even stipulated 10 || protective orders require good cause showing
How later courts described this case
- even stipulated 10 || protective orders require good cause showing
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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g UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 SOUTHERN DIVISION
SHAHZAD ZAKIR, an individual, | CASE NO.: 8:20-CV-00411-JVS (JDE)
11
Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
12 ORDER
V.
13
T-MOBILE USA, INC., a
14 Delaware corporation; and DOES 1
15
Defendant.
16
17 Pursuant to the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 15), and good cause appearing
18 || therefor, the Court finds and orders as follows.
19 1. | PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
20 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
21 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public
22 || disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may
23 || be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the
24 | Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
25 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all
26 |) disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from
27 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that
28 || are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
l 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
This action ts likely to involve medical records, trade secrets, customer
3 || and pricing lists and other valuable research, development, commercial,
4 || financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection
5 || from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of
6 || this action is warranted. Such private, confidential, and proprietary materials
7 || and information consist of, among other things, medical information,
g || confidential business or financial information, information regarding
g || confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or
10 || commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of
11 || third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or
12 || which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or
13 || federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. This action is also
14 || likely to involve the private or confidential information of third-parties.
15 || Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
16 || resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
17 || protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that
18 || the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
19 || preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end
20 || of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
21 || information is justified 1n this matter. It is the intent of the parties that
22 || information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that
23 || nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained
24 || in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not
25 || be part of the public record of this case.
26 3. UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
27 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that
28 || this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential
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1 || mnformation under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that
> || must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks
3 || permission from the court to file material under seal. There is a strong
4 || presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and
5 || records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause
6 || must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and
7 || County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen.
g || Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony
g || Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated
10 || protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good
11 || cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal
12 || justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks
13 || to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery
14 | Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of
15 || competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought to be
16 || filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—
17 || constitute good cause.
18 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial,
19 || then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown,
20 || and the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to
21 || be protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th
22 || Cir. 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to
23 || be filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate
24 || compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the
25 || requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application
26 || to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.
27 || Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in
28 || its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be
3.
1 || redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public
4 || viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable
3 || portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file
4 || documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of why
5 || redaction is not feasible.
6 4, DEFINITIONS
7 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
8 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
9 || designation of information or items under this Order.
10 4.3. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless
11 || of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
12 || protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above
13 || in the Good Cause Statement.
14 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well
15 || as their support staff).
16 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates
17 || information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery
18 || as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
19 4.6 Dizisclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information,
20 || regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or
21 || maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible
22 || things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.
23 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience ina
24 || matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel
25 || to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
26 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys, as well as their support staff, who are
27 || employees of a party to this Action. House Counsel does not include Outside
28 || Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
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l 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation,
4 || association or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
3 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
4 || party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have
5 || appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
6 || that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
7 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers,
g || directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of
9 || Record (and their support staffs).
10 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
11 || Discovery Material in this Action.
12 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
13 || support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing
14 || exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any
15 || form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
16 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
17 || designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
18 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
19 || Material from a Producing Party.
20 5. SCOPE
21 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
22 || Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
23 || extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
24 || compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
25 || presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
26 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of
27 || the trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the
28 || use of Protected Material at trial.
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l 6. DURATION
Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
3 | CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or
4 || introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively
5 || available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling
6 || reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to
7 || the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81
g || (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
g || discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents
10 || are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not
11 || extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
12 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for
14 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or
15 || items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such
16 || designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards.
17 || The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of
18 || material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so
19 || that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for
20 || which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit
21 |) of this Order.
22 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited.
23 || Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made
24 || for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development
25 || process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
26 || expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
27 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items
28 || that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating
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1 || Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the
4 || inapplicable designation.
3 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided
4 || in this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery
5 | Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so
6 || designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
7 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
8 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
g || documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
10 || proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
11 || “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page
12 || that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page
13 || qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the
14 || protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
15 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for
16 || inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting
17 || Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced.
18 || During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made
19 || available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the
20 || inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced,
21 || the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof,
22 || qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified
23 || documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to
24 || each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on
25 || a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify
26 || the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
27 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
28 || identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close
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1 || of the deposition all protected testimony.
(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary
3 || and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent
4 || place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is
5 || stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
6 || information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,
7 || shall identify the protected portion(s).
8 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an
9 || inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not,
10 || standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under
11 || this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the
12 || Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is
13 || treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
14 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
15 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
16 || designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
17 || Scheduling Order.
18 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
19 || resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
20 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a
21 || joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
22 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be
23 || on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
24 || improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens
25 || on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the
26 || Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all
27 || parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to
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1 || which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court
7 || rules on the challenge.
3 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
4 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that
5 || is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with
6 || this Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action.
7 || Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and
g || under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been
9 || terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15
10 || below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
11 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party
12 || at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the
13 || persons authorized under this Order.
14 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
15 || otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating
16 || Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
17 | “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
18 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action,
19 || as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is
20 || reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
21 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House
22 || Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for
23 || this Action;
24 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to
25 || whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed
26 || the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
27 (d) the court and its personnel;
28 (e) court reporters and their staff;
9.
l (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
2 || Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
3 || Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
4 || Bound” (Exhibit A);
5 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the
6 || information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew
7 || the information;
g (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses,
g || in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the
10 || deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A
11 || hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information
12 || unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit
13 || A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court.
14 || Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal
15 || Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not
16 || be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective
17 || Order; and
18 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting
19 || personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement
20 || discussions.
21 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
09 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
73 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other
litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this
95 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
26 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such
77 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
28 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena
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1 || or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered
4 || by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification
3 || shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
4 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
5 || pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If
6 || the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
7 || subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
g || action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which
9 || the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating
10 || Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of
11 || seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these
12 || provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party
13 || 1n this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
15 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
16 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced
by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such
18 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is
19 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these
20 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking
2! additional protections.
22 (b) In the event that a Party 1s required, by a valid discovery
request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession,
and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the
Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
*6 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-
Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
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1 || agreement with a Non-Party;
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
3 || Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a
4 || reasonably specific description of the information requested; and
5 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
6 || Non-Party, if requested.
7 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court
g || within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the
9 || Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information
10 || responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective
11 || order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession
12 || or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party
13 || before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the
14 || Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court
15 || of its Protected Material.
16 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED
7 MATERIAL
18 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
19 || disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not
20 || authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must
21 || immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized
22 || disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the
23 || Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized
24 || disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such
25 || person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be
26 || Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.
27
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l 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
5 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
4 || inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
5 || protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
6 || Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
7 || whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides
g || for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of
9 || Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect
10 || of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client
11 || privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their
12 || agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
13 14. MISCELLANEOUS
14 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of
15 || any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
16 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
17 || Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
18 || disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed
19 || in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to
20 || object on any ground to use 1n evidence of any of the material covered by this
21 || Protective Order.
22 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
23 || Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material
24 || may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of
25 || the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
26 || under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the
27 || information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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1 15. FINAL DISPOSITION
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6,
3 || within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving
4 || Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such
5 || material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all
6 || copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing
7 || or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is
g || returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification
9 || to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating
10 || Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
11 || appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2)
12 || affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
13 || compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of
14 || the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
15 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and
16 || hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial
17 || exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work
18 || product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival
19 || copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this
20 || Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).
21 16. VIOLATION
22 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures
23 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions
24 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO OE .
2 DATED: June 18, 2020 Liu L a6
26 OHN D. EARLY
27 United States Magistrate Judge
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1 SHAHZAD ZAKIR, an individual, CASE NO.: 8:20-CV-00411-JVS (JDE)
Plaintiff,
3 V. EXHIBIT A
A T-MOBILE USA, INC., a Delaware
corporation; and DOES 1 - 50,
5 Defendant.
6
7 EXHIBIT A
8 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
? I, [FULL NAME], of
10 [POSITION AND EMPLOYER], declare that I have read in its entirety and
understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
District Court for the Central District of California on June 18, 2020, in Shahzad
13 Zakir v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., Case No. 8:20-CV-00411-JVS (JDE). I agree to
comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulation and Protective
IS Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose
16
me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that
17
I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this
18
Stipulation and Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance
19 with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of
20 the United States District Court for the Central District of California, for the
71 purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulation and Protective Order, even if
22
such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
23
//
24 )
25 /
26 /
27 /
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1 I declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the State of California,
that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this __, day of □
3 20___, at , _____-
“| DATED: BY:
5 Signature
° Title
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