distinguishing “good cause” 20 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 21 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
How later courts described this case
- distinguishing “good cause” 20 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 21 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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10 SAVAGE ENTERPRISES, a
Wyoming corporation, Case No. 8:24-cv-00992-HDV-PVCx
11 Plaintiff,
12 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER
13 CHRISTOPHER WHEELER, an
individual, PRESTON WHEELER, an
14 individual, AMBYR FREESTONE,
an individual, EXODUS HEMP LLC,
15 a Wyoming limited liability company;
SACRED EXODUS LLC, a
16 Wyoming limited liability company;
and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive,
17
Defendants.
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19
20 1. INTRODUCTION
21 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
22 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
23 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
24 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
25 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
26 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
27 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
1 || only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
2 || under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
3 || in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
4 || file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
5 || procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
6 || seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
7 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
8 It is the intent of the parties and the Court that information will not be
9 || designated as confidential for tactical reasons in this case and that nothing be so
10 || designated without a good faith belief that there is good cause why it should not be
11 || part of the public record of this case. Generally, information and documents shall be
12 || designated where the Designating Party believes is proprietary, confidential, and/or
13 || is trade secret, and which the Designating Party would not publicly release.
14 || Examples of confidential information that the parties may seek to protect from
15 || unrestricted or unprotected disclosure include:
16 e Information that is the subject of a non-disclosure or confidentiality
17 agreement or obligation;
18 e The names, or other information tending to reveal the identity of a
19 Party’s supplier, designer, distributor, or customer;
20 e Agreements with third-parties;
21 e Research and development information;
22 e Proprietary engineering or technical information, including product
23 design, manufacturing techniques, processing information, drawings,
24 memoranda and reports;
25 e Information related to budgets, sales, profits, costs, margins, product
26 pricing, or other internal financial/accounting information, including
27 non-public information related to financial condition or performance
28 and income or other non-public tax information;
1 e Information related to internal operations including personnel
2 information;
3 e Information related to past, current and future product development;
4 e Information related to past, current and future market analyses and
5 business and marketing development, including plans, strategies,
6 forecasts and competition; and
7 e Trade secrets (as defined by the jurisdiction in which the information 1s
8 located).
9 || Unrestricted or unprotected disclosure of such confidential, technical, commercial or
10 || personal information would result in prejudice or harm to the Designating Party by
11 || revealing the Designating Party’s competitive confidential information, which has
12 || been developed at the expense of the Designating Party and which represents
13 || valuable tangible and intangible assets of that party. Additionally, privacy interests
14 || must be safeguarded. Accordingly, the parties respectfully submit that there 1s good
15 || cause for the entry of this Protective Order.
16
17 || 2. DEFINITIONS
18 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
19 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
20 || designation of information or items under this Order.
21 2.3. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
22 || how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
23 || protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
24 || the Good Cause Statement.
25 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
26 || their support staff).
27 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
28 || items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
1 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
3 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
4 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
5 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
6 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
7 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
8 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
9 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
10 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
11 counsel.
12 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
13 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
14 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
15 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
16 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
17 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
18 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
19 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
20 support staffs).
21 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
22 Discovery Material in this Action.
23 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
24 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
25 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
26 and their employees and subcontractors.
27 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
1 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
2 Material from a Producing Party.
3
4 3. SCOPE
5 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
6 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
7 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
8 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
9 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
10 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the
11 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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13 4. DURATION
14 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
15 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will
16 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
17 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
18 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of
19 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
20 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
21 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
22 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
23
24 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
26 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
27 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
1 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
2 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
3 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
4 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
5 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
6 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
7 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
8 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
9 Party to sanctions.
10 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
11 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
12 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
13 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
14 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
15 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
16 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
17 produced.
18 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
19 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,
20 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that
21 the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter
22 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a
23 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
24 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
25 markings in the margins).
26 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
27 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
1 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be
2 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
3 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
4 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
5 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
6 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
7 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
8 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
9 markings in the margins).
10 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the
11 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all
12 protected testimony.
13 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
14 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
15 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
16 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
17 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected
18 portion(s).
19 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
20 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
21 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
22 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
23 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
24 Order.
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26 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
27 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
1 Scheduling Order.
2 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
3 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1
4 et seq.
5 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on
6 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
7 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
8 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
9 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will
10 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
11 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
12 challenge.
13
14 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
16 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
17 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
18 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
19 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
20 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
21 DISPOSITION).
22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
23 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
24 authorized under this Order.
25 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
26 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
27 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
1 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
2 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
3 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
5 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
7 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (d) the Court and its personnel;
10 (e) court reporters and their staff;
11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
12 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
13 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
15 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the
17 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
18 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
19 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
21 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
22 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
23 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
24 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
25 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
26 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
27 ///
1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
2 IN OTHER LITIGATION
3 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
4 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
5 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
7 will include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
9 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
10 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include
11 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
13 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
14 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
15 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this
16 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
17 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
18 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking
19 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
20 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
21 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
22
23 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
24 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
25 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
26 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
27 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
1 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
2 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
3 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
4 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
5 confidential information, then the Party will:
6 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
7 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
8 agreement with a Non-Party;
9 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
10 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
11 specific description of the information requested; and
12 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
13 Non-Party, if requested.
14 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
15 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
16 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
17 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will
18 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
19 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
20 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense
21 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
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23 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
24 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
25 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
26 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
27 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
1 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
2 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
3 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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5 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
6 PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
8 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
9 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
10 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever
11 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production
12 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and
13 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
14 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
15 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated
16 protective order submitted to the court.
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18 12. MISCELLANEOUS
19 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
20 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
21 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
22 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
23 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
24 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
25 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
26 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
27 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
1 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material
2 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
3 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
6 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
7 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
8 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
9 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
10 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
11 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
12 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
13 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
14 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
15 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
16 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
17 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
18 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
19 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
20 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
21 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
22 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
23 Section 4 (DURATION).
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1 || 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
2 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
3 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
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5 || GDOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS SO
6 || ORDERED.
7
Wh
9 || DATED: March 18, 2025 fuk
10 United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of Savage
8 Enterprises v. Wheeler et al, U.S. District Court for the Central District of
9 California, Case No. 8:23-cv-00578-HDV-PVC. I agree to comply with and to be
10 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and
11 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment
12 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
13 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any
14 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full
19 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and
20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
22 Order.
23 Date: ______________________________________
24 City and State where signed: _________________________________
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26 Printed name: _______________________________
27