The opinion
1 AMIR NASSIHI (SBN 235936)
2 anassihi@shb.com
NYKEEMAH MCCLENDON (SBN 322544)
3
nmcclendon@shb.com
4 JAMES JOHN FEENEY (SBN 359511)
jfeeney@shb.com
5 555 Mission Street, Suite 2300
San Francisco, CA 94105
6 TEL: (415) 544-1900 | FAX: (415) 391-0281
7
Attorneys for Defendant,
8 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
9 [additional counsel listed on signature page]
10
11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
12 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
13
PRISCILLA JACKSON, an individual, Case No. 25-cv-03746-SSC
14
15 Plaintiff, Assigned to the Honorable Stephanie S.
Christensen
16 vs.
[PROPOSED] STIPULATED
17
NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., a PROTECTIVE ORDER
18 Delaware Corporation,
19 Defendant.
20
21 1. GENERAL
22 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
23 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
24 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting
25 this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and
26 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
27 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
28 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
1 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
2 treatment under the applicable legal principles.
3 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
4 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
5 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
6 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
7 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
8 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,
9 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential
10 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial
11 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),
12 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged
13 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
14 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
15 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials,
16 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to
17 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
18 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the
19 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is
20 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be
21 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated
22 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public
23 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this
24 case.
25 2. DEFINITIONS
26 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, Case no. 25-cv-03746-SSC.
27 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
28 of information or items under this Order.
1 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
2 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
3 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
4 Cause Statement.
5 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
6 support staff).
7 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
8 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
9 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
10 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
11 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
12 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
13 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
14 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
15 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
16 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
17 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
18 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
19 counsel.
20 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
21 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
22 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
23 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
24 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
25 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
26 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
27 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
28 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.
11 3. SCOPE
12 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
13 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
14 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
15 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
16 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
17 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
18 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
19 4. DURATION
20 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced
21 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
22 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
23 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
24 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the
25 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.
26 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
27 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
28 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
1 beyond the commencement of the trial.
2 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
3 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
4 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
5 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
6 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
7 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
8 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
9 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
10 this Order.
11 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
12 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
13 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
14 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
15 to sanctions.
16 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
17 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
18 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
19 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
20 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
21 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
22 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
23 produced.
24 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
25 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
26 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
27 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
28 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
1 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
2 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
3 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
4 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
5 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
6 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
7 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
8 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents
9 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
10 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing
11 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
12 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions
13 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
14 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
15 margins).
16 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
17 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
18 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
19 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
20 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
21 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
22 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
23 portion(s).
24 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
25 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
26 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
27 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
28 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
1 Order.
2 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
3 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
4 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
5 Scheduling Order.
6 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
7 resolution process. Any discovery motion must comply with local rules.
8 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
9 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
10 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
11 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
12 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
13 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled
14 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
15 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
16 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
17 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
18 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
19 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
20 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
21 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 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
28 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
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
15 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
17 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
18 party 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 be
23 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
24 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.
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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 notification shall
7 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
9 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
10 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
11 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
13 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 shall not produce any information designated in this action
16 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
17 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
18 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
19 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
20 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
21 directive from another court.
22 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
23 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
24 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
25 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
26 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
27 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
28 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
2 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
3 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential
4 information, then the Party shall:
5 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
6 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
7 with a Non-Party;
8 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
9 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
10 specific description of the information requested; and
11 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
12 Party, if requested.
13 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
15 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
16 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
17 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
18 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
19 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
20 protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
21 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
22 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
23 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
24 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
25 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
26 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
27 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
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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
11 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
12 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
13 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
14 to the Court.
15 12. MISCELLANEOUS
16 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
17 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
18 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
19 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
20 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
21 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
22 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
23 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
24 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
25 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
26 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
27 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other
28 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected
1 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written
2 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the
3 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
4 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
5 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
6 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
7 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
8 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
9 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product,
10 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
11 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material
12 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (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
IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
18
19
Dated: July 31, 2025 QUILL & ARROW, LLP
20
21
By /s/Andrew Jung
22
KEVIN Y. JACOBSON
23 ANDREW C. JUNG
DANJA STOCCA
24 ALEXANDER BRAUNS
25
Attorneys for Plaintiff
26 PRISCILLA JACKSON
27
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1 || Dated: August 1, 2025 _ SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P.
2
3 By /s/ Nykeemah McClendon
4 AMIR NASSIHI
NYKEEMAH MCCLENDON
5 JAMES FEENEY
6 Attorneys for Defendant
7 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
8
9 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
10 LZ
11 || DATED: August 4, 2025
2 □□
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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
8 case of Priscilla Jackson v. Nissan North America, Inc., Case No. 25-cv-03746-
9 SSC. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated
10 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could
11 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise
12 that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this
13 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with
14 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
24 Date: ______________________________________
25 City and State where signed: _________________________________
26 Printed name: _______________________________
27 Signature: __________________________________
28