The opinion
1 ROBERT R. POWELL, SBN: 159747
POWELL & ASSOCIATES
2
925 West Hedding Street
3 San Jose, California 95126
E: admin@rrpassociates.com
4
T: 408-553-0200
5
Attorney for Plaintiff
6
7
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
8
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
9
10
J.R., as a minor by and through his CASE # 2:24-cv-06434-MEMF-MAA
11 Guardian Ad Litem ALICIA
RUSSELL, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
12
Plaintiff,
13 vs.
14
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, et
15 al, and DOES 1-20 inclusive,
16
Defendants.
17
18
19 I. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
20 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
21 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
22 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
23 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court
24 to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that
25 this Stipulated Protective Order does not confer blanket protections on all
26 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public
27 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are
28
1 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties
2
further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 13.3 below, that this Stipulated
3
Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal;
4
Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards
5
that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material
6
under seal.
7
2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
8
This action is likely to involve juvenile dependency case file records (CRC
9
5.552 – defining “juvenile case file”), and communications of parties related to the
10
events and circumstances described in the Complaint on file in this action, as well
11
as an unknown number of documents / writings / evidence in possession of law
12
enforcement agencies, which are or may be otherwise generally unavailable to the
13
public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under
14
state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law.
15
Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
16
resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
17
protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
18
parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for
19
and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and
20
to serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in
21
this matter.
22
It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as
23
confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good
24
faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and
25
there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
26
//
27
//
28
1 3. DEFINITIONS
2
3.1 Action: Refers to this litigation / lawsuit.
3
3.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation of
4
information or items under this Stipulated Protective Order.
5
3.3 CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how
6
it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
7
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
8
Cause Statement.
9
3.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and In-House Counsel (as well as their
10
support staff).
11
3.5 Designating Party: A Party or Nonparty that designates information or
12
items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
13
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
14
3.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of
15
the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
16
among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that is produced
17
or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
18
3.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
19
pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve
20
as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
21
3.8 In-House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
22
In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other
23
outside counsel.
24
3.9 Nonparty: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
25
other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
26
3.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party
27
to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
28
1 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law
2
firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
3
3.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
4
employees, consultants, retained experts, In-House Counsel, and
5
Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).
6
3.12 Producing Party: A Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or
7
Discovery Material in this Action.
8
3.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support
9
services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
10
demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or
11
medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
12
3.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
13
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
14
3.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
15
from a Producing Party.
16
4. SCOPE
17
The protections conferred by this Stipulated Protective Order cover not only
18
Protected Material, but also (1) any information copied or extracted from
19
Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
20
Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by
21
Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
22
Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
23
trial judge. This Stipulated Protective Order does not govern the use of Protected
24
Material at trial.
25
26 5. DURATION
27 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
28 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Stipulated Protective Order becomes
1 public and presumptively will be available to all members of the public,
2
including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual
3
findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial.
4
See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.
5
2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
6
discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents
7
are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this Stipulated Protective
8
Order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
9
6. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
10
6.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for
11
Protection.
12
Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for protection
13
under this Stipulated Protective Order must take care to limit any such
14
designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards.
15
The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material,
16
documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other
17
portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which
18
protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this
19
Stipulated Protective Order.
20
Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
21
that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
22
purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to
23
impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the
24
Designating Party to sanctions.
25
6.2 Manner and Timing of Designations
26
Except as otherwise provided in this Stipulated Protective Order (see, e.g.,
27
Section 6.2(a)), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery
28
1 Material that qualifies for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order must
2
be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
3
Designation in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order requires the
4
following:
5
(a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
6
documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
7
proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
8
“CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a
9
portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
10
Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by
11
making appropriate markings in the margins).
12
A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents available for
13
inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting
14
Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced.
15
During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made
16
available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the
17
inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced,
18
the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof,
19
qualify for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order.
20
Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party
21
must affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains
22
Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
23
qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the
24
protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
25
(b) For testimony given in depositions, that the Designating Party identify
26
the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
27
deposition, all protected testimony.
28
1 (c) For information produced in nondocumentary form, and for any other
2
tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
3
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
5
warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall
6
identify the protected portion(s).
7
6.3 Inadvertent Failure to Designate
8
If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or
9
items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure
10
protection under this Stipulated Protective Order for such material. Upon timely
11
correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to
12
assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
13
Stipulated Protective Order.
14
7. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
15
7.1 Timing of Challenges
16
Any party or Nonparty may challenge designation of confidentiality at any
17
time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
18
7.2 Meet and Confer
19
The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process, which shall
20
comply with Local Rule 37.1 et seq., and with Section 4 of Judge Audero’s
21
Procedures (“Mandatory Telephonic Conference for Discovery Disputes”)1
22
7.3 Burden of Persuasion
23
The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
24
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
27
1 Judge Audero’s Procedures are available at
28 https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/honorable-maria-audero.
1 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
2
Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
3
continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
4
entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
5
challenge.
6
8. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIALS
7
8.1 Basic Principles
8
A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by
9
another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this Action only for
10
prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected
11
Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
12
conditions described in this Stipulated Protective Order. When the Action
13
reaches a final disposition, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of
14
Section 14 below.
15
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
16
location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
17
authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order.
18
8.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items
19
Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the
20
Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item
21
designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
22
(a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record, as well as employees
23
of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to
24
disclose the information for this Action;
25
(b) The officers, directors, and employees (including In-House Counsel) of
26
the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
27
Action;
28
1 (c) Experts of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably
2
necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and
3
Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
4
(d) The Court and its personnel;
5
(e) Court reporters and their staff;
6
(f) Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
7
Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary or this Action and who
8
have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit
9
A);
10
(g) The author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
11
custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the
12
information;
13
(h) During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
14
Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (i) the
15
deposing party requests that the witness sign the “Acknowledgment and
16
Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); and (ii) the witness will not be
17
permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
18
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound,” unless otherwise agreed
19
by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
20
deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected
21
Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be
22
disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective
23
Order; and
24
(i) Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
25
mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement
26
discussions.
27
//
28
1 9. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
2
If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
3
that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
4
“CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
5
(a) Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
6
shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
7
(b) Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
8
to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
9
subpoena or order is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order. Such
10
notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
11
(c) Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
12
pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be
13
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
16
action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court from which
17
the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating
18
Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of
19
seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these
20
provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party
21
in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
22
10. A NONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
23
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
24
10.1 Application
25
The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order are applicable to information
26
produced by a Nonparty in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
27
Such information produced by Nonparties in connection with this litigation is
28
1 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Stipulated Protective Order.
2
Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from
3
seeking additional protections.
4
10.2 Notification
5
In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a
6
Nonparty’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to
7
an agreement with the Nonparty not to produce the Nonparty’s confidential
8
information, then the Party shall:
9
(a) Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Nonparty that
10
some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
11
agreement with a Nonparty;
12
(b) Promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of the Stipulated Protective
13
Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
14
specific description of the information requested; and
15
(c) Make the information requested available for inspection by the
16
Nonparty, if requested.
17
11. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
18
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
19
Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
20
Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party immediately must (1) notify in
21
writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its best
22
efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) inform
23
the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the
24
terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, and (4) request such person or persons
25
to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A).
26
//
27
//
28
1 12. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
2
OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
3
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
4
inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
5
protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
6
Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
7
whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
8
production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
9
502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of
10
disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client
11
privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement
12
in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted to the Court.
13
13. MISCELLANEOUS
14
13.1 Right to Further Relief
15
Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order abridges the right of any person to
16
seek its modification in the future.
17
13.2 Right to Assert Other Objections
18
By stipulating to the entry of this Stipulated Protective Order, no Party
19
waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any
20
information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective
21
Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in
22
evidence of any of the material covered by this Stipulated Protective Order.
23
13.3 Filing Protected Material
24
A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with
25
Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a
26
court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If
27
a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then
28
1 the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
2
otherwise instructed by the Court.
3
14. FINAL DISPOSITION
4
After the final disposition of this Action, within sixty (60) days of a written
5
request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected
6
Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material.
7
However, nothing herein requires any party to this Action who has a right
8
to possess copies of juvenile case files (CRC 5.552) pursuant to W&IC 827,
9
to return or destroy any such materials to anyone at any time, barring
10
further Order of the Court to the contrary.
11
As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies,
12
abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or
13
capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is
14
returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to
15
the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating
16
Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate)
17
all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the
18
Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries
19
or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
20
Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel is entitled to retain an archival copy of
21
all pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts; legal
22
memoranda; correspondence; deposition and trial exhibits; expert reports;
23
attorney work product; and consultant and expert work product, even if such
24
materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
25
constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Stipulated Protective Order
26
as set forth in Section 5.
27
//
28
15. VIOLATION
Any violation of this Stipulated Order may be punished by any and all
° appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or
monetary sanctions.
5
6 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
7
g | __/S/ Robert R. Powell 9/12/25 __/S. Lauren B. Fazio 9/12/25
9 | ROBERT R. POWELL, ESQ. LAUREN B. FAZIO, ESQ.
10 | Attorney for Plaintiffs Attorney for Defendants
| FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO — .
12 !
13 | Dated: _ 09/24/2025 7 | | al jp
14 Mari TO
Unite tes Magistrate Judge
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
14
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, __________________________[full name], of ____________________
4 ________________[address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in
5 its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the
6 United States District Court for the Central District of California on __________
7 [date] in the case of ________________________________________________
8 [case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms
9 of this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that
10 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
13 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Stipulated
14 Protective Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District
16 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms
17 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur
18 after termination of this action. I hereby appoint ________________ [full name]
19 of _____________________________________[address and telephone number]
20 as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or
21 any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
22
23
Signature: __________________________
24
Printed Name: __________________________
25
Date: __________________________
26
City and State Where Sworn and Signed: __________________________
27
28