even 5 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing
How later courts described this case
- even 5 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
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11
TRACY HILL, individually and on Case No. 2:24-cv-10414-JPR
12 behalf of others similarly situated,
PROTECTIVE ORDER
13
14 Plaintiff,
v. Magistrate Judge John D. Early
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16 Action Filed: Dec. 3, 2024
PRETTY LITTER, INC.,
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18 Defendant.
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Based on the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 19) and for good cause shown, the
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Court finds and orders as follows.
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1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
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Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
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proprietary or private information for which special protection from public
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disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be
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warranted. This Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
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responses to discovery and the protection it affords from public disclosure and use
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1 extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
2 treatment under the applicable legal principles.
3 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
4 Plaintiff and Defendant jointly submit that good cause exists to enter a
5 stipulated protective order. Discovery will likely include non-public personally
6 identifying information (PII), such as names, contact details, dates of birth, and
7 financial account information, protected by law. Without safeguards, disclosure
8 risks identity theft, financial harm, and unwarranted invasions of privacy. A
9 protective order will enable efficient discovery while mitigating these risks through
10 confidentiality designations, secure handling, and limits on use and disclosure.
11 Because this is a putative class action, discovery may involve information about
12 absent putative class members. To preserve the integrity of the Rule 23 process and
13 avoid confusion, coercion, and prejudice, Confidential Information may not be
14 used to contact or be disclosed to any putative class member unless and until a
15 class including that person is certified. The proposed protections are narrowly
16 tailored: they regulate the use, disclosure, and filing of Protected Material without
17 restricting legitimate discovery, preserve public access consistent with law, and
18 provide standard procedures to challenge designations and for redaction or sealing
19 where appropriate. Consistent with the distinct standards governing trial, any use
20 of Protected Material at trial will be addressed by separate agreement or order. For
21 these reasons, good cause exists to enter the stipulated protective order.
22 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
23 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this
24 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
25 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed
26 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court
27 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right
28 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-
1 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See
2 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006),
3 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-
4 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even
5 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of
6 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal
7 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to
8 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material
9 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by
10 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as
11 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.
12 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial,
13 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and
14 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be
15 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir.
16 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed
17 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling
18 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing
19 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents
20 under seal must be provided by declaration.
21 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable
22 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be
23 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing,
24 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the
25 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in
26 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.
27 4. DEFINITIONS
28 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
1 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
2 designation of information or items under this Order.
3 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
4 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
5 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
6 the Good Cause Statement.
7 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
8 their support staff).
9 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
10 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
11 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
12 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
13 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
14 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced
15 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.
16 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
17 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve
18 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
19 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this
20 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other
21 outside counsel.
22 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or
23 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
24 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
25 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have
26 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
27 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
28 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
1 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
2 support staffs).
3 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
4 Discovery Material in this Action.
5 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
6 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
7 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
8 and their employees and subcontractors.
9 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
10 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
11 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
12 Material from a Producing Party.
13 5. SCOPE
14 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
15 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
16 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
17 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
18 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
19 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
20 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of
21 Protected Material at trial.
22 6. DURATION
23 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
24 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or
25 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively
26 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling
27 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the
28 trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81
1 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
2 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
3 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
4 beyond the commencement of the trial.
5 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
6 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for
7 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or
8 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation
9 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating
10 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items
11 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the
12 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not
13 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
14 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
15 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
16 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to
17 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the
18 Designating Party to sanctions.
19 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
20 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
21 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
22 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
23 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material
24 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before
25 the material is disclosed or produced.
26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
27 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
28 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
1 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
2 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
3 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for
4 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
5 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
6 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
7 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
8 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
9 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
10 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
11 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine
12 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order.
13 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix
14 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If
15 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
16 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
17 appropriate markings in the margins).
18 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
19 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of
20 the deposition all protected testimony.
21 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary
22 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent
23 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is
24 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
25 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,
26 shall identify the protected portion(s).
27 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
28 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
1 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such
2 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make
3 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the
4 provisions of this Order.
5 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
6 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
7 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
8 Scheduling Order.
9 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
10 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
11 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a
12 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
13 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
14 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
15 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
16 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
17 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
18 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
19 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
20 challenge.
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9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
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9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
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disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
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Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such
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Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
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conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
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1 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL
2 DISPOSITION).
3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
4 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
5 authorized under this Order.
6 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
7 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
8 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
9 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
10 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
11 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
12 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
13 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
14 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
15 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
16 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
18 (d) the court and its personnel;
19 (e) court reporters and their staff;
20 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
21 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
22 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
23 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
24 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
25 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
26 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
27 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2)
28 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
1 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
2 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
3 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
4 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone
5 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
6 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,
7 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
8 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
9 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
10 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
11 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
12 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
13 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
14 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
15 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
16 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
17 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall
18 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
19 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
20 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the
21 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
22 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
23 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
24 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
25 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
26 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
27 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
28 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
1 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO
2 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by
4 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such
5 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected
6 by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions
7 should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional
8 protections.
9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request,
10 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party
11 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
12 confidential information, then the Party shall:
13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
14 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
15 agreement with a Non-Party;
16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
17 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
18 specific description of the information requested; and
19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
20 Non-Party, if requested.
21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court
22 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the
23 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive
24 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the
25 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that
26 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a ruling by
27 the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden
28 and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
1 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
3 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
4 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a)
5 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its
6 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform
7 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms
8 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
9 “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.
10 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
11 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
12 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
13 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
14 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
15 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
16 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
17 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
18 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure
19 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or
20 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the
21 stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
22 14. MISCELLANEOUS
23 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
24 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
25 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
26 Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or
27 producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Order.
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1 Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of
2 any of the material covered by this Order.
3 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
4 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material
5 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
6 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under
7 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the
8 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
9 15. FINAL DISPOSITION
10 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within
11 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must
12 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
13 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
14 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
15 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the
16 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if
17 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that
18 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was
19 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any
20 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
21 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel
22 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,
23 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition
24 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert
25 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival
26 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this
27 Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).
28 / / /
I 16. VIOLATION
2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures
3 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
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> || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED: October 30, 2025
Lf
10 HN D. EARLY
11 United States Magistrate Judge
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EXHIBIT A
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
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I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of
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_________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury
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that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
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was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
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in the case of Tracey Hill v. Pretty Litter, Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-10414-JPR. I agree
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to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order
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and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to
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sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will
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not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated
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Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the
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provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United
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States District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of
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enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement
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17 proceedings occur after termination of this action.
18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of
19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and
20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
22 Order.
23 Date: ______________________________________
24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
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26 Printed name: _______________________________
27 Signature: __________________________________
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