even 8 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing
How later courts described this case
- even 8 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
CHLOE TEMTCHINE, ) Case No. 8:25-cv-01361-JWH-JDE
11 )
)
12 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND PROPOSED
) PROTECTIVE ORDER
13 )
v. )
14 )
)
15 JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.; )
EXPERIAN INFORMATION )
16 SOLUTIONS, LLC; EQUIFAX ) )
17 INFORMATION SERVICES, LLC; )
)
AND TRANS UNION, LLC,
)
18
)
19 Defendants. )
)
20 Based on the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 50) and for good cause shown, the
21 Court finds and orders as follows.
22 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
23 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
24 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public
25 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be
26 warranted. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket
27 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it
28
1 affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or
2 items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
3
2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
4
This action is likely to involve private, commercial, financial, and/or
5
proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
6
use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
7
confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other
8
things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding
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confidential business practices, or other confidential commercial information
10
(including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information
11
otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or
12
otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
13
decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
14
facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery
15
materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
16
confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
17
such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
18
19 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
20 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
21 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
22 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
23 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
24 record of this case.
25 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
26 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this
27 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
28 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed
1
and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court
2
to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right
3
of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-
4
dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See
5
Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006),
6
Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-
7
Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even
8
stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of
9
good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal
10
justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to
11
file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material
12
as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by
13
declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as
14
confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.
15
Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then
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17 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the
18 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.
19 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For
20 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced
21 under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons,
22 supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order.
23 Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal
24 must be provided by declaration.
25 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in
26 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If
27 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only
28 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall
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
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4.1 Action: Temtchine v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Case No. 8:25-cv-
5
01361-JWH-JDE.
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4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
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of information or items under this Order.
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4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
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how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
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protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
11
the Good Cause Statement.
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4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
13
their support staff).
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4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
15
items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
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17 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
18 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
19 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
20 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
21 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.
22 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
23 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
24 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
25 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys employed by a party to this Action. House
26 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 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.
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4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
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to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared
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in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has
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appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
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4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
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employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
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support staffs).
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4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
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Discovery Material in this Action.
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4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
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services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
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demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
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and their employees and subcontractors.
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4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
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designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
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17 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
18 Material from a Producing Party.
19 5. SCOPE
20 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
21 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
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 / / /
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6. DURATION
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Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
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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
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members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by
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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”
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showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
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standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
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terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
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7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
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7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
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Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
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this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
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qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
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17 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written
18 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items
19 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
20 within the ambit of this Order.
21 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
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.
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7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
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this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material
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that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before
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the material is disclosed or produced. Designation in conformity with this Order
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requires:
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(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
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documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
8
proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
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“CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page
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that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page
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qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the
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protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
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A Party or Non-Party that makes documents available for inspection
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need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has
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indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the
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17 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for
18 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party
19 has identified documents to be copied and produced, the Producing Party must
20 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under
21 this Order. Then, before producing such documents, the Producing Party must
22 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected
23 Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection,
24 the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,
25 by making appropriate markings 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
28 of the deposition all protected testimony.
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(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
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for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent
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place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information
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is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
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information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent
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practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
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7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
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failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
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the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
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Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
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efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with this Order.
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8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
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8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
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designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
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Scheduling Order.
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17 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
18 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
19 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a
20 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
21 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
22 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
23 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
24 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party
25 has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to
26 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the
27 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
28 / / /
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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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Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL
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DISPOSITION).
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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
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authorized under this Order.
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9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items.
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Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the
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Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item
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designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
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17 (a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
18 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is
19 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
20 (b) The officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
21 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
22 Action;
23 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
24 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed
25 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A)
26 (d) The court and its personnel;
27 (e) Court reporters and their staff;
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(f) Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
2
Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and
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who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
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(Exhibit A);
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(g) The author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
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custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the
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information;
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(h) During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
9
Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the
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deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as
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Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any
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confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and
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Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the
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Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
15
deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected
16
17 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be
18 disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective
19 Order; and
20 (i) Any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,
21 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement
22 discussions.
23 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
24 IN OTHER LITIGATION
25 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
26 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
27 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
28
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(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
2
shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
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(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
4
to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered
5
by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such
6
notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
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(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
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pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be
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affected.
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If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
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the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
12
action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
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subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
14
permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
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protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
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17 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
18 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
19 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
20 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
21 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
22 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
23 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
24 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
25 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
26 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
27 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
28
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subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
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confidential information, then the Party shall:
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(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
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that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
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agreement with a Non-Party;
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(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
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Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a
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reasonably specific description of the information requested; and
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(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
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Party, if requested.
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(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
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14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
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may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
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request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
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not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
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17 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
18 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense
19 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
20 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
21 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
22 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
23 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
24 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
25 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person
26 or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this
27 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an
28 Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
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PROTECTED MATERIAL
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When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
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inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
5
the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
6
Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
7
may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
8
privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
9
parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
10
information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
11
parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
12
to the court.
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14. MISCELLANEOUS
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14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
15
person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
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17 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
18 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
19 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
20 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
21 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
22 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
23 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
24 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
25 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal
26 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public
27 record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
28 / / /
1 FINAL DISPOSITION
2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60
° days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
‘ all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
° this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
° summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
9 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
10 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies
(by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
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
14 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
15 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
16 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
17 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
1g |}materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
19 ||constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
20 || Section 6 (DURATION).
21 VIOLATION
22 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures
23 |{including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
24 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
25 ff de
26 || DATED: November 5, 2025 Li AG
27 J D. EARLY
38 nited States Magistrate Judge
14