The opinion
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 ELMER PINEDA, Case No. CV 26-0204-HDV-PVCx
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Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
12 ORDER
v.
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14 FCA US, LLC; and DOES 1 through 10,
inclusive,
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16 Defendants.
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1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
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Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
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proprietary or private information for which special protection from public
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disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be
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warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter
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the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order
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does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and
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that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the
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limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the
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applicable legal principles.
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2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
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This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
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other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
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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
9 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or
10 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third
11 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
12 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
13 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of
14 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
15 discovery 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 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
19 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
20 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
21 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
22 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
23 record of this case.
24 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
25 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this
26 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
27 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed
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to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right
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of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-
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dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See
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Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006),
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Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-
6 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even
7 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of
8 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal
9 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to
10 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material
11 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by
12 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as
13 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.
14 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then
15 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the
16 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.
17 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For
18 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced
19 under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons,
20 supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order.
21 Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal
22 must be provided by declaration.
23 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in
24 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If
25 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only
26 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall
27 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety
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4. DEFINITIONS
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4.1 Action: Elmer Pineda v. FCA US, LLC, et al., United States District Court –
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Central District of California, Case No. 2:26-cv-00204-HDV-PVCx.
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4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
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information or items under this Order.
6 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it
7 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
8 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
9 Cause Statement.
10 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
11 support staff).
12 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items
13 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
14 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the
15 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among
16 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
17 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.
18 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
19 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
20 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
21 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House
22 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
23 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or other
24 legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
25 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to
26 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in
27 this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared
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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.
6 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
7 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
8 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
9 and their employees and subcontractors.
10 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated
11 as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
12 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from
13 a Producing Party.
14 5. SCOPE
15 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
16 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
17 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
18 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
19 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any
20 use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge
21 and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of Protected
22 Material at trial.
23 6. DURATION
24 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
25 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced
26 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all
27 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by
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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. Each
7 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
8 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
9 under the appropriate standards.
10 The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of
11 material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so that
12 other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which
13 protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
14 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
15 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
16 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
17 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
18 Party to sanctions.
19 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
20 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
21 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
22 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this
23 Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that
24 qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the
25 material is disclosed or produced.
26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
27 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,
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the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter
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“CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only
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a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also
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must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings
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in the margins).
6 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
7 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
8 which documents it would like copied and produced.
9 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available
10 for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has
11 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
12 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this
13 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must
14 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material.
15 If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
16 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
17 markings in the margins).
18 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies the
19 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition
20 all protected testimony.
21 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
22 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
23 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
24 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
25 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
26 portion(s).
27 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure
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Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
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Upon timely correction of a designation, the
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Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated
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in accordance with the provisions of 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 designation
7 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
8 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution
9 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
10 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint
11 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
12 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
13 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
14 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
15 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
16 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
17 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
18 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
19 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
20 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
21 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
22 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such
23 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
24 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
25 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL
26 DISPOSITION).
27 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
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authorized under this Order.
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9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise
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ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving
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Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
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(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as
6 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to
7 disclose the information for this Action;
8 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the
9 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
10 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
11 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
12 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
13 (d) the court and its personnel;
14 (e) court reporters and their staff;
15 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
16 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
17 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
18 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
19 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
20 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
21 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
22 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
23 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit
25 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court.
26 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that
27 reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not
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and
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(i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,
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mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
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IN OTHER LITIGATION
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If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
7 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
8 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
9 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
10 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
11 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
12 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
13 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
14 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
16 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the
17 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
18 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
19 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
20 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
21 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
22 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
23 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a
24 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
25 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
26 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
27 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
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produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
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remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
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construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
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(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
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produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
6 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
7 confidential information, then the Party shall:
8 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that
9 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
10 with a Non-Party;
11 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective
12 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific
13 description of the information requested; and
14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party,
15 if requested.
16 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
17 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
18 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
19 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
20 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
21 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
22 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense
23 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
24 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
26 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
27 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
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to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person
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or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this
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Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an
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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
7 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
8 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
9 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
10 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
11 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
12 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
13 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
14 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
15 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
16 to the court.
17 14. MISCELLANEOUS
18 14.1 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 14.2 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 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected
26 Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be
27 filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
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by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record
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unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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15. FINAL DISPOSITION
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After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within
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60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must
6 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used
7 in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
8 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
9 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the
10 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if
11 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that
12 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was
13 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any
14 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
15 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are
16 entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition,
17 and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial
18 exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work
19 product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies
20 that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order
21 as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).
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16, VIOLATION
Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures
; including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
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FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT
IS SO ORDERED.
MWh
10 DATED: February 5, 2026
Honorable Pedro V. Castillo
11 United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
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I, [print or type full name], of
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[print or type full address], declare
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under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated
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Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central
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District of California on ___________ in the case of ELMER PINEDA vs.
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FCA US LLC, et al; Case No. 2:26-cv-00204-HDV-PVCx. I agree
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to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order
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and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to
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sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will
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not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated
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Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the
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provisions of this Order.
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I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
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for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
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Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
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termination of this action. I hereby appoint
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[print or type full name] of
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21 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service
22 of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement
23 of this Stipulated Protective Order.
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25 Date: ________________________
26 City and State where sworn and signed:
27 Printed name:
Signature: