The opinion
2
4
6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
7 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
9 MARIAH MONTOYA, Case No. 2:26-cv-00293-TLN-CSK
Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MODIFIED
10 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
V.
11 (ECF No 23)
THE HIGHER EDUCATION LOAN
|| AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF
MISSOURI, et al.,
13
Defendants.
14
1S The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order below (ECF
16 || No. 23), and finds it comports with the relevant authorities and the Court’s Local Rule.
17 || See L.R. 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following
18 || clarification.
19 The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain
20 || jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R.
141 .1(f); see Bylin Heating Sys., Inc. v. Thermal Techs., Inc., 2012 WL 13237584, at *2
22 || (E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2012) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain
23 || jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, the
24 |! Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed.
25 || Dated: May 21, 2026
-_ Cc .
GHI SOO KIM
27 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
28 || 8, mont.0293.26
1 THOMPSON COBURN LLP
LUKAS SOSNICKI, CSB 295895
2 lsosnicki@thompsoncoburn.com
JOSE L. LUA-VALENCIA, CSB 324087
3 jlua-valencia@thompsoncoburn.com
10100 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 500
4 Los Angeles, California 90067
Tel: 310.282.2500 / Fax: 310.282.2501
5
6 Attorneys for Defendant THE HIGHER
EDUCATION LOAN AUTHORITY OF THE
7 STATE OF MISSOURI
8
9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
11
12 MARIAH MONTOYA, an individual, CASE NO. 2:26-cv-00293-TLN-CSK
13 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED]
PROTECTIVE ORDER
14 v.
Action Filed: February 2, 2026
15 THE HIGHER EDUCATION LOAN
AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF
16 MISSOURI DBA MOHELA; EXPERIAN
INFORMATION SOLUTIONS INC;
17 EQUIFAX INFORMATION SERVICES,
LLC; TRANSUNION, LLC; and DOES 1 to
18 20, inclusive,
19 Defendants.
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
1 Plaintiff Mariah Montoya (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant The Higher Education Loan Authority
2 of the State of Missouri dba MOHELA’s (“Defendant” or “MOHELA,” and together with Plaintiff,
3 the “Parties”) hereby agree and stipulate as follows:
4 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
5 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary or private
6 information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other
7 than pursuing this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and
8 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order.
9 The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all
10 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
11 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under
12 the applicable legal principles.
13 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
14 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, personally identifiable information, and other
15 valuable commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special
16 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action
17 is warranted.
18 This confidential and proprietary material and information consist of, among other things,
19 information regarding personal income and credit, confidential business or financial information,
20 information regarding confidential business practices, and other confidential research, development,
21 analytics, surveys, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of
22 third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged
23 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or
24 common law.
25 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of
26 disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties
27 are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses
1 the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
2 matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be designated as confidential for
3 tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been
4 maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part
5 of the public record of this case.
6 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
7 The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this Stipulated
8 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local Rule 141
9 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
10 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
11 4. DEFINITIONS
12 (a) Action: this pending federal lawsuit captioned “MARIAH MONTOYA, an
13 individual v. THE HIGHER EDUCATION LOAN AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI
14 DBA MOHELA, et al.,” Case No. 2:26-cv-00293-TLN-CSK.
15 (b) Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
16 information or items under this Order.
17 (c) “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is
18 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of
19 Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement.
20 (d) Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record, In-House Counsel, and support staff.
21 (e) Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it
22 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
23 (f) Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium
24 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony,
25 transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to
26 discovery.
27
1 (g) Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to
2 the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a
3 consultant in this Action.
4 (h) In-House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. In-House
5 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
6 (i) Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or other legal
7 entity not named as a Party to this action.
8 (j) Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this Action
9 but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that
10 party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support
11 staff.
12 (k) Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees,
13 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).
14 (l) Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery
15 Material in this Action.
16 (m) Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services
17 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing,
18 storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
19 (n) Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as
20 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
21 (o) Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a
22 Producing Party.
23 5. SCOPE
24 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material
25 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all
26 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony,
27 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
1 other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
2 6. DURATION
3 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this
4 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order
5 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and
6 defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion
7 and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the
8 time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.
9 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
10 (a) Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection: Each Party or
11 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to
12 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The
13 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or
14 oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
15 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the
16 ambit of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
17 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to
18 unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and
19 burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. If it comes to a
20 Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for protection do not
21 qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is
22 withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
23 (b) Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order, or
24 as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
25 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
27 a. for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,
1 Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”),
2 to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies
3 for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by
4 making appropriate markings in the margins).
5 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need not
6 designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would
7 like copied and produced.
8 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for
9 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
10 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or
11 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified
12 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that
13 contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
14 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
15 markings in the margins).
16 b. for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies the
17 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all protected
18 testimony.
19 c. for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any
20 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the
21 container or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only
22 a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent
23 practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
24 (c) Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to
25 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s
26 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a
27 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated
1 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
2 (a) Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of
3 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
4 (b) Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process
5 under Local Rule 251(b).
6 (c) Joint Statement. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint statement
7 pursuant to Local Rule 251(c).
8 (d) The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
9 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass
10 or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), may expose the Challenging Party
11 to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation,
12 all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
13 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
14 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 (a) Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or
16 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting,
17 defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the
18 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been
19 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL
20 DISPOSITION).
21 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in
22 a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
23 (b) Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered
24 by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any
25 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
26 a. the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as
27 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the
1 b. the officers, directors, and employees (including In-House) Counsel) of the
2 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 disclosure
4 is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement
5 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 Vendors
9 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
11 g. the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
12 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
13 h. during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action
14 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the
15 witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any
16 confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
17 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of
18 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
19 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under
20 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
21 i. any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, mutually
22 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
23 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
24 OTHER LITIGATION
25 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels
26 disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party
27 must:
1 a. promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall
2 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
3 b. promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
4 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is
5 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective
6 Order; and
7 c. cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by
8 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating Party timely
9 seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any
10 information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court
11 from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
12 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that
13 court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing
14 or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
15 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO
16 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
17 a. The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
18 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-
19 Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this
20 Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking
21 additional protections.
22 b. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce
23 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement
24 with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
25 i. promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
26 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-
27 Party;
1 ii. promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
2 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific
3 description of the information requested; and
4 iii. make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
5 Party, if requested.
6 c. If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days
7 of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-
8 Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks
9 a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control
10 that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the
11 court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of
12 seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
13 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
14 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected
15 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order,
16 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized
17 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c)
18 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this
19 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to
20 Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.
21 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
22 PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently
24 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the
25 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision
26 is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that
27 provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d)
1 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may
2 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
3 14. MISCELLANEOUS
4 (a) Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person
5 to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
6 (b) Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective
7 Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any
8 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no
9 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by
10 this Protective Order.
11 (c) Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected
12 Material must comply with Local Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed under seal
13 pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s
14 request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may
15 file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
16 15. FINAL DISPOSITION
17 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 days of a
18 written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to
19 the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material”
20 includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or
21 capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed,
22 the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
23 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category,
24 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the
25 Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format
26 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel
27 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
1 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected
2 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to
3 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).
4 16. VIOLATION
5 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, without
6 limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
7 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
8
9 DATED: May 18, 2026 THOMPSON COBURN LLP
10
11
By: /s/ Jose Lua-Valencia
12 LUKAS SOSNICKI
JOSE L. LUA-VALENCIA
13 Attorneys for Defendant THE HIGHER
EDUCATION LOAN AUTHORITY OF THE
14
STATE OF MISSOURI
15
16 DATED: May 18, 2026 R23 LAW APC
17
18 By: /s/ Peng Shao
19 PENG SHAO
JARED WALDER
20 Attorneys for Plaintiff MARIAH MONTOYA
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
1 SIGNATURE ATTESTATION
2 I hereby attest that all signatories listed above, on whose behalf this stipulation is
3 submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have authorized the filing.
4
5 DATED: May 18, 2026 THOMPSON COBURN LLP
6
7
By: /s/ Jose Lua-Valencia
8 LUKAS SOSNICKI
JOSE L. LUA-VALENCIA
9 Attorneys for Defendant THE HIGHER
EDUCATION LOAN AUTHORITY OF THE
10
STATE OF MISSOURI
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21 ______________________
22
23
24
25
26
27
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, ______________________________ [print or type full name], of __________
4 ____________________________________________ [print or type full address], declare under
5 penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order
6 that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California on
7 ____________, ____, in the case of Mariah Montoya, an individual v. The Higher Education
8 Loan Authority of the State of Missouri dba MOHELA, et al., United States District Court for the
9 Eastern District of California Case No. 2:26-cv-00293-TLN-CSK.
10 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order
11 and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
12 punishment in the nature of contempt. I will not disclose in any manner any information or item
13 that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict
14 compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the
15 United States District Court for the Eastern District of California for enforcing the terms of this
16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this
17 action. I hereby appoint _______________________ [print or type full name] of
18 _____________________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone
19 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any
20 proceeding related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
21 DATE: ________________________
22 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
23 Printed name: _____________________________
24 Signature: ________________________________
25
26
27