# Opinion

> District Court, C.D. California · March 10, 2026

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11369869

## Case

- **Full name:** Esperanza Thais v. Liberty Insurance Corporation, and Does 1-10, inclusive
- **Court:** District Court, C.D. California
- **Decided:** March 10, 2026
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 WESTERN DIVISION
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ESPERANZA THAIS, an individual, Case No. 2:25-CV-07366-HDV
13 (MBKx)
Plaintiff,
14 [xPxRxOxxPxOxxSxExDx] STIPULATED
vs. PROTECTIVE ORDER
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LIBERTY INSURANCE
16 CORPORATION, and DOES 1-10,
inclusive,
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Defendants.
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1. GENERAL
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1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
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production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
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protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting
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this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and
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petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
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acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
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responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
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use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
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1 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as
2 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle
3 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
4 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
5 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
6 1.2 Good Cause Statement
7 This action involves claims for breach of an insurance contract and breach of
8 the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing arising from the denial of a
9 homeowner's insurance claim for water damage to residential property. Discovery in
10 this matter is likely to involve the production of Liberty Insurance Corporation's
11 internal claims handling guidelines, claims adjuster training materials, underwriting
12 protocols, reserve-setting procedures, and other proprietary business information for
13 which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other
14 than prosecution of this action is warranted.
15 Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among
16 other things: internal claims handling manuals and guidelines governing the
17 investigation and adjustment of water damage, seepage, and plumbing-related claims
18 in California; training materials for claims adjusters and claims team managers;
19 reserve-setting criteria and authority matrices; vendor management protocols and
20 preferred vendor arrangements; internal audit and compliance procedures;
21 information reflecting Liberty's proprietary claims evaluation methodologies, staffing
22 practices, and business strategies; and information implicating the privacy rights of
23 other policyholders, claimants, or third parties referenced in claims files.
24 Additionally, discovery may involve the production of personnel files,
25 employment records, or performance evaluations of individual claims handlers, which
26 implicate the privacy rights of non-party employees under the California Constitution
27 and applicable statutory protections.
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1 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution
2 of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect
3 information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are
4 permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the
5 conduct of trial, to address their handling at the conclusion of the litigation, and to
6 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
7 matter.
8 It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as
9 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith
10 belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and that there
11 is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
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13 2. DEFINITIONS
14 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit.
15 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
16 of information or items under this Order.
17 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
18 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
19 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
20 Cause Statement.
21 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
22 support staff).
23 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
24 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
25 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
26 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
27 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
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1 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
2 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
3 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
4 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
5 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
6 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
7 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
8 counsel.
9 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
10 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
11 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
12 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
13 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
14 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
15 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
16 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
17 support staffs).
18 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
19 Discovery Material in this Action.
20 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
21 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
22 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
23 and their employees and subcontractors.
24 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
25 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
26 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
27 from a Producing Party.
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1 3. SCOPE
2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
4 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
5 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
6 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
8 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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10 4. DURATION
11 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced
12 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
13 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
14 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
15 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the
16 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.
17 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
18 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
19 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
20 beyond the commencement of the trial.
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22 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
24 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
25 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
26 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
27 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
28 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
1 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
2 this Order.
3 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
4 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
5 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
6 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
7 to sanctions.
8 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
9 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
10 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
11 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
12 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
13 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
14 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
15 produced.
16 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
17 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
18 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
19 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
20 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
21 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
22 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
23 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
24 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
25 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
26 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
27 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
28 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents
1 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
2 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing
3 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
4 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions
5 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
6 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
7 margins).
8 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
9 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
10 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
11 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
12 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
13 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
14 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
15 portion(s).
16 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
17 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
18 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
19 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
20 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
21 Order.
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23 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
24 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
25 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
26 Scheduling Order.
27 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
28 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq, as modified by Judge Kaufman’s
1 Procedures. See https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/honorable-michael-b-kaufman. Any
2 discovery motion must strictly comply with these procedures.
3 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
4 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
5 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
6 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
7 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
8 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled
9 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
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11 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
12 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
13 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
14 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
15 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
16 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
17 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
18 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
19 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
20 authorized under this Order.
21 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
22 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
23 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
24 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
25 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
26 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
27 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
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1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
2 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
3 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
4 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
6 (d) the Court and its personnel;
7 (e) court reporters and their staff;
8 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
9 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
10 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
11 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
12 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
13 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
14 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
15 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
16 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
18 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
19 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
20 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
21 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
22 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
23 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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25 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
26 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
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1 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
2 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
3 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
4 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
5 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
6 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
7 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
8 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
9 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
10 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
11 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
12 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
13 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
14 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
15 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The
16 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
17 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
18 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
19 directive from another court.
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21 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
22 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
23 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
24 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
25 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
26 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
27 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
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1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
2 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
3 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential
4 information, then the Party shall:
5 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
6 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
7 with a Non-Party;
8 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
9 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
10 specific description of the information requested; and
11 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
12 Party, if requested.
13 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
15 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
16 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
17 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
18 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
19 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
20 protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
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22 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
24 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
25 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
26 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
27 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
28 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
1 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
2 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
5 PROTECTED MATERIAL
6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
8 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
9 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
10 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
11 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
12 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
13 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
14 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
15 to the Court.
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17 12. MISCELLANEOUS
18 12.1 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 12.2 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 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
26 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
27 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
28 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under
1 seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,
2 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
3 otherwise instructed by the Court.
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5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
6 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
7 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
8 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected
9 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other
10 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected
11 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written
12 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the
13 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
14 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
15 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
16 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
17 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
18 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
19 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product,
20 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
21 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material
22 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
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24 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
25 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
26 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
27 sanctions.

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| | 1T IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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DATED March 10. 2026 isi James C. Castle
4 CASTLE LEGAL GROUP, APC
5 JAMES C. CASTLE
Attorneys for Plaintiff
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|| DATED: March 10, 2026 /s/ Joshua Kastan
DKM LAW GROUP, LLP
8 JOSHUA KASTAN
9 Attorneys for Defendant
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|| IT ISSO ORDERED.
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13 || DATED: _March 10 _, 2025 LA LEY ~—
MICHAEL B. KAUFMAN
14 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11369869. Public record. Not legal advice.