLP

21

22 By: /s/ Eranio M. Dolenac

23 Pan eM Balenac

24 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

25 SULLIVAN, AS TRUSTEE OF THE

26 IUNE SL IRREVOCABLE TRUST DATED

27

28

1 || Dated: September 21, 2021 McDOWELL HETHERINGTON LLP

2

3 By: /s/ Hutson B. Smelley

4 Hutson B. Smelley

5 TRANSAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE

6 COMPANY

7 I, Hutson B. Smelley, in accordance with Local Rule 5-4.3.4, attest that all

8 || other signatories listed, and on whose behalf this filing is submitted, concur in the

9 || filing’s content and have authorized the filing.

10

11 |) Dated: September 21, 2021 /s/ Hutson B. Smelley

12 Hutson B. Smelley

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

15

6 Dated: September 23, 2021 Ua

7 United States Magistrate Judge

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

l EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

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

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

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

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

7 || on [date] in the case of JANET T. SULLIVAN and JANET T.

8 || SULLIVAN, AS TRUSTEE OF THE TEUTON IRREVOCABLE TRUST DATED

9 || JUNE 21, 2002 v. Transamerica Life Insurance Company, Case No. 2:21-cv-

10 || 00645-CAS-GJS. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this

11 || Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so

12 || comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I

13 || solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item

14 || that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in

15 || strict compliance with the provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order. I further

16 || agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central

17 || District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order,

18 || even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I

19 || hereby appoint [print or type full name] of

20 [print or type full address and

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

22 || this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective

23 || Order.

24

25 || Date:

26 |) City and State where sworn and signed:

27 || Printed name:

28 || Signature: