The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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DANIEL LAWSON, an individual, CASE NO. 2:25-cv-07734-FLA-MARx
12 Hon. Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha – Ctrm. 6B
Plaintiff,
13 Hon. Mag. Margo A. Rocconi – Ctrm. 790
v.
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15 C A O N U G N EL T E Y S O P F O L L O IC S E A D N E G P E A L R E T S M , L E O N S T , S O T R I D P E U R L ATED PROTECTIVE
16 C A I G T U Y I L O A F R L O (# S 4 4 A 0 N 38 G ) E , O L F E F S I , C O E F R F ICER
17 R in U cl E us L i A ve S , (#44715), and DOES 1 - 40
18 Defendants.
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20 1. INTRODUCTION
21 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
22 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
23 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
24 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
25 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
26 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
27 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
28 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
1 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
2 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in
3 Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
4 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
5 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
6 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
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8 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
9 Plaintiff Daniel Lawson filed this action against multiple defendants including
10 the Los Angeles Police Department. The facts underlying Plaintiffs’ complaint
11 allege the arrest of Plaintiff by the Los Angeles Police Department. As such, there
12 may be voluminous sensitive materials including police reports and other law
13 enforcement records, which may be protected pursuant to Government Code §
14 6254(f), Penal Code §§ 832.5, 832.7, 832.8 and 11105, and Evidence Code § 1040.
15 Further, it is possible the parties in this action may seek confidential
16 information relating to individual police officers and as such their privacy rights are
17 also implicated pursuant to Evidence Code § 1043, and Pitchess v. Superior Court
18 (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531, 535. See also Green v. Baca, 226 F.R.D. 624, 653 (C.D. Cal.
19 2005) and A. Farber and Partners, Inc., 234 F.R.D. 186, 189-90 (C.D. Cal. 2006).
20 Federal law also recognizes a qualified privilege for official information. Kerr v.
21 United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 511 F.2d 192,
22 198 (9th Cir.1975), aff’d, 426 U.S. 394 (1976); Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana, 936
23 F.2d 1027, 1033 (9th Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 957 (1991). It is the position
24 of the Los Angeles Police Department that the release of such records cannot be
25 considered absent a protective order and, in some cases, a court order.
26 Further, discovery may require depositions, written discovery and/or the
27 production of certain Los Angeles Police Department policies and procedures and
28 peace officer training information the public disclosure of which could comprise
1 officer safety, and/or raise security issues. Defendants contend that public disclosure
2 of such material and information poses a substantial risk of embarrassment,
3 oppression and/or physical harm to peace officers whose confidential information is
4 disclosed. Defendants further contend that this potential risk of harm to peace
5 officers is greater than with other government employees due to the nature of their
6 profession. Finally, Defendants contend that the benefit of public disclosure of
7 confidential information is minimal while the potential disadvantages are great.
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9 2. DEFINITIONS
10 2.1 Action: Daniel Lawson v. County of Los Angeles, et al., Case No.
11 2:25-cv-07734-FLA-MARx.
12 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
13 designation of information or items under this Order.
14 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
15 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
16 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
17 the Good Cause Statement.
18 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
19 their support staff).
20 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
21 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
22 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
23 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
24 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
25 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
26 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
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1 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
3 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
4 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
5 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
6 counsel.
7 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
8 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
9 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
10 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
11 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
12 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
13 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
14 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
15 support staffs).
16 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
17 Discovery Material in this Action.
18 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
19 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
20 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
21 and their employees and subcontractors.
22 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
23 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
24 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
25 Material from a Producing Party.
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27 3. SCOPE
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1 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
2 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
3 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
4 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
5 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
6 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the
7 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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9 4. DURATION
10 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
11 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will
12 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
13 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
14 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of
15 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180–81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
16 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
17 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
18 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
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20 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
21 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
22 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
23 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
24 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
25 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
26 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
27 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
28 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
1 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
2 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
3 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
4 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
5 Party to sanctions.
6 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
7 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
8 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
9 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
10 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
11 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
12 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
13 produced.
14 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
15 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
16 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
17 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend
18 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
19 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
20 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
21 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
22 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
23 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
24 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
25 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
26 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
27 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
28 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,
1 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
2 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
3 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
4 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
5 markings in the margins).
6 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
7 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
8 deposition.
9 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
10 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
11 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
12 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
13 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the
14 protected portion(s).
15 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
16 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
17 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
18 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
19 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
20 Order.
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22 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
23 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
24 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
25 Scheduling Order.
26 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
27 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
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1 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on
2 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
3 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
4 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
5 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will
6 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
7 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
8 challenge.
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10 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
11 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
12 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
13 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
14 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
15 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
16 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
17 DISPOSITION).
18 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
19 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
20 authorized under this Order.
21 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
22 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
23 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
24 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
25 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
26 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
27 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
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1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
2 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
3 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
4 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
6 (d) the Court and its personnel;
7 (e) court reporters and their staff;
8 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
9 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
10 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
11 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 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
14 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
15 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
16 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
18 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
19 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
20 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
21 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
22 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
23 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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25 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
26 IN OTHER LITIGATION
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1 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
2 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
3 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
4 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will
5 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
6 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
7 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
8 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of
9 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
10 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued
11 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
12 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
13 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this
14 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
15 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
16 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking
17 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
18 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
19 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
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21 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
22 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
23 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-
24 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
25 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
26 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
27 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
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1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
2 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
3 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
4 confidential information, then the Party will:
5 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
6 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
7 agreement with a Non-Party;
8 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
9 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
10 specific description of the information requested; and
11 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
12 Party, if requested.
13 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
15 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
16 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
17 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
18 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
19 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
20 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
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22 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
24 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
25 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
26 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
27 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
28 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
1 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
2 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
5 PROTECTED MATERIAL
6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
8 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
9 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
10 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without
11 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar
12 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
13 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
14 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
15 to the court.
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17 12. MISCELLANEOUS
18 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
19 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
20 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
21 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
22 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
23 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
24 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
25 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
26 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
27 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
28 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
1 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
2 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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4 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
5 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
6 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
7 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
8 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
9 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
10 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
11 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
12 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
13 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
14 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
15 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
16 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
17 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
18 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
19 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
20 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
21 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
22 Section 4 (DURATION).
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24 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
25 contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
26 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
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28 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
1
2 || DATED
3 Attorneys for Plaintiff
4 Dated: HYDEE FELDSTEIN SOTO, City Attorney
° DENISE C. MILLS, Chief Deputy City Attorney
6 KATHLEEN KENEALY, Chief Assistant City Attorney
CHRISTIAN R. BOJORQUEZ, Deputy City Attorney
° By: Sasha O Lagarevieh
10 SASHA O. LAZAREVICH, Deputy City Attorney
Attorneys for Defendant, CITY OF LOS ANGELES
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14 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
15
[PB
4 DATED: 8/14/26
HON. MARGO A. ROCCONI
18 United States Magistrate Judge
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29 EXHIBIT A
26 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
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1 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of
2 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury
3 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
4 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
5 on _________________ [date] in the case of Daniel Lawson v. County of Los
6 Angeles, et al., Case No.. 2:25-cv-07734-FLA-MARx. I agree to comply with and
7 to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand
8 and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
9 punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose
10 in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective
11 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this
12 Order.
13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
14 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
15 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
16 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print
17 or type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or
18 type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of
19 process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of
20 this Stipulated Protective Order.
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22 Date: ______________________________________
23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
24 Printed name: _______________________________
25 Signature: __________________________________
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