The opinion
1 UMHOFER, MITCHELL & KING LLP
Matthew Donald Umhofer (SBN 206607)
2 Jonas P. Mann (SBN 263314)
767 S. Alameda St., Suite 270
3 Los Angeles, California 90021
Telephone: (213) 394-7979
4 Facsimile: (213) 529-1027
matthew@umklaw.com
5 jonas@umklaw.com
6 Attorneys for Defendant San Luis Obispo
Golf and Country Club
7
DICELLO LEVITT LLP
8 Charles F. Dender
485 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1001
9 New York, NY 10017
Tel.: (646) 933-1000
10 cdender@dicellolevitt.com
11 HECHT PARTNERS LLP
Kristen L. Nelson
12 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 800
Century City, CA 90067
13 Tel.: (646) 502-9515
knelson@hechtpartners.com
14
15 Attorneys for Plaintiff-Relator
16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
17 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
18 WESTERN DIVISION
19 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Case No. 2:23-cv-00499-CAS-MBK
ex rel. RELATOR LLC
20 Magistrate Judge Michael B.
Plaintiffs, Kaufman
21
v.
22 [PxxRxOxxPxOxSxExxDx] STIPULATED
DAVID UHLER, an individual, PROTECTIVE ORDER
23 CELESTE GRAY, an individual, SAN
LUIS OBISPO GOLF AND COUNTRY
24 CLUB, a California corporation, and
DOES 1-10,
25
Defendant.
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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 use
9 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 set
11 forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them
12 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 confidential, private, and sensitive membership
17 information and financial information for which special protection from public
18 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is
19 warranted. Such confidential materials and information consist of, among other things,
20 confidential business or financial information (including information implicating
21 privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the
22 public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state
23 or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite
24 the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over
25 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are
26 entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable
27 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address
28 their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order
1 for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that
2 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing
3 be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
4 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
5 record of this case.
6 2. DEFINITIONS
7 2.1 Action: United States ex re. Relator LLC v. Uhler, et al., 23-cv-00499-
8 CAS-MBK (C.D. Cal.).
9 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
10 of information or items under this Order.
11 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how
12 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under
13 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause
14 Statement.
15 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
16 support staff).
17 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
18 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
19 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
20 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of
21 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among
22 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated
23 in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
24 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
25 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its Counsel to serve as an
26 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
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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 to
7 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 has
9 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) and
18 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 Protected
25 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from
26 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected
27 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their
28 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
1 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial
2 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 protective
6 order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public,
7 including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to
8 proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v.
9 City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing
10 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling
11 reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court record).
12 Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the
13 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 for
21 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this
22 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 purpose
25 (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.
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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 this
5 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated
6 or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this
7 Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 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 portions
22 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified
23 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page
24 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
25 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
26 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
27 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
28 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
2 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
3 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
4 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
5 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
6 portion(s).
7 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
8 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
9 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon
10 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to
11 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
12 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
13 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
14 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling
15 Order.
16 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
17 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq, as modified by Judge Kaufman’s
18 Procedures. See https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/honorable-michael-b-kaufman. Any
19 discovery motion must strictly comply with these procedures.
20 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall
21 be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
22 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties)
23 may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has
24 waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford
25 the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
26 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
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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 Action
4 only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected
5 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions
6 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must
7 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 otherwise
12 ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party
13 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
14 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
15 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
16 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
17 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
18 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
19 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
20 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
22 (d) the Court and its personnel;
23 (e) court reporters and their staff;
24 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
25 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
26 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
27 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
28 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
2 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
3 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will
4 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed
6 by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed deposition
7 testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately
8 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
9 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
10 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
11 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
12 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
13 IN OTHER LITIGATION
14 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that
15 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
16 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
18 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
20 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or
21 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this
22 Stipulated Protective Order; and
23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by
24 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
25 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
26 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as
27 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or
28 order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
1 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
2 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
3 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive
4 from another court.
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 Non-
8 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced
9 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief
10 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting
11 a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
12 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
13 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
14 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information,
15 then the Party shall:
16 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that
17 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with
18 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 Non-
23 Party, if requested.
24 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
25 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
26 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
27 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
28 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
1 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
2 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
3 protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
4 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
6 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
7 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing
8 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve
9 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to
10 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request
11 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
12 that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
13 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
14 PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
16 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
17 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
18 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
19 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
20 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
21 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
22 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
23 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to
24 the Court.
25 12. MISCELLANEOUS
26 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
27 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
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1 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
2 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
3 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
4 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
5 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
6 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
7 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
8 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
9 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under seal.
10 If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the
11 Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise
12 instructed by the Court.
13 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
14 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
15 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
16 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
17 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format
18 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material
19 is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the
20 Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the
21 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected
22 Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not
23 retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing
24 or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are
25 entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and
26 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits,
27 expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if
28 such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
1 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
2 || Section 4 (DURATION).
3 || 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
4 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures
5 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
8 || DATED: February 25, 2026 s/ Jonas P. Mann
9 Jonas P. Mann
10 a nes jor mean San Luis Obispo
11
12 || DATED: February 25, 2026 s/ Kristen L. Nelson
13 Kristen L. Nelson
14 Attorneys for Plaintiff-Relator
15 || IT IS SO ORDERED.
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17 || DATED: February 25 , 2026 fe ALES) —
18 MICHAEL B. KAUFMAN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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