The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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11 BROUHAHA, INC., a California Case No. 2:25-cv-08685-SPG-PVC
corporation,
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Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
13 ORDER
v.
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ACE PROPERTY AND CASUALTY
15 INSURANCE COMPANY, a
Philadelphia corporation; and DOES 1
16 through 50, inclusive,
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Defendants.
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1. INTRODUCTION
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1.1 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 prosecuting this litigation may
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be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
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enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
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Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
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discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
1 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
2 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
3 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
4 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
5 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
6 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
7 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
8 This is an action for breach of insurance contract and “bad faith” where it is
9 anticipated that certain materials may be produced that will involve confidential and
10 proprietary information. Specifically, information regarding premium charged for
11 the Policy, the setting of reserves, claim protocols, and Plaintiff’s financial
12 information will involve the production of information that the parties do not wish
13 to share with their competitors, and thus should be deemed confidential and
14 proprietary.
15 2. DEFINITIONS
16 2.1 Action: Brouhaha, Inc., Plaintiff v. Ace Property and Casualty
17 Insurance Company, Defendant, United States District Court for the Central District
18 of California Action No. 2:25-cv-08685-SPG-PVC.
19 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
20 designation of information or items under this Order.
21 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
22 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
23 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
24 the Good Cause Statement
25 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
26 their support staff).
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1 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
2 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
3 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
4 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
5 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
6 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
7 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
8 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
9 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
10 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
11 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
12 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
13 counsel.
14 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
15 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
16 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
17 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
18 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
19 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
20 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
21 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
22 support staffs).
23 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
24 Discovery Material in this Action.
25 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
26 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
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1 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
2 and their employees and subcontractors.
3 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
4 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
5 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
6 Material from a Producing Party.
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8 3. SCOPE
9 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
10 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
11 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
12 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
13 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
14 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the
15 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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17 4. DURATION
18 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
19 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will
20 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
21 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
22 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of
23 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
24 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
25 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
26 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
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1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
3 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
4 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
5 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
6 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
7 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
8 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
9 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
10 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
11 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
12 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
13 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
14 Party to sanctions.
15 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
16 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
17 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
18 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
19 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
20 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
21 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
22 produced.
23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,
25 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that
26 the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter
27 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a
1 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
2 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
3 markings in the margins).
4 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
5 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
6 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
7 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be
8 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
9 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
10 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
11 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
12 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
13 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
14 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
15 markings in the margins).
16 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the
17 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all
18 protected testimony.
19 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
20 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
21 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
22 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
23 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected
24 portion(s).
25 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
26 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
27 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
1 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
2 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
3 Order.
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5 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
6 6.1 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 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
10 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1
11 et seq.
12 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on
13 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
14 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
15 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
16 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will
17 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
18 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
19 challenge.
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21 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
22 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
23 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
24 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
25 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
26 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 13 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 7.2 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) of
14 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 a
24 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
25 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the
26 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
27 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
1 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
2 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
3 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
4 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
5 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
6 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
7 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
8 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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10 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
11 IN OTHER LITIGATION
12 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
13 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
14 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
15 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
16 will include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
17 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
18 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
19 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include
20 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
21 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
22 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
23 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
24 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this
25 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
26 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
27 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking
1 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
2 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
3 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
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5 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
6 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
7 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
8 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
9 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
10 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
11 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
12 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
13 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
14 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
15 confidential information, then the Party will:
16 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
17 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
18 agreement with a Non-Party;
19 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
20 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
21 specific description of the information requested; and
22 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
23 Non-Party, if requested.
24 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
25 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
26 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
27 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will
1 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
2 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
3 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense
4 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
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6 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
8 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
9 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
10 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
11 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
12 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
13 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
14 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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16 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
17 PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
19 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
20 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
21 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever
22 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production
23 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and
24 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
25 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
26 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated
27 protective order submitted to the court.
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2 12. MISCELLANEOUS
3 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
4 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
5 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
6 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
7 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
8 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
9 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
10 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
11 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
12 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
13 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material
14 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
15 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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17 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
18 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
19 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
20 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
21 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
22 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
23 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
24 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
25 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
26 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
27 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
1 || abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
2 || of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
3 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
4 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
5 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
6 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
7 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
8 || Section 4 (DURATION).
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10 || 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
11 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
12 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
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FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS SO
° ORDERED.
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li lio
DATED: January 30, 2026
20 HON. PEDRO V. CASTILLO
5 United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
4 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
5 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
6 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of
7 Brouhaha, Inc., Plaintiff v. Ace Property and Casualty Insurance Company,
8 Defendant, United States District Court for the Central District of California Action
9 No. 2:25-cv-08685-SPG-PVC.
10 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated
11 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could
12 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly
13 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject
14 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance
15 with the provisions of this Order.
16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
17 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
18 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
19 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full
20 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and
21 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
22 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
23 Order.
24 Date: ______________________________________
25 City and State where signed: _________________________________
26 Printed name: _______________________________
27 Signature: __________________________________