The opinion
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7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
8 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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10 JOSHUA JOHNSON, NO: 2:22-cv-06718-RSWL-MAA
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Plaintiff,
12 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
vs. ORDER
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JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.,
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15 Defendant.
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1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
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Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
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proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
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disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation maybe
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warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
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enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
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Stipulated Protective Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
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responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and
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use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
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treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as
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set forth in Section 13.3 below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle
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1 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
2 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
3 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
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5 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
6 This action is likely to involve personal medical and financial information,
7 commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special
8 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than
9 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials
10 and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial
11 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other
12 confidential research, development, or commercial information (including
13 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise
14 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise
15 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions,
16 or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the
17 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to
18 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure
19 that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
20 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the
21 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is
22 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be
23 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated
24 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public
25 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this
26 case.
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28 3. DEFINITIONS
1 3.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit, Johnson v. Chase, NO: 2:22-cv-
2 06718-RSWL-MAA (C.D. Cal.).
3 3.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation
4 of information or items under this Order.
5 3.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of
6 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify
7 for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as
8 specified above in the Good Cause Statement.
9 3.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and In-House Counsel (as well as
10 their support staff).
11 3.5 Designating Party: A Party or Nonparty that designates information or
12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
13 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
14 3.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless
15 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained
16 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible
17 things), that is produced or generated in disclosures or responses to
18 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
21 counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
22 3.8 In-House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this
23 Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record
24 or any other outside counsel.
25 3.9 Nonparty: 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
28 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this
1 Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are
2 affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party,
3 and includes support staff.
4 3.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
5 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of
6 Record (and their support staffs).
7 3.12 Producing Party: A Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or
8 Discovery Material in this Action.
9 3.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation
10 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing
11 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in
12 any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
13 3.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
14 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
15 3.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
16 Material from a Producing Party.
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18 4. SCOPE
19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
20 Protected Material, but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected
21 Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material;
22 and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel
23 that might reveal Protected Material.
24 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
25 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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27 5. DURATION
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1 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
2 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Stipulated Protective Order becomes
3 public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including
4 the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to
5 proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana
6 v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006)
7 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery
8 from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court
9 record). Accordingly, the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order do not extend
10 beyond the commencement of the trial.
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12 6. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 6.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
14 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for
15 protection under this Stipulated Protective Order must take care to limit
16 any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the
17 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
18 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or
19 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the
20 material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is
21 not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this
22 Stipulated Protective Order.
23 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.
24 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been
25 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case
26 development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens
27 on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
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1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items
2 that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that
3 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is
4 withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
5 6.2 Manner and Timing of Designations.
6 Except as otherwise provided in this Stipulated Protective Order
7 (see, e.g., 6.2(a)), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or
8 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Stipulated
9 Protective Order must be clearly so designated before the material is
10 disclosed or produced.
11 Designation in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order
12 requires the following:
13 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
14 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other
15 pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a
16 minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter
17 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains
18 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on
19 a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must
20 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
21 appropriate markings in the margins).
22 A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents
23 available for inspection need not designate them for protection
24 until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it
25 would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
26 before the designation, all of the material made available for
27 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the
28 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and
1 produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
2 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Stipulated
3 Protective Order. Then, before producing the specified
4 documents, the Producing Party must affix the
5 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected
6 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
7 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
8 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
9 markings in the margins).
10 (b) For testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
11 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record,
12 before the close of the deposition all protected testimony.
13 (c) For information produced in nondocumentary form, and for any
14 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a
15 prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in
16 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.”
17 If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
18 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall
19 identify the protected portion(s).
20 6.3 Inadvertent Failure to Designate.
21 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified
22 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating
23 Party’s right to secure protection under this Stipulated Protective Order
24 for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the
25 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the
26 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Stipulated
27 Protective Order.
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1 7. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
2 7.1 Timing of Challenges.
3 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of
4 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
5 Scheduling Order.
6 7.2 Meet and Confer.
7 The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution
8 process, which shall comply with Local Rule 37.1 et seq., and with
9 Section 4 of Judge Audero’s Procedures (“Mandatory Telephonic
10 Confident for Discovery Disputes”).1
11 7.3 Burden of Persuasion.
12 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall
13 be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for
14 an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses
15 and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to
16 sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the
17 confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
18 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under
19 the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
20 challenge.
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22 8. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 8.1 Basic Principles.
24 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed
25 or produced by another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this
26 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this
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1 Judge Audero’s Procedures are available at
https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/honorable-maria-audero.
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1 Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the
2 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this
3 Stipulated Protective Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
4 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 14 below.
5 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving
6 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is
7 limited to the persons authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order.
8 8.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items.
9 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by
10 the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information
11 or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
12 (a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action,
13 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to
14 whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for
15 this Action;
16 (b) The officers, directors, and employees (including In-House
17 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is
18 reasonably necessary for this Action;
19 (c) Experts of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably
20 necessary for this Action and who have signed the
21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
22 (d) The Court and its personnel;
23 (e) Court reporters and their staff;
24 (f) Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
25 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably
26 necessary for this Action and who have signed the
27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
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1 (g) The author or recipient of a document containing the information
2 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew
3 the information;
4 (h) During their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses,
5 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary
6 provided: (i) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the
7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
8 and (ii) the witness will not be permitted to keep any confidential
9 information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and
10 Agreement to Be Bound,” unless otherwise agreed by the
11 Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
12 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal
13 Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter
14 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under
15 this Stipulated Protective Order; and
16 (i) Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting
17 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in
18 settlement discussions.
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20 9. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
21 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
22 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
23 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
24 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
25 (a) Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
26 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
27 (b) Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
28 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered
1 by the subpoena or order is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order.
2 Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective
3 Order; and
4 (c) Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
5 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be
6 affected.
7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
8 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
9 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
10 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
11 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
12 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
13 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
14 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
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16 10. A NONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
17 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
18 10.1 Application.
19 The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order are applicable to
20 information produced by a Nonparty in this Action and designated as
21 “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Nonparties in
22 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief
23 provided by this Stipulated Protective Order. Nothing in these
24 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from seeking
25 additional protections.
26 10.2 Notification.
27 In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request,
28 to produce a Nonparty’s confidential information in its possession, and
1 the Party is subject to an agreement with the Nonparty not to produce
2 the Nonparty’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
3 (a) Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the
4 Nonparty that some or all of the information requested is subject
5 to a confidentiality agreement with a Nonparty;
6 (b) Promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of the Stipulated
7 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s),
8 and a reasonably specific description of the information
9 requested; and
10 (c) Make the information requested available for inspection by the
11 Nonparty, if requested.
12 10.3 Conditions of Production.
13 If the Nonparty fails to seek a protective order from this court
14 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information,
15 the Receiving Party may produce the Nonparty’s confidential
16 information responsive to the discovery request. If the Nonparty timely
17 seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any
18 information in its possession or control that is subject to the
19 confidentiality agreement with the Nonparty before a determination by
20 the Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Nonparty shall bear
21 the burden and expense of seeking protection in this Court of its
22 Protected Material.
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24 11. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
26 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
27 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (1) notify in
28 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its best efforts
1 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) inform the person or
2 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this
3 Stipulated Protective Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
4 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” ( Exhibit A).
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6 12. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
7 PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
9 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
10 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
11 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
12 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without
13 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar
14 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
15 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
16 parties may incorporate their agreement in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted
17 to the Court.
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19 13. MISCELLANEOUS
20 13.1 Right to Further Relief.
21 Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order abridges the right of
22 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
23 13.2 Right to Assert Other Objections.
24 By stipulating to the entry of this Stipulated Protective Order, no
25 Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing
26 or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in
27 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to
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1 object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered
2 by this Stipulated Protective Order.
3 13.3 Filing Protected Material.
4 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must
5 comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be
6 filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
7 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected
8 Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party
9 may file the information in the public record unless otherwise
10 instructed by the Court.
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12 14. FINAL DISPOSITION
13 After the final disposition of this Action, within sixty (60) days of a written
14 request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected
15 Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this
16 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
17 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
18 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
19 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
20 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies
21 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
22 destroyed and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
23 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
24 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel is entitled to
25 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
26 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
27 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
28 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
1 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Stipulated Protective Order as
2 set forth in Section 5.
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4 15. VIOLATION
5 Any violation of this Stipulated Protective Order may be punished by any and
6 all appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or
7 monetary sanctions.
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9 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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11 DATED: April 17, 2023
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/s/ L. David Russell
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RUSSELL LAW, PC
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Attorneys for Plaintiff
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16 DATED: April 17, 2023
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18 /s/ Robert Hyatt
DYKEMA GOSSETT LLP
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Attorneys for Defendant
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21 ATTESTATION
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Pursuant to L.R. 5-4.3.4, all other signatories listed, and on whose behalf
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the filing is submitted, concurred in the filing’s content and have authorized the
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filing.
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/s/ L. David Russell
27 RUSSELL LAW, PC
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FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
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April 17, 2023
DATED:________________________
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6 Maria A. Audero
7 United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ [address],
4 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the
5 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the
6 Central District of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [case name and
7 number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated
8 Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could
9 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise
10 that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this
11 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with
12 the provisions of this 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 __________________________ [full
17 name] of _______________________________________ [address and telephone
18 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action
19 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
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21 Signature: ____________________________
22 Printed Name: ____________________________
23 Date: ____________________________
24 City and State Where Sworn and Signed: ____________________________
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