Cecilia Chu v. UNUM Life Insurance Company of America

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 SOUTHERN DIVISION

11 CECILIA CHU, M.D., Case No. 8:24-cv-00445 JVS (JDEx)

12 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

ORDER

13 v.

14 UNUM LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

OF AMERICA and DOES 1-10,

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Defendants.

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17 Based on the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 16) and for good cause shown, the

18 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 be

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

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

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

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

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

1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

2 This action is likely to involve medical records, health information, tax

3 returns, personal financial records, social security information, trade secrets,

4 customer and pricing lists and other valuable research, development, commercial,

5 financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection from

6 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action

7 is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of,

8 among other things, confidential business or financial information, information

9 regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential research,

10 development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy

11 rights of 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. Accordingly, to

14 expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over

15 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties

16 are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable

17 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to

18 address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a

19 protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the

20 parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons

21 and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been

22 maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it

23 should not be part of the public record of this case.

24 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE

25 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this

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

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

1 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right

2 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-

3 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See

4 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006),

5 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-

6 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even

7 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of

8 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal

9 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to

10 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as

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

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

13 confidential, privileged, or 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, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons,

20 supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order.

21 Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal

22 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. If

25 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 4. DEFINITIONS

2 4.1 Action: Cecilia Chu, M.D. v. Unum Life Insurance Company of

3 America and Does 1-10; United States District Court for the Central District of

4 California, Case No. 8:24-cv-00445 JVS (JDEx).

5 4.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the

6 designation of information or items under this Order.

7 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

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

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

10 the Good Cause Statement.

11 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

12 their support staff).

13 4.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or

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

15 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

16 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless

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

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

19 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.

20 4.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

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

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

23 4.8 House Counsel: Attorney employees of a party to this Action. House

24 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.

25 4.9 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or

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

27 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a

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

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

3 4.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

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

5 support staffs).

6 4.12 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

7 Discovery Material in this Action.

8 4.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation

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

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

11 and their employees and subcontractors.

12 4.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

14 4.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery

15 Material from a Producing Party.

16 5. 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 and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of

24 Protected Material at trial.

25 6. 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 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

8 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

9 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection

10 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material

11 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate

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

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

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

15 within the ambit of this Order.

16 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

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

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

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

20 Party to sanctions.

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

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

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

24 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

25 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material

26 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before

27 the material is disclosed or produced.

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

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

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

4 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page

5 that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page

6 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the

7 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

8 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for

9 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting

10 Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced.

11 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made

12 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the

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

14 the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof,

15 qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified

16 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to

17 each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on

18 a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify

19 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the

20 margins).

21 (b) parties to this action may designate Confidential Information in

22 deposition testimony by advising opposing counsel of record, in writing,

23 within 30 days after receipt of a copy of the transcript, or such other time

24 period as may be mutually agreed upon by the Parties, of the pages and lines

25 of the deposition which the Party believes are Confidential. Alternatively, any

26 Party may, on the record at the deposition, designate deposition testimony as

27 Confidential by advising all persons present that the Party believes that the

1 shall be no need to re-designate deposition exhibits which have previously

2 been designated as confidential. Deposition transcripts shall be treated as

3 Confidential until the time for any designations expires; and

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

5 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent

6 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is

7 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the

8 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent

9 practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).

10 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

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

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

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

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

15 Order.

16 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

17 8.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

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

19 Scheduling Order.

20 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

21 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.

22 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a

23 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.

24 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on

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

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

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

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

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

3 challenge.

4 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

5 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

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

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

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

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

10 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL

11 DISPOSITION).

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

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

14 authorized under this Order.

15 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

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

17 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

18 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

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

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

21 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

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

23 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this

24 Action;

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

26 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed

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

1 (e) court reporters and their staff;

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

3 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this

4 Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be

5 Bound” (Exhibit A);

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

7 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the

8 information;

9 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses,

10 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the

11 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A

12 hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information

13 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit

14 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court.

15 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that

16 reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and

17 may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated

18 Protective Order; and

19 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting

20 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement

21 discussions.

22 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

23 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

26 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

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

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

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

3 the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification

4 shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

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

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

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

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

10 which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the

11 Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden

12 and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and

13 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging

14 a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another

15 court.

16 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

17 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

26 confidential information, then the Party shall:

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

1 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;

2 (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 within

8 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party

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

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

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

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

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

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

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16 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

24 Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.

25 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR

26 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

3 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without

4 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar

5 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or

6 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the

7 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted

8 to the court.

9 14. MISCELLANEOUS

10 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

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

12 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

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

14 to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in

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

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

17 Order.

18 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

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

20 Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the

21 sealing of the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected

22 Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the

23 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

24 15. FINAL DISPOSITION

25 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60

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

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

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

2 || Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving

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

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

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

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

7 || abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any

8 || of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to

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

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

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

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

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

14 || Section 6 (DURATION).

15 16. VIOLATION

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

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

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19 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: June 24, 2024

22 i dL

23 JOHN. EARLY

74 ited States Magistrate Judge

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1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3

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

5 _______________________________________________ [print or type full address],

6 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the

7 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the

8 Central District of California on June 24, 2024, in the case of Cecilia Chu, M.D. v

9 Unum Life Insurance Company of America, Case No. 8:24-cv-00445 JVS (JDEx). I

10 agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective

11 Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to

12 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not

13 disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated

14 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the

15 provisions of this Order.

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

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

18 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after

19 termination of this action.

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

21 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and

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

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

24 Order.

25 Date: _______________

26 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

27 Printed name: _______________________________