The opinion
1 Angela L. Scott (SBN 240418)
scotta@ballardspahr.com
2 Elliot Johnson (SBN 317303)
johnsoneg@ballardspahr.com
3 John D Sadler (Admitted Pro Hac Vice)
sadlerj@ballardspahr.com
4 BALLARD SPAHR LLP
2029 Century Park East, Suite 1400
5 Los Angeles, CA 90067-2915
Telephone: 424.204.4400
6 Facsimile: 424.204.4350
Attorneys for Defendant Truist Bank
7 (erroneously sued as “Truist Bank, NA”)
8 NIKOLAI LACHOWICZ (SBN 201362)
LACHOWICZ LAW P.C.
9 1611 S. Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 204
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
10 T: (213) 254-2419
E: nik@lachowiczlaw.com
11
Attorneys for Plaintiffs NT CAPITAL
12 MANAGEMENT LLC, a Delaware Limited
Liability Company, and TIEN DUNG NGUYEN,
13 an Individual
14
15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
16 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
17
18 NT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, a Case No. 2:24-cv-09461 -HDV-AJRx
Delaware Limited Liability Company and TIEN
19 DUNG NGUYEN, an Individual,
[PROPOSED] STIPULATED
20 PROTECTIVE ORDER
21 Plaintiffs, Action Filed: 10/2/2024
22 vs. District Judge Hernán D. Vera
Magistrate Judge A. Joel Richlin
23
TRUIST BANK, NA, a National Association,
24 and DOES 1 through 20, Inclusive;
25 Defendants,
26
27
1 1. GENERAL
2 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve production
3 of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.
5 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated
6 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on
7 all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure
8 and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
9 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 13.3,
10 below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
11 under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards
12 that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
13 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
14 This action is likely to involve proprietary and/or confidential information, including bank
15 records protected by statute, for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for
16 any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary
17 materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial
18 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential research,
19 development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third
20 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or
21 otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions,
22 and/or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
23 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information
24 the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable
25 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their
26 handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
27 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be
designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good
1 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause
2 why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
3
4 2. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
5 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 13.3, below, that this Stipulated
6 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local Civil Rule
7 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a
8 party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption
9 that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection
10 with non-dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See
11 Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006); Phillips v. Gen.
12 Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Elecs., Inc., 187
13 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing).
14 And a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and
15 legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under
16 seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does
17 not—without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material
18 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—
19 constitute good cause.
20 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then compelling
21 reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief sought shall be narrowly
22 tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d
23 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be
24 filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons,
25 supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent
26 evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.
27 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its entirety
will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If documents can be
1 redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or
2 otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file
3 documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not
4 feasible.
5
6 3. DEFINITIONS
7 3.1 Action: This lawsuit.
8 3.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
9 information or items under this Order.
10 3.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is
11 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule
12 of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement.
13 3.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their support
14 staff).
15 3.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it
16 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
17 3.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the
18 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things,
19 testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or
20 responses to discovery in this matter.
21 3.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to
22 the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a
23 consultant in this Action.
24 3.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House
25 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
26 3.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal
27 entity not named as a Party to this action.
3.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this
1 Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared in this Action
2 on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf of that party,
3 including support staff.
4 3.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees,
5 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).
6 3.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery
7 Material in this Action.
8 3.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services
9 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing,
10 storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
11 3.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as
12 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
13 3.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a
14 Producing Party.
15
16 4. SCOPE
17 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material
18 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2)
19 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony,
20 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
21 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This
22 Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
23
24 5. DURATION
25 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced that was
26 previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes
27 public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial
1 judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-
2 81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
3 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court
4 record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement
5 of the trial.
6
7 6. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 6.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party
9 or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to
10 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The
11 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or
12 oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
13 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the
14 within the ambit of this Order.Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.
15 Designations 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 impose unnecessary
17 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
18 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for
19 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other
20 Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
21 6.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order,
22 or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
23 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
24 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
25 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but
26 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party
27 affix, at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to
each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
1 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,
2 by making appropriate markings in the margins).
3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need not
4 designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it
5 would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the
6 material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting
7 Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
8 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,
9 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
10 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material
11 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
12 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
13 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the
14 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
15 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any
16 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the
17 container or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only
18 a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent
19 practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
20 6.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to
21 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s
22 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a
23 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated
24 in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
25
26 7. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
27 7.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of
confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
1 7.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process
2 under Local Rule 37-1, et seq.
3 7.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint
4 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
5 7.4 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
6 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass
7 or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party
8 to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality
9 designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to
10 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
11
12 8. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 8.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or
14 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting,
15 defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to
16 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has
17 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 14 below (FINAL
18 DISPOSITION).
19 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in
20 a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
21 8.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered
22 by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any
23 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
24 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as
25 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the
26 information for this Action;
27 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
1 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is
2 reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement
3 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 Vendors to
7 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian
10 or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
11 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to
12 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided they will not be permitted to keep any
13 confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
14 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of
15 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
16 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
17 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
18 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually
19 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
20
21 9. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
22 OTHER LITIGATION
23 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels
24 disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party
25 must:
26 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy
27 of the subpoena or court order;
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the
1 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this
2 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
3 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the
4 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
5 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena
6 or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL”
7 before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has
8 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and
9 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these
10 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to
11 disobey a lawful directive from another court.
12
13 10. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN
14 THIS LITIGATION
15 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this
16 Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in
17 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order.
18 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional
19 protections.
20 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-
21 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the
22 Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
23 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or
24 all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
25 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order
26 in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the
27 information requested; and
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if
1 requested.
2 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14 days of
3 receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-
4 Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks
5 a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control
6 that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the
7 Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of
8 seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
9
10 11. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
11 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected
12 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order,
13 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the
14 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected
15 Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the
16 terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
17 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
18
19 12. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
20 PROTECTED MATERIAL
21 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently
22 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the
23 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). Pursuant to
24 Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of
25 disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
26 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order
27 submitted to the Court.
1 13. MISCELLANEOUS
2 13.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to
3 seek its modification by the Court in the future.
4 13.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective
5 Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any
6 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no
7 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by
8 this Protective Order.
9 13.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected
10 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed under seal
11 pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue; good
12 cause must be shown in the request to file under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
13 under seal is denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public
14 record unless otherwise instructed by the Court.
15
16 14. FINAL DISPOSITION
17 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by the
18 Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party
19 or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies,
20 abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
21 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party
22 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to
23 the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate)
24 all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party
25 has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
26 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to
27 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts,
legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work
1 product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material.
2 Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this
3 Protective Order as set forth in Section 5 (Duration).
4
5 15. VIOLATION OF ORDER
6 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures including,
7 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
8
IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
9
10 DATED: November 12, 2025
11 /s/ Nik Lachowicz
Counsel for Plaintiffs, NT Capital Management, LLC
12 and Tien Dung Nguyen
13
14 DATED: November 13, 2025
15 /s/ Angela Scott
Counsel for Defendant, Truist Bank
16
17 All signatories listed on whose behalf this filing is submitted concur in the filing’s content and have
18 authorized the filing (L.R. 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i)).
19
20
21
22
23 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
24
25 DATED: 11/14/2025 __________________________________
THE HONORABLE A. JOEL RICHLIN
26 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
27
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the
5 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central
6 District of California in the case of NT Capital Management LLC, et al. v. Truist Bank, Case No.
7 2:24-cv-09461-HDV-AJRx. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this
8 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could
9 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will
10 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order
11 to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
12 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central
13 District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order,
14 even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
15
16 Date: ______________________________________
17
18 City and State where signed: _________________________________
19
20 Printed name: _______________________________
21
22 Signature: __________________________________
23
24
25
26
27