The opinion
1 QKeUvIiLn LY .& Ja AcoRbRsoOnW, E,s Lq.L (PS BN 320532)
2
kjacobson@quillarrowlaw.com
3 Andrew Jung, Esq. (SBN 336002)
ajung@quillarrowlaw.com
4
e-service@quillarrowlaw.com
5 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1600
Los Angeles, CA 90024
6
Telephone: (310) 933-4271
7 Facsimile: (310) 889-0645
8
Attorneys for Plaintiff
9 JOEL E. FELIX
10
Stephen H. Dye, State Bar No. 104385
11 sdye@mortensontaggart.com
12
Charles F. Harlow, State Bar No. 200702
charlow@mortensontaggart.com
13 MORTENSON TAGGART ADAMS LLP
Two Walnut Creek Center
14
200 Pringle Avenue, Suite 450
15 Walnut Creek, California 94596
16
Telephone: (925) 771-0420
Facsimile: (925) 664-0357
17 Nissane-service@mortensontaggart.com
18
Attorneys for Defendant
19 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC
20 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
21 FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
22 JOEL E. FELIX, an individual, Case No. 8:25-cv-01537-DFM
23 Plaintiff, Hon. Douglas F. McCormick
v. Courtroom 6B (Santa Ana)
24
NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., a ORDER GRANTING
25 Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
through 10, inclusive, ORDER
26
Defendants.
27
28
1 1. GENERAL
2 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
3 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
4 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting
5 this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and
6 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
7 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
8 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
9 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
10 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as
11 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle
12 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
13 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
14 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
15 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
16 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
17 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
18 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from
19 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
20 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,
21 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential
22 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial
23 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),
24 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged
25 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
26 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
27 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials,
28 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to
1 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
2 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the
3 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is
4 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be
5 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated
6 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public
7 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this
8 case.
9 2. DEFINITIONS
10 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, Case No. 8:25-cv-01537-DFM
11 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
12 of information or items under this Order.
13 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
14 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
15 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
16 Cause Statement.
17 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
18 support staff).
19 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
20 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
21 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
22 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
23 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
24 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
25 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
26 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
27 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
28 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
1 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
2 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
3 counsel.
4 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
5 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
6 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
7 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
8 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
9 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
10 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
11 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
12 support staffs).
13 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
14 Discovery Material in this Action.
15 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
16 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
17 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
18 and their employees and subcontractors.
19 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
20 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
21 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
22 from a Producing Party.
23 3. SCOPE
24 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
25 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
26 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
27 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
28 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
1 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
2 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
3 4. DURATION
4 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced
5 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
6 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
7 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
8 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the
9 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.
10 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
11 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
12 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
13 beyond the commencement of the trial.
14 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
16 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
17 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
18 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
19 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
20 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
21 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
22 this Order.
23 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
24 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
25 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
26 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
27 to sanctions.
28 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
1 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
2 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
3 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
4 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
5 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
6 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
7 produced.
8 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
9 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
10 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
11 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
12 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
13 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
14 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
15 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
16 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
17 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
18 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before
19 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
20 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants
21 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or
22 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the
23 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend”
24 to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the
25 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
26 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
27 margins).
28 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
1 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
2 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
3 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
4 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
5 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
6 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
7 portion(s).
8 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
9 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
10 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
11 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
12 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
13 Order.
14 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
15 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
16 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
17 Scheduling Order.
18 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
19 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly
20 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.
21 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall
22 be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
23 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties)
24 may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has
25 waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to
26 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the
27 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
28 / / /
1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
2 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
3 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
4 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
5 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
6 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
7 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
8 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
9 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
10 authorized under this Order.
11 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
12 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
13 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
14 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
15 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
16 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
17 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
18 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
19 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
20 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
21 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
22 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
23 (d) the Court and its personnel;
24 (e) court reporters and their staff;
25 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
26 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
27 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
28 / / /
1 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
2 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
3 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
4 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
5 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
6 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
8 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
9 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
10 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
11 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
12 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
13 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
14 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
15 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
16 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
17 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
18 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
19 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
20 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
21 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
22 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
23 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
24 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
25 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
26 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
27 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
28 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
1 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
2 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
3 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
4 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
5 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
6 directive from another court.
7 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
8 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
9 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
10 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
11 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
12 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
13 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
14 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
15 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
16 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential
17 information, then the Party shall:
18 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
19 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
20 with a Non-Party;
21 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
22 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
23 specific description of the information requested; and
24 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
25 Party, if requested.
26 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
27 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
28 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
1 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
2 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
3 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
4 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
5 protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
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.
15 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
16 PROTECTED MATERIAL
17 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
18 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
19 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
20 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
21 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
22 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
23 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
24 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
25 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
26 to the Court.
27 / / /
28 / / /
1 12. MISCELLANEOUS
2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
3 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
5 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
10 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
11 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
12 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under
13 seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,
14 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
15 otherwise instructed by the Court.
16 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
17 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
18 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
19 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
20 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other
21 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected
22 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written
23 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the
24 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
25 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
26 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
27 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
28 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
1 || pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
2 || correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product,
3 || and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
4 || Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material
5 || remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
6 || 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
7 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
8 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
9 || sanctions.
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11 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
13 || DATED: February 4, 2026
14 United States Masistrats Tadeo, □□
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ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER