Opinion

Eduardo Gonzalez v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: Sep 25, 2024
Cited by: 0 cases

The opinion

8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SOUTHERN DIVISION

Case No.: 8:24-cv-00389-FWS-JDE

EDUARDO GONZALEZ,

12 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

Plaintiff, ORDER

14 EXPERIAN INFORMATION

SOLUTIONS, INC., and OCWEN

FINANCIAL CORPORATION

Defendants.

Based on the Stipulation between Plaintiff Eduardo Gonzalez and Defendant

Ocwen Financial Corporation, unopposed by Defendant Experian Information

Solutions, Inc., the Court finds and orders as follows.

1. GENERAL

1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve

production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special

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

prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby

26 stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order.

27 The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all

28 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public

1 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled

2 to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further

3 acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order

4 does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-

5 5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be

6 applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.

7 1.2 Good Cause Statement.

8 Good cause exists for entry of this Stipulated Protective Order because this

9 action is likely to involve the exchange of confidential and proprietary information,

10 including information relating to trade secrets, confidential research, marketing, cost,

price, technical, or other commercial information, as is contemplated by Federal Rule

of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G). The protection of this information is also vital to

protecting Defendants’ business competition interests and intellectual property

interests. This action will also involve the exchange of personal income, credit and

other confidential information of Plaintiff, including his social security number, date

of birth, address, and phone numbers.

Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt

resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately

protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the

parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for

and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and

serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this

matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as

confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good

faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there

is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.

2. DEFINITIONS

2.1 Action: Eduardo Gonzalez v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., et

28 al.; Case No. 8:24-cv-00389-FWS-JDE

1 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation

2 of information or items under this Order.

3 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

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

5 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good

6 Cause Statement.

7 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

8 their support staff).

9 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

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

“CONFIDENTIAL.”

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

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

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

generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

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

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

an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

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

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

counsel.

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

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

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

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

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

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

2.11 Party: any party to the Action, including officers, directors, employees,

28 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and support staffs).

1 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

2 Discovery Material in this Action.

3 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

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

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

6 and their employees and subcontractors.

7 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

8 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

9 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

10 from a Producing Party.

3. SCOPE

The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. DURATION

Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced

that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this

protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members

of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific

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

trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.

2006)(distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in

discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are

part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend

28 beyond the commencement of the trial.

1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

9 within the ambit of this Order.

10 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

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

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

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

Party to sanctions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or

produced.

Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

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

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

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

contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page

1 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the

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

portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing

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

markings in the margins).

(b) Deposition testimony may be designated as confidential within

fourteen (14) days after the deposition transcript becomes available, by notifying the

parties and those who were present at the deposition of the designations by circulating

a copy of the transcript wherein the designating party identifies line by line the

portions of the testimony that it contends should be designated confidential, unless

otherwise agreed.

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

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

legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants

protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected

portion(s).

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

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

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

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

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

3 Order.

4 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

5 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

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

7 Scheduling Order.

8 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

9 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly

10 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.

6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding

shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an

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

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

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

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

under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

DISPOSITION).

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

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

authorized under this Order.

1 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

2 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

3 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

4 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

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

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

7 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

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

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

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

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

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

(d) the Court and its personnel;

(e) court reporters and their staff;

(f) any juror(s) and/or alterative

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed

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

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

28 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

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

3 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

4 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

7 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

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

9 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

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

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

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

this Stipulated Protective Order; and

by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.

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

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

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

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

permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

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

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

to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

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

PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6 confidential information, then the Party shall:

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

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

9 with a Non-Party;

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

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

specific description of the information requested; and

(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-

Party, if requested.

days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may

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

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

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

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

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

of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.

10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

4 PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

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

10 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the

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

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

parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted

to the Court.

12. MISCELLANEOUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file

under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the

Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless

28 otherwise instructed by the Court.

113. FINAL DISPOSITION

2 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request

3 || by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to

4 || the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all

5 || Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any

6 || other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the

7 || Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a

8 || written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to

9 || the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where

10 || appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms

11 || that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,

12 || summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

13 || Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival

14 || copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal

15 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney

16 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain

7 Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected

18 Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4

19 (DURATION).

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

22 vf

23 || DATED: September 25, 2024 Lh Le. af

24 J D. EARLY

35 ited States Magistrate Judge

1 EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________

[full address], declare under penalty of perjury 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 September 25, 2024, in the

7 case of Eduardo Gonzalez v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., et al.; Case No.

8 8:24-cv-00389-FWS-JDE. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms

9 of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to

10 so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt.

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

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

13 strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.

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

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

Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after

termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full

name] of _______________________________________ [full address and

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

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

Order.

Date: ______________________________________

23 City and State where signed: _________________________________

Printed name: _______________________________

Signature: __________________________________

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