The opinion
1 Lauren A. Welling (SBN: 291813)
lwelling@sssfirm.com
2 Sarah Kissel Meier (SBN: 305315)
skmeier@sssfirm.com
3 SLATER SLATER SCHULMAN LLP
8383 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 255
4 Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Telephone: (310) 341-2086
5 Facsimile: (310) 773-5573
6 Attorneys for Plaintiff
Jane Roe CP 76
7
8 Rick Richmond (SBN 194962)
rrichmond@larsonllp.com
9 Andrew E. Calderón (SBN 316673)
acalderon@larsonllp.com
10 Jina Yoon (SBN 331948)
jyoon@larsonllp.com
11 LARSON LLP
555 South Flower Street, 30th Floor
12 Los Angeles, California 90071
Telephone:(213) 436-4888
13 Facsimile: (213) 623-2000
14 Attorneys for Defendants Doe 1, a Utah
corporation sole, and Doe 2, a Utah
15 nonprofit corporation
16
17
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA - EASTERN DIVISION
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20 JANE ROE CP 76, Case No. 5:24-cv-02583-CV-SP
21 Plaintiff, Judge: Hon. Cynthia Valenzuela
22 vs. DISCOVERY MATTER:
Magistrate Judge: Sheri Pym
23 DOE 1, a corporation; DOE 2, a
corporation; DOE 3, a corporation sole, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
24 and DOES 4 to 100, Inclusive, ORDER
25 Defendants.
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1 1. GENERAL
2 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
3 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
4 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than
5 prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby
6 stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order.
7 The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all
8 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public
9 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled
10 to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further
11 acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective
12 Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local
13 Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will
14 be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
15 1.2 Good Cause Statement. This Action arises from allegations of
16 childhood sexual abuse and is likely to involve medical records, psychiatric records,
17 confidential church membership records, and other private information implicating
18 the privacy rights of third parties for which special protection from public disclosure
19 and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted.
20 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution
21 of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect
22 information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are
23 permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the
24 conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the
25 ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It
26 is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for
27 tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it
1 has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause
2 why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
3 2. DEFINITIONS
4 2.1 Action: Jane Roe CP 76 v. Doe 1, et al, No. 5:24-CV-02583-SSS-SP
5 (C.D. Cal. 2024).
6 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
7 of information or items under this Order.
8 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
9 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
10 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
11 the Good Cause Statement.
12 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
13 their support staff).
14 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
15 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
16 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
17 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
18 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
19 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
20 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
21 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
22 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
23 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
24 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action,
25 and, for purposes of Defendants, attorneys from Kirton McConkie and their staff.
26 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
27 counsel.
1 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
2 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
3 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
4 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
5 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
6 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
7 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
8 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
9 support staffs).
10 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
11 Discovery Material in this Action.
12 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
13 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
14 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
15 and their employees and subcontractors.
16 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
17 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
18 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
19 from a Producing Party.
20 3. 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 the
27 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
1 4. DURATION
2 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court filed information to be introduced at
3 trial, that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
4 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
5 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
6 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of trial.
7 See Kamakana v. City of and Cty. Of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180–81 (9th Cir.
8 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
9 discovery from “compelling” reasons standard when merits related documents are
10 part of court record). Court filed information that remains confidential and is not
11 made available to the public at trial, shall remain subject to the confidentiality
12 obligations imposed by this Order until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in
13 writing or a court order otherwise directs, even after final disposition of this
14 litigation. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all
15 claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment
16 herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands,
17 trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or
18 applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.
19 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
20 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
21 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
22 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
23 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
24 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
25 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
26 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
27 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
1 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
2 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
3 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
4 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
5 Party to sanctions.
6 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
7 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
8 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
9 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
10 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
11 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
12 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
13 produced.
14 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
15 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
16 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
17 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
18 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
19 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
20 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
21 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
22 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
23 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
24 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
25 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
26 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
27 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
1 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
2 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
3 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
4 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
5 markings in the margins).
6 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
7 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
8 deposition.
9 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
10 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
11 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
13 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
14 portion(s).
15 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
16 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
17 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
18 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
19 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
20 Order.
21 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
22 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
23 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
24 Scheduling Order.
25 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
26 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must
27 strictly comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.
1 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
2 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
3 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
4 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the
5 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all
6 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to
7 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on
8 the challenge.
9 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
10 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
11 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
12 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
13 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
14 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
15 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
16 DISPOSITION).
17 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
18 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
19 authorized under this Order.
20 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
21 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
22 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
23 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
24 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well
25 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
26 to disclose the information for this Action;
27 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
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 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
4 (d) the Court and its personnel;
5 (e) court reporters and their staff;
6 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
7 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
8 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
10 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
11 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
12 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
13 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
14 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
16 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
17 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
18 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
19 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
20 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
21 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
22 8. 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 notification
1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
2 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
3 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
4 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 this
9 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
10 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
11 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
12 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
13 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
14 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
15 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
16 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
18 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
19 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
20 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
21 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
22 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
23 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
24 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
25 confidential information, then the Party shall:
26 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-
27 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
2 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
3 specific description of the information requested; and
4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
5 Non-Party, if requested.
6 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within
7 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
8 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
9 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
10 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
11 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court.
12 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
13 expense of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
14 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
16 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
18 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
19 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
20 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
21 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
22 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
23 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
24 PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
26 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
27 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
1 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production
2 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and
3 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
4 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
5 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated
6 protective order submitted to the Court.
7 12. MISCELLANEOUS
8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
11 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
16 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material
17 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
18 specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file
19 under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the
20 Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
21 otherwise instructed by the Court.
22 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
23 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request
24 by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to
25 the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all
26 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any
27 other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the
1 written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to
2 the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
3 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2)
4 affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
5 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
6 Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival
7 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal
8 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney
9 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials
10 contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute
11 Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4
12 (DURATION).
13 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
14 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
15 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
16 sanctions.
17
18 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
19
20 Dated: February 11, 2025 SLATER SLATER SCHULMAN LLP
21
22 By: /s/ Lauren A. Welling
Lauren A. Welling
23
Sarah Kissel Meier
24 Attorneys for Plaintiff
25 Jane Roe CP 76
26
27
1 Dated: February 11, 2025 LARSON LLP
2
3 By: /s/ Rick Richmond1
Rick Richmond
4
Andrew E. Calderón
5 Jina Yoon
6 Attorneys for Defendants Doe 1, a Utah
corporation sole, and Doe 2, a Utah
7 nonprofit corporation
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1 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i), filer hereby attests that all signatories
27 listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s content and
have authorized the filing.
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, _________________________ [print or type full name], of
4 ______________________________________________ [print or type full
5 address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issue by the United States
7 District Court for the Central District of California on ________________ [date] in
8 the case of _________________________________________________________
9 [insert formal name of the case and the number and initials assigned to it by the
10 Court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated
11 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could
12 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly
13 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject
14 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance
15 with the 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. I hereby appoint _________________________ [print or
20 type full name] of __________________________________________________
21 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service
22 of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement
23 of this Stipulated Protective Order.
24 Date: ___________________________
25 City and State where sworn and signed: ____________________________
26 Printed Name: __________________________
27 Signature:______________________________
1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
2
3
JANE ROE CP 76, Case No. 5:24-cv-02583-SV-SP
4
Plaintiff, Judge: Hon. Cynthia Valenzuela
5
vs. DISCOVERY MATTER:
6 Magistrate Judge: Sheri Pym
DOE 1, a corporation; DOE 2, a
7 corporation; DOE 3, a corporation sole, ORDER RE STIPULATED
and DOES 4 to 100, Inclusive, PROTECTIVE ORDER
8
Defendants.
9
10 Having considered the papers, and finding that good cause exists, the Parties’
11 Stipulated Protective Order is granted.
12
13 IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED: February 24, 2025
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18 Sheri Pym
United States Magistrate Judge
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