distinguishing “good cause” 1 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
How later courts described this case
- distinguishing “good cause” 1 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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10 ABRAHAM GAMBOA; ALVARO
GAMBOA JR.; AMBER GAMBOA; Case No. 2:23-CV-02654-SVW-
11 SANDRA GAMBOA; and SCOTT RAO
GAMBOA, individually and as
12 successors in interest to ALVARO
GAMBOA SR., deceased; [PROPOSED] STIPULATED
13 PROTECTIVE ORDER1
14 Plaintiff,
15 v.
16 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES; YEN
LIU; NATHAN BOTTEN;
17 FRANCISCO ARREDONDO;
REZEKIEL P. DULANEY; AND
18 DOES 1-10, inclusive;
19
Defendant.
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21
22 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
23 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
24 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public
25 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
26 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
27
1 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
2 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
3 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
4 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
5 under the applicable legal principles.
6
7 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
8 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
9 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
10 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
11 be warranted. As Plaintiffs are seeking and Defendants may produce, among other
12 things, internal, security sensitive, third party and law enforcement private and
13 confidential information, administrative, personnel and institutional documents,
14 which contain sensitive information that the County of Los Angeles believes need
15 special protection from public disclosure. The documents identified in this
16 Protective Order, which Defendants believe in good faith constitute or embody
17 confidential information which the County of Los Angeles maintains as strictly
18 confidential and are otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
19 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
20 court rules, case decisions, or common law, are therefore entitled to heightened
21 protection from disclosure. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
22 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery
23 materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
24 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
25 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
26 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
27 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
1 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
2 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
3 record of this case.
4 Plaintiffs do not agree with and do not stipulate to Defendants’ contentions
5 herein above, and nothing in this Stipulation or its associated Order shall resolve the
6 parties’ disagreement, or bind them, concerning the legal statements and claimed
7 privileges set forth above. However, Plaintiffs agree that there is Good Cause for a
8 Protective Order so as to preserve the respective interests of the parties without the
9 need to further burden the Court with such issues. Specifically, the parties jointly
10 contend that this Stipulation and its associated Protective Order may avoid harm to
11 any alleged privilege interests by permitting the parties to facilitate discovery with
12 reduced risk that privileged and/or sensitive/confidential information will become
13 matters of public record. Notwithstanding the above, the parties stipulate that good
14 cause exists for this Court to issue a Protective Order for confidential documents
15 consistent with the terms of this stipulation.
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17 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL
18 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this
19 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
20 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed
21 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court
22 to file material under seal.
23 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial
24 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions,
25 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and
26 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006); Phillips v. Gen. Motors
27 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics,
1 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling
2 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with
3 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere
4 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—
5 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the
6 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or
7 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.
8 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then
9 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the
10 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.
11 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For
12 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced
13 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking
14 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal
15 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting
16 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.
17 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in
18 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted.
19 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting
20 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document
21 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their
22 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.
23
24 2. DEFINITIONS
25 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit entitled Abraham Gamboa et al v.
26 County of Los Angeles et al.
27 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
1 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
2 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
3 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
4 the Good Cause Statement.
5 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
6 their support staff).
7 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
8 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
9 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
10 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
11 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
12 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or
13 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
14 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
15 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
16 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
17 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
18 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
19 counsel.
20 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or
21 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
22 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
23 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
24 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
25 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
26 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
27 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
1 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
2 Discovery Material in this Action.
3 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
4 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
5 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
6 and their employees and subcontractors.
7 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
8 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
9 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
10 Material from a Producing Party.
11
12 3. SCOPE
13 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
14 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
15 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
16 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
17 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
18 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
19 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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21 4. DURATION
22 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
23 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced
24 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all
25 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by
26 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance
27 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”
1 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
2 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
3
4 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
6 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
7 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
8 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
9 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written
10 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items
11 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
12 within the ambit of this Order.
13 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
14 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
15 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
16 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
17 Party to sanctions.
18 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
19 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
20 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
21 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
22 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
23 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
24 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
25 produced.
26 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
27 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
1 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
2 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
3 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for
4 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
5 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
6 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
7 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
8 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
9 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
10 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
11 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
12 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,
13 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
14 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
15 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also
16 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings
17 in the margins). The “CONFIDENTIAL legend” shall not obstruct the contents of
18 the documents the producing party contends are protected and every effort to place
19 the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” in the margins or a similarly appropriate and non-
20 obstructive place on the document shall be made.
21 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies
22 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
23 deposition all protected testimony.
24 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
25 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
26 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
27 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
1 protected portion(s).
2 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
3 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
4 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
5 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
6 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
7 Order.
8
9 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
10 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
11 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
12 Scheduling Order.
13 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
14 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
15 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
16 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
17 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
18 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
19 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
20 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
21 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
22 challenge.
23
24 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
26 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
27 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such
1 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
2 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
3 DISPOSITION).
4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
5 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
6 authorized under this Order.
7 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
8 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
9 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
10 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
11 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
12 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
13 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
14 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
15 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
16 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
17 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
18 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
19 (d) the court and its personnel;
20 (e) court reporters and their staff;
21 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
22 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
23 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
24 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
25 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
26 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
27 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
1 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
2 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
3 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
4 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
5 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
6 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
7 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
8 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
9
10 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
11 IN OTHER LITIGATION
12 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
13 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
14 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
15 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
16 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
17 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
18 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
19 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
20 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
21 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
22 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
23 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
24 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
25 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
26 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
27 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
1 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
2 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
3
4 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
5 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
6 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
7 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
8 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
9 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
10 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
11 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
12 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
13 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
14 confidential information, then the Party shall:
15 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
16 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
17 agreement with a Non-Party;
18 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
19 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
20 specific description of the information requested; and
21 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
22 Non-Party, if requested.
23 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
24 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
25 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
26 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
27 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
1 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
2 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
3
4 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
6 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
7 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
8 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
9 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
10 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
11 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
12 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
13
14
15 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
16 PROTECTED MATERIAL
17 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
18 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
19 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
20 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever
21 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production
22 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and
23 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
24 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
25 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated
26 protective order submitted to the court.
27
1 12. MISCELLANEOUS
2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
3 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
5 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
10 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material
11 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
12 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
13 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
14 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
15
16 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
17 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
18 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
19 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
20 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
21 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
22 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
23 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
24 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
25 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
26 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
27 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
1 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
2 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
3 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
4 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
5 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
6 || Section 4 (DURATION).
7
8 || 14. MIOLATION
9 |) Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including,
10 || without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
11
12 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
13
14 || DATED 5/9/23
15 Shannon Leap
6 Attorneys for Plaintiffs
17
18 || DATED: 5/9/23
19 || Laura E. Inlow
50 Attorneys for Defendants
21
22 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
23
24 || DATED: May 9, 2023
Raydes a, QC
27 || United States Magisirate Judge
28
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of
5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury
6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
8 on [date] in the case of Abraham Gamboa et al v. County of Los Angeles et al.,
9 Case No. 23-CV-02654-SVW-RAO. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all
10 the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that
11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of
12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any
13 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person
14 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
15
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
16
Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective
17
Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
18
I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of
19
_______________________________________ [print or type full address and
20
telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
21
this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
22
Order.
23
Date: ______________________________________
24
City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
25
Printed name: _______________________________
26
27
Signature: __________________________________