Opinion

1 AanMasIsRih Ni@AsShSbI.HcoIm (S BN 235936)

2 P. VICTORIA HOLMBERG (SBN 359345)

vholmberg@shb.com

3 SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P.

555 Mission Street, Suite 2300

4 San Francisco, CA 94105

Tel: (415) 544-1900 | Fax: (415) 391-0281

5

BRADY O’BRYAN (SBN 335729)

6 bobryan@shb.com

SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P.

7 5 Park Plaza, Suite 1600

Irvine, CA 92614-2546

8 Tel: (949) 475-1500 | Fax: (949) 475-0016

9 Attorneys for Defendant

NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.

10

11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

12 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

13 LUIS FERNANDO RAMOS ARANDA, Case No.: 2:25-cv-07370-MAA

individual, and PATRICIA

14 RODRIGUEZ FIGUEROA, an STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

individual, ORDER

15

Plaintiffs,

16

v.

17

NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., a

18 Delaware Corporation, and DOES 1

through 10, inclusive,

19

Defendants.

20

21

22 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 the 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 13.3, 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 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

9 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and

10 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or

11 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from

12 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such

13 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,

14 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential

15 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 case.

2 3. DEFINITIONS

3 3.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, Case No. 2:25-cv-07370-MAA.

4 3.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation

5 of information or items under this Order.

6 3.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

7 how 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 3.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their

11 support staff).

12 3.5 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 3.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

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

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

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

19 3.7 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 3.8 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 3.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or

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

27 3.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party

28 to 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 that

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

3 3.11 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 3.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

7 Discovery Material in this Action.

8 3.13 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 3.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

14 3.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

15 from a Producing Party.

16 4. SCOPE

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

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

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

20 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties

21 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

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

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

24 5. DURATION

25 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced

26 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this

27 Protective Order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members

28 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific

1 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the

2 trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th

3 Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in

4 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are

5 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend

6 beyond the commencement of the trial.

7 6. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

8 6.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

9 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for protection

10 under this Stipulated Protective Order must take care to limit any such designation to

11 specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party

12 must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral

13 or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material,

14 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not

15 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Stipulated Protective Order.

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

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

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

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

20 to sanctions.

21 6.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

22 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 6.2(a) below), or as otherwise

23 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection

24 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or

25 produced.

26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following:

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

28 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial

1 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend

2 “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion

3 or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

4 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings

5 in the margins).

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

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

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

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

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

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

12 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order.

13 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the

14 legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a

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

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

17 markings in the margins).

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

19 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the

20 deposition, all protected testimony.

21 (c) For information produced in nondocumentary form, and for any

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

23 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

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

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

26 portion(s).

27 6.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

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

1 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Stipulated Protective Order

2 for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must

3 make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the

4 provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order.

5 7. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

6 7.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

7 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s

8 Scheduling Order.

9 7.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

10 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1, et seq., and with Section 4 of Judge

11 Audero’s Procedures (“Mandatory Telephonic Conference for Discovery Disputes”).

12 7.3 Burden of Persuasion. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge

13 proceeding shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made

14 for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens

15 on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the

16 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties

17 shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is

18 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

19 8. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

20 8.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

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

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

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

24 conditions described in this Stipulated Protective Order. When the Action has been

25 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 14 below

26 (FINAL DISPOSITION).

27 ///

28 ///

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 Stipulated Protective Order.

4 8.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

5 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

6 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

7 “CONFIDENTIAL” 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

10 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

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

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

13 (c) Experts of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably

14 necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement

15 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

26 will 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,

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

6 9. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

7 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

10 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

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

12 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

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

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

15 or order is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order. Such notification shall include

16 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

18 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

26 directive from another court.

27 ///

28 ///

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

2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

3 10.1. Application.

4 The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party

5 in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by

6 Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief

7 provided by this Stipulated Protective Order. Nothing in these provisions should be

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

9 10.2. Notification.

10 In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a

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

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

13 information, then the Party shall:

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

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

16 with a Non-Party;

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

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

19 specific description of the information requested; and

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

21 Party, if requested.

22 10.3. Conditions of Production.

23 If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14 days

24 of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may

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

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

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

28 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court

1 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

2 protection in this Court of its Protected Material.

3 11. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

6 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party immediately must (1) notify in

7 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its best efforts

8 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) inform the person or

9 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this

10 Stipulated Protective Order, and (4) request such person or persons to execute the

11 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A).

12 12. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

13 PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

22 parties may incorporate their agreement in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted

23 to the Court.

24 13. MISCELLANEOUS

25 13.1 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 13.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

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

1 object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed

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

3 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Stipulated

4 Protective Order.

5 13.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

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

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

8 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is

9 denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public

10 record unless otherwise instructed by the Court.

11 14. FINAL DISPOSITION

12 After the final disposition of this Action, within sixty (60) days of a written

13 request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected

14 Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision,

15 “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and

16 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the

17 Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written

18 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the

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

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

21 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,

22 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.

23 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel is entitled to retain an archival copy of all

24 pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts; legal memoranda;

25 correspondence; deposition and trial exhibits; expert reports; attorney work product;

26 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected

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

28 remain subject to this Stipulated Protective Order as set forth in Section 5.

1

2 || 15. VIOLATION

3 Any violation of this Stipulated Order may be punished by any and all

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

5 |} monetary sanctions.

6 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

7

8 || DATED:__ April 20, 2026 QUILL & ARROW, LLP

9

By:__/s/Andrew Jung

10 ANDREW JUNG

Attorney for Plaintiffs

12 LUIS FERNANDO RAMOS ARANDA and

PATRICIA RODRIGUEZ FIGUEROA

13

DATED: __ April 20, 2026 SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P.

15

16 By: _/s/P. Victoria Holmber

AMIR NASSIHI

17 BRADY O’BRYAN

VICTORIA HOLMBERG

18

Attorneys for Defendant

19 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.

20

21 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

22 : 5).

23 || paTep: 27,2026 Qe”.

HONOR AMBLE MARIA A. AUDERO

24 UNITHIY STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

25

26

27

28

13

1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3

4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________

5 ____________________________________[full address], declare under penalty of

6 perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order

7 that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of

8 California on ____________ [date] in the case of Luis Fernando Ramos Aranda,

9 et al. v. Nissan North America, Inc., Case No. 2:25-cv-07370-MAA. I agree to

10 comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and

11 I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to

12 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will

13 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated

14 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the

15 provisions of this Order.

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

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

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

19 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full

20 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and

21 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with

22 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective

23 Order.

24

25 Signature: _________________________________

26 Printed Name: _________________________________

27 Date: _________________________________

28 City and State Where Sworn and Signed: __________________________________