The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 WESTERN DIVISION
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12 JAKE BERTELLOTTI and TAYLOR
CARTY, Case No. 2:25-cv-03069-MCS
13 (AJRx)
Plaintiffs,
14 [PROPOSED] STIPULATED
v. PROTECTIVE ORDER
15
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY
16 OF CALIFORNIA; JAMES B.
MILLIKEN, President of the
17 University of California, in his official
capacity; JULIO FRENK, Chancellor
18 of the University of California, Los
Angeles, in his official capacity, and
19 DOES 1 through 10,
20 Defendants.
21
22 1. GENERAL
23 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
24 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
25 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting
26 this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and
27 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
28 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
1 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
2 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
3 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as
4 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle
5 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
6 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
7 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
8 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
9 This action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or
10 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use
11 for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential
12 and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential
13 business or financial information, information regarding confidential business
14 practices, medical or health information, academic information, information
15 implicating privacy rights of third parties, including student records protected by the
16 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) or other confidential
17 research, development, or commercial information, information otherwise generally
18 unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from
19 disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law.
20 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution
21 of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect
22 information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are
23 permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the
24 conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the
25 ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is
26 the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for
27 tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it
28 has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause
1 why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
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3 2. DEFINITIONS
4 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
5 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
6 of information or items under this Order.
7 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
8 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
9 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
10 Cause Statement.
11 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
12 support staff).
13 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
14 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
15 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
16 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
17 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
18 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
19 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
20 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
21 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
22 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
23 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
24 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
25 counsel.
26 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
27 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
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1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
2 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
3 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
4 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
5 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
7 support staffs).
8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
9 Discovery Material in this Action.
10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
11 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
13 and their employees and subcontractors.
14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
17 from a Producing Party.
18
19 3. 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 extracted
22 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
23 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
24 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. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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1 4. DURATION
2 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced
3 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
4 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
5 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
6 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the
7 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.
8 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
9 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
10 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
11 beyond the commencement of the trial.
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13 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
14 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
15 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
16 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
17 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
18 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
19 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
20 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
21 this Order.
22 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
23 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
24 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
25 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
26 to sanctions.
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1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
2 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
3 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
4 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
5 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
6 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
7 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
8 produced.
9 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
10 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
11 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
12 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
13 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
14 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
15 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
16 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
17 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
18 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
19 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
20 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
21 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents
22 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
23 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing
24 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
25 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions
26 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
27 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
28 margins).
1 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
2 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
3 When it is impractical to identify separately each portion of testimony that is entitled
4 to protection and it appears that substantial portions of the testimony may qualify for
5 protection, the Designating Party may invoke on the record (before the deposition is
6 concluded) a right to have up to 21 days to identify the specific portions of the
7 testimony as to which protection is sought. Only those portions of the testimony that
8 are appropriately designated for protection within the 21 days shall be covered by the
9 provisions of this Protective Order. Alternatively, a Designating Party may specify,
10 at the deposition or up to 21 days afterwards if that period is properly invoked, that
11 the entire transcript shall be treated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
12 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
13 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
14 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
15 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
16 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
17 portion(s).
18 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
19 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
20 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
21 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
22 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
23 Order.
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25 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
26 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
27 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
28 Scheduling Order.
1 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
2 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly
3 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.
4 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
5 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
6 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
7 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
8 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
9 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled
10 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
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12 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
14 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
15 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
16 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
17 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
18 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
19 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
20 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
21 authorized under this Order.
22 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
23 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
24 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
25 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
26 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
27 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
28 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
2 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
3 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
4 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
6 (d) the Court and its personnel;
7 (e) court reporters and their staff;
8 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
9 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
10 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
11 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
12 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
13 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
14 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
15 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
16 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
18 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
19 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
20 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
21 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
22 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
23 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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25 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
26 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
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1 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
2 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
3 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
4 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
5 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
6 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
7 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
8 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
9 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
10 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
11 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
12 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
13 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
14 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
15 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
16 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
17 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
18 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
19 directive from another court.
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21 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
22 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
23 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
24 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
25 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
26 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
27 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
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1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
2 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
3 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential
4 information, then the Party shall:
5 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
6 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
7 with a Non-Party;
8 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
9 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
10 specific description of the information requested; and
11 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
12 Party, if requested.
13 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
15 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
16 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
17 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
18 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
19 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
20 protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
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22 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
24 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
25 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
26 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
27 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
28 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
1 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
2 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
5 PROTECTED MATERIAL
6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
8 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
9 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
10 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
11 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
12 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
13 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
14 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
15 to the Court.
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17 12. MISCELLANEOUS
18 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
19 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
20 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
21 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
22 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
23 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
24 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
25 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
26 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
27 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
28 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under
1 seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,
2 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
3 otherwise instructed by the Court.
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5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
6 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
7 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
8 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
9 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other
10 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected
11 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written
12 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the
13 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
14 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
15 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
16 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
17 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
18 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
19 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product,
20 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
21 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material
22 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
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24 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
25 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
26 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
27 sanctions.
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1
2 DATED: December 11, 2025 MUNGER, TOLLES & OLSON LLP
3 BRYAN H. HECKENLIVELY
JORDAN D. SEGALL
4 SKYLAR B. GROVE
5 JESSICA O. LAIRD
WENDY Q. XIAO
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By: /s/ Jordan D. Segall
8
JORDAN D. SEGALL
9 Attorneys for Defendants
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DATED: December 11, 2025 PEIFFER WOLF CARR KANE
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CONWAY & WISE, LLP
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____/s/ Catherine Cabalo________
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By: CATHERINE CABALO, Esq.
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Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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DATED: December 11, 2025 DISABILITY RIGHTS EDUCATION
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AND DEFENSE FUND
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_____/s/ Michelle Uzeta_________
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By: MICHELLE UZETA, Esq.
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Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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1 ATTESTATION
2 Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 5-4.3.4, I hereby attest that all signatories listed
3 || above, on whose behalf this stipulation is submitted, concur in the filing’s content
4 || and have authorized the filing.
DATED: December 11, 2025 MUNGER, TOLLES & OLSON LLP
7
By: _ Jordan D. Segall
8 JORDAN D. SEGALL
9 Attorneys for Defendants
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11 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
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13. || DATED: 12/12/2025 ooh ( u ly □
HQN. A. JOBL RICHL
14 United States Magistrate Judge
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-15-
PRSPeSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1 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
8 case of Bertellotti, et al. v. Regents of the University of California, et al., 2:25-cv-
9 03069-MCS (AJRx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this
10 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so
11 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I
12 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that
13 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict
14 compliance with the provisions of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full
19 name] of _______________________________________ [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 signed: _________________________________
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26 Printed name: _______________________________
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28 Signature: __________________________________