The opinion
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7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
8 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, WESTERN DIVISION
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10 COMPSTAR INSURANCE Case No. 2:25-cv-01096-CAS-AGR
SERVICES, LLC, a California
11 corporation; and BENCHMARK
INSURANCE COMPANY, a Kansas STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
12 corporation, ORDER
13 Plaintiffs,
Judge: Hon. Christina A. Snyder
14 v. Magistrate: Hon. Alicia G. Rosenberg
15 SUMMIT SPECIALTY INSURANCE Complaint Filed: 02/07/2025
SOLUTIONS LLC, a California limited
16 liability company; BLAKE BAKER, an
individual; CANDACE LONG, and
17 individual; and DOES 1 through 10,
inclusive,
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Defendants.
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1 1. INTRODUCTION
2 A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
4 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
5 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
6 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
7 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
8 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
9 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
10 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
11 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
12 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them
13 to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
14 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a
15 party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
16 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
17 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
18 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
19 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and
20 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
21 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other
22 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding
23 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or
24 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third
25 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may
26 be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal
27 statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the
1 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the
2 parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted
3 reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of
4 trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of
5 justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the
6 intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for
7 tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that
8 it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good
9 cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
10 2. DEFINITIONS
11 2.1 Action: this pending federal law suit.
12 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
13 of information or items under this Order.
14 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
15 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
16 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
17 the Good Cause Statement.
18 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
19 their support staff).
20 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
21 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
22 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
23 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
24 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
25 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
26 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
27 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
1 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
2 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
3 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
4 counsel.
5 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
6 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
7 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
8 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
9 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
10 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
11 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
12 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
13 support staffs).
14 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
15 Discovery Material in this Action.
16 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
17 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
18 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
19 and their employees and subcontractors.
20 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
21 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
22 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
23 from a Producing Party.
24 3. SCOPE
25 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
26 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
27 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
1 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
2 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
3 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
4 4. DURATION
5 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
6 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and
7 will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press,
8 unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed
9 otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City
10 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing
11 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from
12 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court
13 record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the
14 commencement of the trial.
15 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
16 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
17 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
18 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
19 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
20 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
21 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
22 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
23 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
24 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
25 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
26 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to
27 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the
1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
2 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party
3 must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable
4 designation.
5 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
6 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
7 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
8 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
9 produced.
10 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
11 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
12 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
13 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
14 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
15 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
16 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
17 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
18 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
19 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has
20 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the
21 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for
22 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has
23 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
24 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this
25 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must
26 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected
27 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for
1 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
2 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
3 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
4 deposition all protected testimony.
5 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
6 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
7 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
8 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
9 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
10 portion(s).
11 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
12 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
13 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
14 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
15 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
16 Order.
17 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
18 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
19 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
20 Scheduling Order.
21 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
22 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
23 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
24 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
25 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
26 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
27 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
1 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
2 challenge.
3 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
4 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
5 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
6 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
7 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
8 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
9 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
10 DISPOSITION).
11 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
12 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
13 authorized under this Order.
14 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
15 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
16 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
17 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
18 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
19 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
20 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
21 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
22 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
23 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
24 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
25 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
26 (d) the court and its personnel;
27 (e) court reporters and their staff;
1 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
2 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
3 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
4 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
5 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
6 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
7 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2)
8 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign
9 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless
10 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of
11 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected
12 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed
13 to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
14 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
15 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
16 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
17 IN OTHER LITIGATION
18 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
19 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
20 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
21 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
22 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
23 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
24 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
25 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall
26 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
27 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
1 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served
2 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in
3 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which
4 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating
5 Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of
6 seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these
7 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in
8 this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
9 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
10 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
11 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
12 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
13 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
14 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
15 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
16 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
17 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
18 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
19 confidential information, then the Party shall:
20 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-
21 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
22 agreement with a Non-Party;
23 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
24 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
25 specific description of the information requested; and
26 / / /
27 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
1 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
2 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving
3 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the
4 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving
5 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject
6 to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the
7 court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden
8 and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
9 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
10 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
11 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
12 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a)
13 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its
14 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c)
15 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all
16 the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit
18 A.
19 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
20 PROTECTED MATERIAL
21 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
22 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
23 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
24 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
25 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
26 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
27 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of
1 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement
2 in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
3 12. MISCELLANEOUS
4 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
5 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
6 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
7 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
8 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
9 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
10 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
11 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
12 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
13 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
14 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
15 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
16 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
17 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
18 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within
19 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must
20 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
21 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
22 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of
23 the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed,
24 the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party
25 (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day
26 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected
27 Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party
1 || format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding
2 || this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings,
3 || motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
4 || correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work
5 || product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain
6 || Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected
7 || Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4
8 (DURATION).
9 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all
10 || appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or
11 |} monetary sanctions.
IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
13 || DATED: August 26, 2025
14 /s/ Edwin M. Boniske
James M. Peterson
15 || Edwin M. Boniske
Steven M. Brunolli
16 | HIGGS FLETCHER & MACK LLP
Attorneys for Plaintiffs COMPSTAR INSURANCE SERVICES, LLC and
17 || BENCHMARK INSURANCE COMPANY
18
19 DATED: August 26, 2025
/s/ John T. Duffey
20 || Melissa Muro Lamere
John T. Duffey (Admitted Pro Hac Vice)
21 || MASON LLP
Attorneys for Defendants SUMMIT SPECIALTY INSURANCE SOLUTIONS
22] LLC, BLAKE BAKER, and CANDACE LONG
23
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
25 h -
6 DATED: August 27, 2025 ies . | reenlirgy
27 Honorable Alicia G Rosenberg
08 United States Magistrate Judge
FLETCHER &
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, , [print or type full name], of
5 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its
6 entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the
7 United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the
8 case of COMPSTAR INSURANCE SERVICES, LLC, et al. v. SUMMIT
9 SPECIALTY INSURANCE SOLUTIONS LLC, et al., Central District Case No.
10 2:25-cv-01096-CAS-AGR. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the
11 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that
12 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of
13 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any
14 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any
15 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District
17 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms
18 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur
19 after termination of this action. I hereby appoint [print
20 or type full name] of [print or
21 type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of
22 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: