The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10 WESTERN DIVISION
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12 ALEXANDER GODELMAN,
Case No. 2:25-cv-04767-FLA-AJR
13 Plaintiff,
v. [PROPOSED] STIPULATED
14 PROTECTIVE ORDER
PENNYMAC FINANCIAL
15 SERVICES, INC. et al
16 Defendants.
17
18 1. GENERAL
19 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve
20 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special
21 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting
22 this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and
23 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
24 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
25 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
26 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
27 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as
28 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle
1 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
2 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
3 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
4 1.2 Good Cause Statement.
5 Good cause exists for the entry of this Order because discovery in this action is
6 expected to involve the production of certain categories of information that may
7 warrant confidential treatment, including non-public employee or personnel
8 information, private personal information, and sensitive internal business records and
9 proprietary information. The parties anticipate that such information may include
10 internal communications, employment records, and other materials whose disclosure
11 outside the litigation could implicate legitimate privacy or business concerns. This
12 Order is intended to facilitate the orderly production of such materials during
13 discovery while preventing their use or disclosure outside the confines of this
14 litigation.
15 2. DEFINITIONS
16 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit.
17 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
18 of information or items under this Order.
19 2.3 "CONFIDENTIAL" Information or Items: information (regardless of
20 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
21 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
22 Cause Statement.
23 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
24 support staff).
25 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
26 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
27 "CONFIDENTIAL."
28 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
1 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
2 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
3 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
4 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
5 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
6 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
7 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
8 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
9 counsel.
10 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
11 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
12 3.0 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
13 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
14 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
15 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
16 3.1 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
17 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
18 support staffs).
19 3.2 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
20 Discovery Material in this Action.
21 3.3 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
22 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
23 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
24 and their employees and subcontractors.
25 3.4 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
26 designated as "CONFIDENTIAL."
27 3.5 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
28 from a Producing Party.
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.
9 4. DURATION
10 Even after final disposition of this Action, the confidentiality obligations
11 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise
12 in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition is the later of (1)
13 dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice, or (2)
14 final judgment after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings,
15 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any
16 motions or applications for extension of time under applicable law. If the case
17 proceeds to trial, however, the Parties acknowledge that all of the court-filed
18 information to be introduced that was previously designated as confidential or
19 maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will be presumptively
20 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons
21 supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge
22 in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172,
23 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing "good cause" showing for sealing documents
24 produced in discovery from "compelling reasons" standard when merits-related
25 documents are part of court record).
26 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
27 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
28 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this
1 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies
2 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection
3 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that
4 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications
5 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
6 this Order.
7 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
8 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
9 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
10 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party
11 to sanctions.
12 If it comes to a Designating Party's attention that information or items that it
13 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
14 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
15 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
16 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
17 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
18 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
19 produced.
20 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
21 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
22 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
23 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
24 "CONFIDENTIAL" (hereinafter "CONFIDENTIAL legend"), to each page that
25 contains protected material, on a document-by-document basis at the time of
26 production. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for
27 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
28 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
1 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
2 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
3 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
4 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
5 deemed "CONFIDENTIAL." After the inspecting Party has identified the documents
6 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
7 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing
8 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the CONFIDENTIAL legend
9 to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the
10 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
11 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
12 margins).
13 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
14 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition.
15 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
16 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
17 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
18 "CONFIDENTIAL If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
19 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
20 portion(s).
21 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
22 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
23 Designating Party's right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
24 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
25 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
26 Order.
27 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
28 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
1 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court's
2 Scheduling Order.
3 6.2 Meet and Confer. To challenge a designation, the Challenging Party
4 must send a letter identifying each designation in dispute (though the designations
5 may be addressed by category), state briefly as to each designation (or category of
6 designations) the Challenging Party's position, request a prefiling conference of
7 counsel, and specify clearly that the Challenging Party believes the party should
8 remove the designation. Counsel for the Designating Party must confer with counsel
9 for the Challenging Party under L.R. 37-1 within 10 days after the Challenging Party
10 serves its letter. If counsel are unable to settle their differences through the meet-and-
11 confer process described above, the Designating Party shall, within 3 business days,
12 email the Court (with all counsel copied) requesting a discovery conference via Zoom
13 to discuss the dispute. The email must include (1) at least 3 proposed times mutually
14 agreed by the parties for the conference via Zoom, (2) the discovery cut-off date, (3)
15 a neutral statement of each issue in dispute, and (4) a brief description of each party's
16 position on the dispute. Any further briefing or motion practice concerning the dispute
17 shall occur only if directed by the Court and on the schedule set by the Court.
18 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
19 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
20 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
21 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
22 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
23 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled
24 under the Producing Party's designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
25 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
26 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
27 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
28 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
1 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
2 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving
3 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
5 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
6 authorized under this Order.
7 7.2 Disclosure of "CONFIDENTIAL" Information or Items. Unless
8 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
9 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
10 "CONFIDENTIAL" only to:
11 (a) the Receiving Party's Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
12 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
13 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
14 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
15 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
16 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
17 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
18 "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);
19 (d) the Court and its personnel;
20 (e) court reporters and their staff;
21 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
22 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
23 signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);
24 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
25 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
26 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
27 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
28 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
1 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
2 "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed
3 by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed deposition
4 testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately
5 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
6 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
7 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually
8 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
9 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
10 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
11 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
12 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
13 "CONFIDENTIAL," that Party must:
14 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
15 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
16 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
17 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
18 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
19 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
20 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
21 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
22 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
23 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
24 as "CONFIDENTIAL" before a determination by the court from which the subpoena
25 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party's permission. The
26 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court
27 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as
28 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful
1 directive from another court.
2 9. A NON-PARTY'S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
3 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
4 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
5 Party in this Action and designated as "CONFIDENTIAL Such information produced
6 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and
7 relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as
8 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
10 a Non-Party's confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an
11 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party's confidential
12 information, then the Party shall:
13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
14 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
15 with a Non-Party;
16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
17 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
18 specific description of the information requested; and
19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
20 Party, if requested.
21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14
22 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
23 produce the Non-Party's confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
24 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
25 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
26 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court
27 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
28 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.
10 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
11 PROTECTED MATERIAL
12 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
13 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
14 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
15 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
16 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
17 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
18 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
19 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
20 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
21 to the Court.
22 12. MISCELLANEOUS
23 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
24 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
25 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
26 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
27 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
28 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
1 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
2 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
3 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
4 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
5 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under
6 seal. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,
7 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
8 otherwise instructed by the Court.
9 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
10 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by
11 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the
12 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, "all Protected
13 Material" includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other
14 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected
15 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written
16 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the
17 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where
18 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms
19 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,
20 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
21 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
22 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
23 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product,
24 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
25 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material
26 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
27 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER
28 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
1 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
2 || sanctions.
3 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
4
5 || DATED: March 6, 2026.
6
7 || Law Offices of Barry B. Kaufman, APC
8
/s/ Barry B. Kaufman
9 || Barry B. Kaufman
10 16133 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 700
Encino, California 91436
11 || Telephone: (818) 995-9115
12 || Email: barry@barrybkaufman.com
Attorney for Plaintiff Alexander Godelman
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14 || DATED: March 6, 2026.
15 || Akerman LLP
16
/s/ Taylor T. Haywood
17 || Taylor T. Haywood (admitted pro hac vice)
1g || 1900 Sixteenth Street, Suite 950
Denver, Colorado 80202
19 |! Telephone: (303) 260-7712
20 || Email: taylor.haywood@akerman.com
Attorneys for Defendants PennyMac Financial
21 |! Services, Inc.; Private National Mortgage
22 || Acceptance Company, LLC; David A. Spector;
33 Doug Jones; and Mike Hogan
24 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
25
26 || DATED: March 9, 2026 \oek Rf A
07 HONSA. JOEL RICHLIN
United States Magistrate Judge
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1 L.R. 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i) Certification
2 All other signatories listed above concur in this filing's content and have
3 authorized this filing.
4 Dated: March 6, 2026 /s/ Taylor T. Haywood
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
7 District Court for the Central District of California on ____________ [date] in the
8 case of Godelman v. PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. et al, Case No. 2:25-cv-
9 04767-FLA-AJR agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this
10 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so
11 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I
12 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that
13 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict
14 compliance with the provisions of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full
19 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and
20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
22 Order.
23 Date: ______________________________________
24 City and State where signed: _________________________________
25 Printed name: _______________________________
26 Signature: __________________________________
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