even 7 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing
How later courts described this case
- even 7 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 JUAN APARICIO GALVAN, an ) Case No. 8:25-cv-01311-JWH-JDE
)
11 individual, )
Plaintiff, ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
12 v. ) ) ORDER
13 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., a )
)
Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1
14 )
through 10, inclusive, )
15 )
)
16 Defendants. )
)
17
18 Based on the parties’ Stipulation and for good cause shown, the Court finds
19 and orders as follows.
20 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
22 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public
23 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be
24 warranted. This Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
25 responses to discovery and the protection it affords from public disclosure and use
26 extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
27 treatment under the applicable legal principles.
28 / / /
1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
2 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
3 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
4 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
5 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
6
confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other
7
things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding
8
confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or
9
commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third
10
parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
11
privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
12
court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of
13
information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
14
discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
15
confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
16
such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
17
at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
18
information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
19
will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
20
designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
21
22 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
23 record of this case.
24 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
25 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this
26 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
27 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed
28 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court
1 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right
2 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-
3 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See
4 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006),
5 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-
6
Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even
7
stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of
8
good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal
9
justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to
10
file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material
11
as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by
12
declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as
13
confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.
14
Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then
15
compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the
16
relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.
17
See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For
18
each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced
19
under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons,
20
supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order.
21
22 Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal
23 must be provided by declaration.
24 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in
25 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If
26 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only
27 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall
28
1 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety
2 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.
3 4. DEFINITIONS
4 4.1 Action: this federal lawsuit, Case No. 8:25-cv-01311-JWH-JDE.
5 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
6
designation of information or items under this Order.
7
4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
8
how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
9
protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
10
the Good Cause Statement.
11
4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
12
their support staff).
13
4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
14
items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
15
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
16
4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
17
of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
18
among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
19
generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.
20
4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
21
22 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
23 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
24 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
25 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
26 counsel.
27 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or
28 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
1 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
2 to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared
3 in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has
4 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
5 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
6
employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
7
support staffs).
8
4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
9
Discovery Material in this Action.
10
4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
11
services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
12
demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
13
and their employees and subcontractors.
14
4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
15
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
16
4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
17
Material from a Producing Party.
18
5. SCOPE
19
The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
20
Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
21
22 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
23 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
24 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
25 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
26 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of
27 Protected Material at trial.
28 / / /
1 6. DURATION
2 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
3 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced
4 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all
5 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by
6
specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance
7
of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”
8
showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
9
standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
10
terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
11
7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
12
7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for
13
Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or
14
items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to
15
specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating
16
Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items
17
or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material,
18
documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not
19
swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
20
Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
21
22 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
23 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
24 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
25 Party to sanctions.
26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
27 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
28 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
1 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
2 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material
3 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before
4 the material is disclosed or produced.
5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
6
(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
7
documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
8
proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
9
“CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
10
contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for
11
protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
12
(e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
13
A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
14
need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
15
which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
16
before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
17
deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
18
documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
19
documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
20
producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
21
22 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
23 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also
24 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings
25 in the margins).
26 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
27 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
28 deposition all protected testimony.
1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
2 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
3 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
4 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
5 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
6
portion(s).
7
7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
8
failure to designate information or items does not alone waive the Designating
9
Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely
10
correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to
11
assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
12
8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
13
8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
14
designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
15
Scheduling Order.
16
8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
17
resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
18
19 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint
20 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
21
8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
22
Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
23
(e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
24
expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
25
26 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
27 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
28 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
1 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
2 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
3 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
4 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such
5 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
6
conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
7
Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL
8
DISPOSITION).
9
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
10
location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
11
authorized under this Order.
12
9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
13
otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
14
Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
15
“CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
16
(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
17
well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
18
necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
19
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
20
of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
21
22 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
23 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
25 (d) the court and its personnel;
26 (e) court reporters and their staff;
27 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
28
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
4 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
5 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
6
the 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 the
9
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
10
agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
11
deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
12
be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
13
as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
14
(i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,
15
mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
16
10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
17
PRODUCED 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
22 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
23 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
24 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
25 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
26 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
27 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
28 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
1 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the
2 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
3 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
4 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
5 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission.
6
The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in
7
that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be
8
construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey
9
a lawful directive from another court.
10
11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO
11 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
12
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
13
Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
14
produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
15
remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
16
construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
17
(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
18
produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
19
subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
20
confidential information, then the Party shall:
21
22 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
23 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
24 with a Non-Party;
25 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
26 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
27 specific description of the information requested; and
28
1 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
2 Party, if requested.
3 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court
4 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving
5 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the
6
discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving
7
Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to
8
the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the
9
court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
10
expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
11
12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
12
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
13
Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
14
Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
15
writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
16
to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person
17
or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this
18
Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an
19
Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.
20
13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
21
OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
22
23 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
24 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
25 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil\
26 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
27 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
28 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
1 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
2 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
3 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
4 to the court.
5 14. MISCELLANEOUS
6
14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
7
person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
8
14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
9
Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
10
disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
11
Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
12
ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
13
14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
14
Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
15
only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
16
specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal
17
is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public
18
record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
19
15. FINAL DISPOSITION
20
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60
21
22 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
23 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
24 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
25 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
26 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
27 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
28 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies
1 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
2 ||destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
3 || abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
4 || of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
> || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
6 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
8 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
10 Section 6 (DURATION).
16. VIOLATION
Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures
including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
Is IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
16
7 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
18 i de
19 || DATED: September 4, 2025 Lhe
D. EARLY
20 nited States Magistrate Judge
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
14 NAT amor □□ aAmremaneranRKonT
1
2 EXHIBIT A
3 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
5 _____________________________________[full address], declare under penalty
6 of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective
7 Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of
8 California on ____________ [date] in the case of Juan Aparicio Galvan v. Nissan
9
North America, Inc., Case No. 8:25-cv-01311-JWH-JDE. I agree to comply with
10
and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand
11
and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
12
punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in
13
any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order
14
to any 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 name]
19
of _______________________________________ [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
23
Date: ______________________________________
24
City and State where signed: _________________________________
25
Printed name: _______________________________
26
Signature: __________________________________
27
28