The opinion
1 BAKER & HOSTETLER LLP
Bethany G. Lukitsch (SBN 314376)
2 Kamran B. Ahmadian (SBN 314566)
1900 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 2700
3 Los Angeles, CA 90067-4301
Telephone: 310.820.8800
4 Facsimile: 310.820.8859
blukitsch@bakerlaw.com
5 kahmadian@bakerlaw.com
6 Attorneys for Defendant
TALKSPACE, INC.
7
TAULER SMITH, LLP
8 Robert Tauler (SBN 241964)
Narain Kumar (SBN 301533)
9 626 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 510
Los Angeles, CA 90017
10 Telephone: 310.590.3927
rtauler@taulersmith.com
11 nkumar@taulersmith.com
12 Attorneys for Plaintiff
COURTNEY MITCHENER
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14
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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17 COURTNEY MITCHENER, Case No.: 2:24-cv-07067-JAK-BFM
individually, and on behalf of all others
18 similarly situated, [Assigned to Hon. John A. Kronstadt;
Magistrate Judge Brianna Fuller
19 Plaintiff, Mircheff]
20 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER
21 TALKSPACE NETWORK LLC, a
New York Limited Liability Company;
22
and DOES 1 through 25, inclusive,
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Defendant.
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1 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
2 Plaintiff Courtney Mitchener (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant Talkspace, Inc.
3 (incorrectly named in the First Amended Complaint as Talkspace Network LLC)
4 (“Defendant” or “Talkspace”) (collectively, the “Parties”), by and through their
5 undersigned counsel, respectfully and jointly submit this Stipulated Protective Order.
6 1. GENERAL
7 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
8 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
9 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than
10 prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby
11 stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order.
12 The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all
13 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public
14 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled
15 to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further
16 acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order
17 does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-
18 5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be
19 applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
20 1.2 Good Cause Statement. This action is likely to involve trade secrets,
21 customer information, and other valuable research, development, commercial,
22 financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection from
23 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action
24 is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of,
25 among other things, documents containing information that the producing party is
26 obligated by law to maintain in confidence; customer information and data;
27 information that is subject to the privacy interests of any individual; business and
28 marketing plans, strategies, analyses, or surveys; contracts and agreements that are
1 subject to confidentiality provisions, any draft negotiations or summaries thereof;
2 and proprietary information that is related to website code and/or network security,
3 or which may be otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
4 court rules, case decisions, or common law.
5 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
6 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
7 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
8 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for
9 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and
10 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
11 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as
12 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good
13 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there
14 is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
15 2. DEFINITIONS
16 2.1 Action: The above-entitled pending federal lawsuit.
17 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
18 of information or items under this Order.
19 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
20 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
21 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
22 Cause Statement.
23 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
24 their support staff).
25 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
26 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
27 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
28 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
1 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
2 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
3 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
4 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
5 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
6 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
7 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
8 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
9 counsel.
10 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
11 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
12 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
13 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
14 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
15 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
16 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
17 employees, consultants, retained experts, House Counsel, and Outside Counsel of
18 Record (and their support staffs).
19 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
20 Discovery Material in this Action.
21 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
22 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
23 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
24 and their employees and subcontractors.
25 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
26 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
27 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
28 from a Producing Party.
1 3. SCOPE
2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
6 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
8 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
9 Moreover, nothing in this Order shall preclude any Party from seeking additional
10 protections should the need later arise.
11 4. DURATION
12 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced
13 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
14 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
15 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
16 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the
17 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.
18 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
19 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
20 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
21 beyond the commencement of the trial.
22 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
24 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
25 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
26 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
27 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
28 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
1 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
2 within the ambit of this Order.
3 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
4 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
5 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
6 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
7 Party to sanctions.
8 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
9 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
10 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
11 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
12 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
13 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
14 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
15 produced.
16 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
17 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
18 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
19 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
20 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page
21 that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material
22 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
23 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
24 margins).
25 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for
26 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting
27 Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced.
28 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made
1 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the
2 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced,
3 the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof,
4 qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified
5 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to
6 each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the
7 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must
8 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings
9 in the margins).
10 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
11 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close
12 of the deposition.
13 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary
14 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent
15 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is
16 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
17 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,
18 shall identify the protected 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.
25 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
26 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
27 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
28 Scheduling Order.
1 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
2 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly
3 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.
4 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
5 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
6 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
7 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
8 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
9 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled
10 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
11 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
12 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
13 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
14 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
15 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
16 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
17 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL
18 DISPOSITION).
19 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
20 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
21 authorized under this Order.
22 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
23 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
24 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
25 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
26 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action,
27 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is
28 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
2 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
3 Action;
4 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party have
5 been retained to assist in the preparation and trial of this litigation and who
6 have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
7 (d) the Court and its personnel;
8 (e) court reporters and their staff;
9 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
10 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
11 Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
12 Bound” (Exhibit A);
13 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information
14 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the
15 information;
16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses,
17 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the
18 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A
19 hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information
20 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit
21 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court.
22 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal
23 Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not
24 be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective
25 Order; and
26 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting
27 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement
28 discussions.
1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
2 PRODUCED 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
7 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
9 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by
10 the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification
11 shall include 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
15 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated
16 in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from
17 which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the
18 Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden
19 and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and
20 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging
21 a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another
22 court.
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
26 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such
27 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is
28 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these
1 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking
2 additional protections.
3 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request,
4 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the
5 Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-
6 Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
7 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the
8 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject
9 to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
10 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the
11 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery
12 request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the
13 information requested; and
14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by
15 the Non-Party, if requested.
16 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court
17 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the
18 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information
19 responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective
20 order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession
21 or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party
22 before a determination by the Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the
23 Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this
24 Court of its Protected Material.
25 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
26 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
27 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
28 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
1 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
2 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
3 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
4 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
5 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
6 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
7 PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
9 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
10 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
11 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
12 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
13 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
14 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
15 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
16 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
17 to the Court.
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
28 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
1 specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file
2 under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the
3 Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
4 otherwise instructed by the Court.
5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
6 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request
7 by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to
8 the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all
9 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any
10 other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the
11 Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a
12 written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to
13 the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
14 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
15 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
16 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
17 Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival
18 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal
19 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney
20 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain
21 Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected
22 Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4
23 (DURATION).
24 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
25 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
26 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
27 sanctions.
28 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
1
Dated: April 16, 2025 BAKER & HOSTETLER LLP
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/s/ Kamran B. Ahmadian
4 Bethany G. Lukitsch
Kamran B. Ahmadian
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6 Attorneys for Defendant
TALKSPACE, INC.
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Dated: April 16, 2025 TAULER SMITH, LLP
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/s/ Narain Kumar
11 Robert Tauler
Narain Kumar
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Attorneys for Plaintiff
13 COURTNEY MITCHENER
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15 L.R. 5-4.3.4 STATEMENT
16 I, Kamran B. Ahmadian, attest that all signatories listed herein, and on whose
17 behalf this filing is submitted, concur in this filing’s content, and have authorized this
18 filing.
19
20 /s/Kamran B. Ahmadian
Kamran B. Ahmadian
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I ORDER
2 Having considered the papers, and finding that good cause exists, the Parties’
3 || Stipulated Protective Order is GRANTED.
4 IT IS SO ORDERED.
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|| DATED: April 16, 2025
7 BRIANNA FULLER MIRCHEFF
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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-|4-
1 [EXHIBIT A]
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, _________________________ [print or type full name], of
4 ______________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of
5 perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order
6 that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of
7 California on [date] in the case of Courtney Mitchener v. Talkspace Network LLC et
8 al., Case No.: 2:24-cv-07067-JAK-BFM. I agree to comply with and to be bound by
9 all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge
10 that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature
11 of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any
12 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person
13 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
17 termination of this action.
18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of
19 ___________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone
20 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action
21 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
22 Date: ______________________________________
23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
24
25 Printed name: _______________________________
26
27 Signature: __________________________________
28