even 12 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing
How later courts described this case
- even 12 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
1 MARC S. HINES (SBN 140065)
mhines@lawhhp.com
2 NICOLE M. HAMPTON (SBN 189024)
nhampton@lawhhp.com
3 BRIAN PELANDA (SBN 278453)
bpelanda@lawhhp.com
4 HINES HAMPTON PELANDA LLP
23 Corporate Plaza Dr., Suite 150
5 Newport Beach, California 92260
Tel.: (714) 513-1122
6 Fax: (714) 242-9529
7 Attorneys for Defendants AMCO INSURANCE COMPANY and
NATIONWIDE GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY
8
9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – WESTERN DIVISION
11
SUNSET JUNIOR, LLC, a CASE NO.: 2:22-cv-06972-SPG-AGR
12 California limited liability company,
13 STIPULATION AND PROPOSED
Plaintiff, PROTECTIVE ORDER
14
vs.
15
AMCO INSURANCE COMPANY,
16 an Iowa corporation;
NATIONWIDE GENERAL
17 INSURANCE COMPANY, an Ohio
corporation; and DOES 1 through
18 15, inclusive,
19 Defendants.
20
21 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 pursuing this litigation may be
25 warranted. Accordingly, PLAINTIFF SUNSET JUNIOR, LLC and
26 DEFENDANTS AMCO INSURANCE COMPANY and NATIONWIDE
27 GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY (collectively, the “parties”) hereby
1 Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections
2 on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from
3 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are
4 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
5 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
6 This action is likely to involve trade secrets and other valuable research,
7 development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for
8 which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other
9 than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary
10 materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or
11 financial information, information regarding confidential business practices and
12 procedures, including claims handling manuals, or other confidential research,
13 development, or commercial information (including information implicating
14 privacy rights of third parties such as claim files or personnel records), information
15 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or
16 otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
17 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
18 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery
19 materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
20 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
21 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their
22 handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order
23 for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that
24 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that
25 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in
26 a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be
27 part of the public record of this case.
1 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE
2 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this
3 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
4 under seal. Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed
5 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court
6 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right
7 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-
8 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See
9 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006),
10 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-
11 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even
12 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of
13 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal
14 justification must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to
15 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material
16 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by
17 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as
18 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.
19 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial,
20 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and
21 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be
22 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir.
23 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed
24 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling
25 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing
26 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents
27 under seal must be provided by declaration.
1 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be
2 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing,
3 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the
4 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in
5 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.
6 4. DEFINITIONS
7 4.1 Action: This pending lawsuit.
8 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
9 designation of information or items under this Order.
10 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
11 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
12 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
13 the Good Cause Statement.
14 4.4 Counsel: Counsel of Record (as well as their support staff).
15 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
16 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
17 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
18 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
19 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
20 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced
21 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.
22 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
23 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve
24 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
25 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this
26 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other
27 outside counsel.
1 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
2 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
3 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have
4 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that
5 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
6 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
7 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
8 support staffs).
9 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
10 Discovery Material in this Action.
11 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
12 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
13 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
14 and their employees and subcontractors.
15 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
16 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
17 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
18 Material from a Producing Party.
19 5. SCOPE
20 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
21 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
22 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
23 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
24 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any
25 use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge
26 and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of Protected
27 Material at trial.
1 6. DURATION
2 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
3 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or
4 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively
5 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling
6 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the
7 trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81
8 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
9 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
10 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
11 beyond the commencement of the trial.
12 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for
14 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or
15 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation
16 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating
17 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items
18 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the
19 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not
20 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
21 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
22 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
23 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to
24 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the
25 Designating Party to sanctions.
26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
27 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
1 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
2 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material
3 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before
4 the material is disclosed or produced.
5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
6 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
7 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
8 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
9 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
10 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for
11 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
12 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
13 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
14 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
15 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
16 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
17 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
18 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine
19 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order.
20 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix
21 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If
22 only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
23 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
24 appropriate markings in the margins).
25 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
26 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of
27 the deposition all protected testimony.
1 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent
2 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is
3 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
4 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,
5 shall identify the protected portion(s).
6 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
7 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
8 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such
9 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make
10 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the
11 provisions of this Order.
12 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
13 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
14 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
15 Scheduling Order.
16 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
17 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
18 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a
19 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
20 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be
21 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
22 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
23 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
24 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
25 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
26 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
27 challenge.
1 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
2 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
3 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
4 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such
5 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under
6 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
7 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL
8 DISPOSITION).
9 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
10 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
11 authorized under this Order.
12 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
13 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
14 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
15 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
16 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
17 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
18 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
19 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
20 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
21 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
22 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
23 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
24 (d) the court and its personnel;
25 (e) court reporters and their staff;
26 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
27 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
1 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
2 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
3 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
4 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
5 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2)
6 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
8 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
9 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
10 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone
11 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
12 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,
13 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
14 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
15
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
16
disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
17
under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a)
18
notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its
19
best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform
20
the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms
21
of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
22
“Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.
23
11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
24 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
25
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
26
inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
27
protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
1 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
2 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
3 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure
4 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or
5 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the
6 stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
7 12. MISCELLANEOUS
8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
11 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in
13 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on
14 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective
15 Order.
16 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
17 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material
18 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
19 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under
20 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the
21 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
22 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
23 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within
24 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must
25 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
26 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
27 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
1 ||Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if
2 ||not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that
3 identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was
4 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any
5 || copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
6 || capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel
7 entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,
8 || deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition
9 || and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert
10 || work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival
1! |) copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this
12 |) Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).
VIOLATION
14 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures
15 |! including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
16 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
17
Dated: May 4, 2023 ENGSTROM, LIPSCOMB & LACK,
18 P.C.
—A=f-
20 =
Andrew M. Jacobson
21 Attorney for Plaintiff
> SUNSET JUNIOR, LLC
23
34 Dated: May 4, 2023 HINES HAMPTON PELANDA LLP
25 AV te = —=
By:
26 Nicole M. Hampton
Attorneys for Defendants
AMCO INSURANCE COMPANY and
28 NATIONWIDE GENERAL INS. CO.
1 ORDER
2
3 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
4
DATED: May 9, 2023.
7
Aisi A Klasndinge
Hon. Alicia G. Rosenberg
9 United States Magistrate Judge
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28