The opinion
IAadna Am. ESt. eWwaayrtn (eS (BSNB N25 303628593) 4)
2 WILSON ELSER MOSKOWITZ
EDELMAN & DICKER LLP
3 555 South Flower Street, Suite 2900
Los Angeles, California 90071-2407
4 Telephone: (213) 443-5100
Facsimile: (213) 443-5101
5 E-Mail: Ian.Stewart@wilsonelser.com
Adam.Wayne@wilsonelser.com
6
Attorneys for Defendant,
7 FIRST FINANCIAL SECURITY, INC.
8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11 YVETTE PRICE, individually, and on Case No.: 2:24-cv-10985-MCS-RAO
behalf of all others similarly situated,
12 [DISCOVERY MATTER]
Plaintiff,
13 [PROPOSED] STIPULATED
v. PROTECTIVE ORDER
14
FIRST FINANCIAL SECURITY,
15 INC., a Delaware corporation; and
DOES 1 through 100, inclusive,
16 Complaint Filed: December 20, 2024
Defendants.
17 Assigned to Hon. Mark C. Scarsi,
Courtroom 7C
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Trial Date: None Set
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1. GENERAL
2 1.1 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 to
13 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 party
15 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
16 1.2 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 from
20 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 be
26 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
27 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of
28 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
2 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
3 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
4 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
5 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
6 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
7 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
8 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
9 record of this case.
10 2. DEFINITIONS
11 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
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.
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2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a
2 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel
3 to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
4 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this
5 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other
6 outside counsel.
7 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,
8 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
9 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
10 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
11 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with or retained by a
12 law firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
13 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
14 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and
15 their support staffs).
16 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
17 Discovery Material in this Action.
18 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
19 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits
20 or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or
21 medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
22 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
23 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
24 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
25 Material from a Producing Party.
26 3. SCOPE
27 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
28 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
2 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
3 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
4 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of
5 the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
6 4. DURATION
7 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be
8 introduced that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to
9 this protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all
10 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by
11 specific actual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance
12 of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81
13 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents
14 produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related
15 documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order
16 do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
17 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
19 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
20 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
21 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
22 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
23 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
24 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
25 within the ambit of this Order.
26 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
27 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
28 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
2 Party to sanctions.
3 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
4 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
5 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
6 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
7 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
8 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
9 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
10 produced.
11 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
12 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
13 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
14 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
15 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
16 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
17 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
18 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
19 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
20 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
21 deposition.
22 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
23 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
24 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
26 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
27 portion(s).
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5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
2 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
3 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
4 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
5 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
6 Order.
7 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIAL DESIGNATIONS
8 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
9 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
10 Scheduling Order.
11 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
12 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must
13 strictly comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-
14 3.
15 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
16 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
17 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
18 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
19 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
20 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled
21 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
22 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
24 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
25 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
26 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
27 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
28 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
2 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
3 authorized under this Order.
4 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
5 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
6 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
7 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
8 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well
9 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
10 to disclose the information for this Action;
11 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
12 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
13 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
14 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
16 (d) the Court and its personnel;
17 (e) court reporters and their staff;
18 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
19 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
20 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
21 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
22 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
23 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
24 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
25 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
26 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
28 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
2 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
3 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
4 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
5 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
6 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
7 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
8 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
9 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
10 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
11 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
12 markings in the margins).
13 Deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material
14 may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone
15 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
16 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
17 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
18 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
19 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
21 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
22 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
23 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
24 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
25 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
26 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
27 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
28 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
2 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
4 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
5 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
6 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission.
7 The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in
8 that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be
9 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey
10 a lawful directive from another court.
11 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO
12 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION.
13 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
14 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
15 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
16 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
17 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
18 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
19 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
20 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
21 confidential information, then the Party shall:
22 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that
23 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 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
Party, if requested.
2 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
3 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
4 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
5 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
6 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
7 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court.
8 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense
9 of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
10 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED
11 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 and
19 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
20 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
21 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL.
22 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
23 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
24 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
25 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
26 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
27 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
28 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of communication or
information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
2 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
3 to the Court.
4 12. MISCELLANEOUS.
5 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of
6 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
7 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
8 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
9 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
10 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
11 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
12 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
13 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
14 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
15 specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file
16 under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the
17 Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
18 otherwise instructed by the Court.
19 13. FINAL DISPOSITION.
20 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request
21 by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to
22 the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all
23 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any
24 other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the
25 Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a
26 written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to
27 the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
28 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
1 || that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
2 ||summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
3 || Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival
4 || copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal
5 ||memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney
6 || work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain
7 || Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected
8 ||Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4
9 ||(DURATION).
10 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER.
11 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
12 ||measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
13 || sanctions.
14 || IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
15 || Dated: October 17, 2025 WILSON ELSER MOSKOWITZ
6 EDELMAN & DICKER LLP
By:/s/lan A. Stewart
V7 Ian A. Stewart
12 Adam E. Wayne
Attorneys for Defendant,
19 FIRST FINANCIAL SECURITY, INC.
29 || Dated: October 17, 2025 WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, PLC
21 By: /s/ Jesenia_ A. Martinez
Thiago M. Coelho
22 Jesenia A. Martinez
Lauren M. Lendzion
3 Jesse S. Chen.
Attorneys for Plaintiff and the Proposed Class
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FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
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26 ||DATED: 19/17/2025
27 Rayelis Oy,
. R
28 United States Magistrate Judge
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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 case of
8 [insert case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by
9 all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge
10 that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature
11 of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any
12 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person
13 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint [full name] of[full address
18 and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
19 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
20 Stipulated Protective Order.
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Date: ____________________________________
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City and State where signed: _____________________________
23 Printed name: ____________________________
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