Opinion

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: Mar 3, 2026
Cited by: 0 cases
Authority: More cited than 41.4%

The opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11 KEITH G. CAPACITE, Case No. 5:25-cv-00749-SSS-SPx

12 Plaintiff, Assigned to Judge Sunshine Suzanne

Sykes; Referred to Magistrate Judge

v. Sheri Pym

CAPITAL ONE AUTO FINANCE, a STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

15 division of, CAPITAL ONE, NATIONAL ORDER

ASSOCIATION, EQUIFAX

INFORMATION SERVICES LLC; Complaint Filed: 01/30/2025

17 EXPERIAN INFORMATION Removal Date: 03/21/2025

SOLUTIONS, INC.; TRANS UNION Trial Date: 12/14/2026

18 LLC, AND DOES 1-10 inclusive,

19 Defendants.

1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure

and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.

Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the

following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does

not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the

1 protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited

2 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable

3 legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below,

4 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential

5 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be

6 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from

7 the court to file material under seal.

8 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

9 This action is likely to involve trade secrets and other valuable commercial,

10 financial, and/or proprietary information for which special protection from public

11 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is

12 warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of,

13 among other things, confidential business or financial information, information

14 regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential commercial

15 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),

16 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged

17 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case

18 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to

19 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials,

20 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to

21 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in

22 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the

23 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is

24 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be

25 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated

26 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public

27 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this

28 case.

1 2. DEFINITIONS

2 2.1 Action: Keith G. Capacite v. Capital One Auto Finance, et al., 5:25-cv-

3 00749-SSS-SP.

4 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of

5 information or items under this Order.

6 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how

7 it 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 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their

11 support staff).

12 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

13 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as

14 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

15 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the

16 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among

17 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or

18 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

19 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

20 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as

21 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

22 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

23 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

24 counsel.

25 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or

26 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

27 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to

28 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have

1 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which

2 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

3 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their

5 support staffs).

6 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

7 Discovery Material in this Action.

8 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

9 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)

11 and their employees and subcontractors.

12 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

14 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

15 from a Producing Party.

17 3. SCOPE

18 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

19 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or

20 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or

21 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or

22 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

23 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the

24 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

26 4. DURATION

27 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as

28 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will

1 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless

2 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are

3 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of

4 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”

5 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”

6 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the

7 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

9 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

10 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each

11 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this

12 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies

13 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection

14 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that

15 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications

16 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of

17 this Order.

18 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

19 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper

20 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose

21 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating

22 Party to sanctions.

23 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

24 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

25 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

26 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this

27 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated

28 or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this

1 Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.

2 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

3 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,

4 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the

5 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter

6 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a

7 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing

8 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate

9 markings in the margins).

10 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection

11 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated

12 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and

13 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be

14 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents

15 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,

16 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing

17 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL

18 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of

19 the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly

20 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the

21 margins).

22 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the

23 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all

24 protected testimony.

25 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any

26 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the

27 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

28 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants

1 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected

2 portion(s).

3 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure

4 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the

5 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.

6 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable

7 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this

8 Order.

10 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

11 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation

12 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.

13 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution

14 process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.

15 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the

16 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose

17 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may

18 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived

19 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the

20 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing

21 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

23 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

24 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

25 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this

26 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such

27 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the

28 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving

1 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

2 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a

3 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons

4 authorized under this Order.

5 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise

6 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving

7 Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

8 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as

9 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to

10 disclose the information for this Action;

11 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the

12 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

13 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

14 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

16 (d) the court and its personnel;

17 (e) court reporters and their staff;

18 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors

19 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

21 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

22 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

23 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the

24 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party

25 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will

26 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the

27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise

28 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed

1 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be

2 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as

3 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

4 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually

5 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.

7 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

8 IN OTHER LITIGATION

9 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation

10 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as

11 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

12 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall

13 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

14 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to

15 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or

16 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this

17 Stipulated Protective Order; and

18 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by

19 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.

20 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with

21 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this

22 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the

23 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s

24 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

25 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions

26 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to

27 disobey a lawful directive from another court.

1 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-

4 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information

5 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the

6 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be

7 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

8 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce

9 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an

10 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential

11 information, then the Party shall:

12 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

13 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality

14 agreement with a Non-Party;

15 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated

16 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a

17 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and

18 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-

19 Party, if requested.

20 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14

21 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may

22 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.

23 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not

24 produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the

25 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.

26 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense

27 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

1 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

3 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

4 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in

5 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts

6 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or

7 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,

8 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and

9 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

11 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

12 PROTECTED MATERIAL

13 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

14 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,

15 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil

16 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure

17 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior

18 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the

19 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or

20 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the

21 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to

22 the court.

24 12. MISCELLANEOUS

25 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

26 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

27 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

28 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

1 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

2 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any

3 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

4 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

5 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may

6 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the

7 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material

8 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in

9 the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

11 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

12 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60

13 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return

14 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this

15 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,

16 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

17 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving

18 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same

19 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies

20 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or

21 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,

22 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any

23 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to

24 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing

25 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert

26 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such

27 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or

28 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in

1 | Section 4 (DURATION).

3 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate

4 | measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary

5 | sanctions.

7 {IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

9 | DATED: February 26, 2026

11 | 4s/ Todd Friedman

12 | Attorneys for Plaintiff, Keith G. Capacite

14 | DATED: February 26, 2026

16 | 4s/ Joel Gamino

17 | Attorneys for Defendant, Capital One Auto Finance,

18 □□ Division of Capital One, N.A.

20 | FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

22 | DATED: March 3, 2026

23 Cf

25 | The Honorable Sheri Pym

26 | United States Magistrate Judge

1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of

4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that

5 I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was

6 issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on

7 [date] in the case of Keith G. Capacite v. Capital One Auto Finance, et al., 5:25-cv-

8 00749-SSS-SP. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this

9 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so

10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I

11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that

12 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict

13 compliance with the provisions of this Order.

14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court

15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this

16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after

17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or

18 type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type full

19 address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in

20 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this

21 Stipulated Protective Order.

22 Date: ______________________________________

23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

24 Printed name: _______________________________

25 Signature: __________________________________

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