Opinion

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: Apr 1, 2026
Cited by: 0 cases
Authority: More cited than 41.4%

The opinion

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

12 ADAM ANDRU SUTTON, Case No. 2:25-cv-05497-FLA-AYP

13 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED]

PROTECTIVE ORDER

14 v.

15 CAMDEN DEVELOPMENT, INC.,

VALERIE TILAKAMONKUL, MARTIN

16 DOMA, ANDERSON HERNANDEZ

ADAME, and PAUL NGUYEN,

Defendants.

1. 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 pursuing 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 protection it affords

from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are

entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.

1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

3 This action is likely to involve Defendant Camden Development, Inc.’s trade

4 secrets, customer and pricing lists and other valuable research, development, commercial,

5 financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection from

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

7 warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among

8 other things, personnel files, resident information, customer information, vendor

9 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or commercial

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

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

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

13 decisions, or common law. This action is likely to involve the production of Plaintiff’s

14 medical and mental health information, including diagnoses, treatment records,

15 prescription information, disability-related records, and medical billing documents. Such

16 information implicates significant privacy interests protected under HIPAA, the

17 California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (“CMIA”), and related laws. Good

18 cause exists for a narrowly tailored protective order governing only such medical and

19 mental health information to prevent unnecessary disclosure and misuse. Accordingly, to

20 expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over

21 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are

22 entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary

23 uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their

24 handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for

25 such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information

26 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so

27 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-

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

2 this case.

3 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE

4 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this

5 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under

6 seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the

7 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file

8 material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to

9 judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive

10 motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City

11 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors

12 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc.,

13 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good

14 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper

15 evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected

16 Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure

17 or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of

18 competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under

19 seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.

20 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then

21 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief

22 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos

23 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type

24 of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the party

25 seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and

26 legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting

27 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.

1 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its

2 entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If

3 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the

4 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed.

5 Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include an

6 explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

7 4. DEFINITIONS

8 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, Case No. 2:25-cv-05497-FLA-AYP.

9 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of

10 information or items under this Order.

11 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items and/or “CONFIDENTIAL –

12 MEDICAL INFORMATION”: information (regardless of how it is generated, stored or

13 maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil

14 Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement.

15 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their

16 support staff).

17 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items

18 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

19 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information,

20 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained

21 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are

22 produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.

23 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

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

25 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

26 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

27 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.

1 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or other

2 legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

3 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to

4 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in this

5 Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf

6 of that party, and includes support staff.

7 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

8 managers, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and

9 their support staffs).

10 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

11 Discovery Material in this Action.

12 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

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

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

15 their employees and subcontractors.

16 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated

17 as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

18 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from

19 a Producing Party.

20 5. SCOPE

21 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected

22 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from

23 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected

24 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their

25 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

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

27 judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of Protected

28 Material at trial.

1 6. DURATION

2 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

3 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as

4 an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of

5 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual

6 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See

7 Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing

8 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-

9 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective

10 order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

11 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

12 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each

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

14 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the

15 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those

16 parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so that

17 other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which protection

18 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.

19 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that

20 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g.,

21 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary

22 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 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 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this

27 Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that

1 qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material

2 is disclosed or produced.

3 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

5 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings),

6 that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or

7 “CONFIDENTIAL - MEDICAL INFORMATION” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL

8 legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material

9 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the

10 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

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

12 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which

13 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the

14 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed

15 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants

16 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions

17 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified

18 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page

19 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for

20 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,

21 by making appropriate markings in the margins).

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

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

24 deposition all protected testimony.

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

26 for any 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

1 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection,

2 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).

3 7.3 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. Upon

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

7 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.

8 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

9 8.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation

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

11 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution

12 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.

13 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint

14 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.

15 8.4 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 (e.g., to

17 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the

18 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn

19 the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question

20 the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until

21 the Court rules on the challenge.

22 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

23 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

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

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

26 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions

27 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must

28 comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

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

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

3 authorized under this Order.

4 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise

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

6 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or

7 “CONFIDENTIAL – MEDICAL INFORMATION” only to:

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

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

10 to disclose the information for this Action;

11 (b) the officers, directors, managers, and current and former employees,

12 Valerie Tilakamonkul, Anderson Hernandez Adame, Paul Nguyen, and Martin Doma,

13 (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably

14 necessary for this Action;

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

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

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

18 (d) the court and its personnel;

19 (e) court reporters and their staff

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

21 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed

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

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

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

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

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

27 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not

28 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment

1 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating

2 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to

3 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter

4 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective

5 Order; and

6 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,

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

8 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

“CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

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

shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

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

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

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

Stipulated Protective Order; and

pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the

Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or

court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as

“CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or

order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The

Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of

its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as

authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive

from another court.

1 11. APR NOODNU-CPAEDR TINY ’TSH PIRSO LTITEICGTAETDI OMNA TERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

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

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

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

and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as

prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

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

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

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

information, then the Party shall:

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

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

with a Non-Party;

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

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

specific description of the information requested; and

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

Party, if requested.

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

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

the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any

information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement

with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the

contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this

court of its Protected Material.

1 12. 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 writing

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

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

7 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request

8 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound”

9 attached hereto as Exhibit A.

10 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of

the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil\ Procedure 26(b)(5)(B).

This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-

discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to

Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the

effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client

privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the

stipulated protective order submitted to the court.

14. MISCELLANEOUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected

2 Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed

3 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected

4 Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court,

5 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise

6 instructed by the court.

7 15. FINAL DISPOSITION

8 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 days

9 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all

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

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

12 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.

13 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit

14 a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the

15 Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where

16 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that

17 the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or

18 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding

19 this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion

20 papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence,

21 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and

22 expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival

23 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective

24 Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).

25 16. VIOLATION

26 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including,

27 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

l IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD FOR

2 ||DEFENDANTS AND PLAINTIFF, APPEARING PRO SE.

4 SIGNATURE ATTESTATION

5 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2), the electronic filer below hereby attests that

6 other signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the

7 || filing’s content and have authorized the filing.

10 DATED: March 24, 2026 /s/Adam Andru Sutton

1 Adam Andru Sutton, pro se Plaintiff

14 /s/David J. Kim

DATED: March 24, 2026 Leo Q. Li

15 Heriberto Alvarez, Jr.

16 David J. Kim

Attorneys for Defendants Camden

17 Development, Inc., Valerie Tilakamonkul,

Martin Doma, Anderson Hernandez-Adame,

18 and Paul Nguyen

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

21 ||DATED: _ April 1, 2026

□

Anna Y. Park

24 United States Magistrate Judge

1 EXHIBIT “A”

2 I, ________________________________, have received and reviewed a copy of

3 the Stipulated Protective Order entered in the case entitled Adam Andru Sutton v. Camden

4 Development, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:25-cv-05497-FLA-AYP, pending in the United

5 States District Court for the Central District of California (“USCD”) and am familiar with

6 its terms. I agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the Stipulated Protective

7 Order unless and until I am notified that it has been modified or vacated by the Court, at

8 which time I will comply with such further order. I further consent and submit to the

9 jurisdiction of the USCD for the purpose of enforcing the Stipulated Protective Order, if

10 necessary.

12 DATED: ______________________________

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