# Angelica Cota v. Lula Holdings, Inc.

> District Court, C.D. California · June 1, 2023

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9983365

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, C.D. California
- **Decided:** June 1, 2023
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

1 DOUGLAS Q. HAHN, SBN 257559
dhahn@stradlinglaw.com
2
AHMAD S. TAKOUCHE, SBN 322911
3 atakouche@stradlinglaw.com
STRADLING YOCCA CARLSON & RAUTH
4 A Professional Corporation
660 Newport Center Drive, Suite 1600
5 Newport Beach, CA 92660-6422
Telephone: 949 725 4000
6
Facsimile: 949 725 4100
7
Attorneys for Defendants
8 Lula Holdings, Inc. and Lula Beauty Inc.
9
David Alden Erikson (SBN 189838)
10 david@daviderikson.com
Antoinette Waller (SBN 152895)
11 antoinette@daviderikson.com
ERIKSON LAW GROUP
12 200 North Larchmont Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90004
13
Telephone: 323.465.3100
14 Facsimile: 323.465.3177
15 Attorneys for Plaintiff Angelica Cota
16
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
17
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
18
WESTERN DIVISION
19
20 ANGELICA COTA, an individual, CASE NO. 2:22-cv-01546-RGK (MARx)
21 Plaintiff, Hon. R. Gary Klausner
22 Magistrate: Hon. Margo A. Rocconi
vs.
23 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
LULA HOLDINGS, INC., LULA
ORDER
24 BEAUTY INC., a Delaware
corporation; and DOES 1-10
25 inclusive,
26 Defendants. Complaint Filed: March 8, 2022
27
28
1 1. INTRODUCTION
2 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
4 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
5 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
6 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
7 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
8 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
9 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
10 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
11 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
12 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them
13 to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
14 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a
15 party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
16 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
17 This action is likely to involve trademarks, customer and pricing lists and
18 other confidential, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
19 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and
20 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
21 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other
22 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding
23 confidential business practices, marketing channels, identification of customers or
24 other confidential research, development, or commercial information, information
25 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or
26 otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
27 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to
28 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery
1 materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
2 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
3 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their
4 handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order
5 for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that
6 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that
7 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in
8 a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be
9 part of the public record of this case.
10 2. DEFINITIONS
11 2.1 Action: Angelica Cota vs. Lula Holdings, Inc., Lula Beauty Inc. and
12 Does1-10 inclusive; case number 2:22-cv-01546-PSG(MARx) in the United States
13 District Court for the Central District of California.
14 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
15 designation of information or items under this Order.
16 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
17 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
18 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
19 the Good Cause Statement.
20 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
21 their support staff).
22 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
23 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
24 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
25 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
26 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
27 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced
28 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
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
3 as 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,
8 or 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
11 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law
12 firm 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.
26 3. SCOPE
27 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
28 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
1 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
2 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
3 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
4 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the
5 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
6 4. DURATION
7 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
8 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and
9 will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press,
10 unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed
11 otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City
12 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180–81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing
13 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from
14 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court
15 record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the
16 commencement of the trial.
17 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
19 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
20 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
21 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate
22 for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
23 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
24 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
25 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
26 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.
27 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an
28 improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process
1 or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the
2 Designating Party to sanctions.
3 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
4 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
5 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
6 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
7 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
8 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
9 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
10 produced.
11 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
12 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
13 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
14 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
15 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
16 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
17 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the
18 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
19 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for
20 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party
21 has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the
22 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for
23 inspection will be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has
24 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
25 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this
26 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must
27 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material.
28 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
1 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
2 appropriate markings in the margins).
3 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
4 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
5 deposition all protected testimony.
6 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary
7 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent
8 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is
9 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
10 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will
11 identify the protected portion(s).
12 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
13 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
14 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such
15 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make
16 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the
17 provisions of this Order.
18 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
19 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
20 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
21 Scheduling Order.
22 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
23 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
24 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on
25 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
26 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
27 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
28 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will
1 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
2 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
3 challenge.
4 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that
6 is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
7 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
8 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under
9 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
10 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
11 DISPOSITION).
12 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
13 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
14 authorized under this Order.
15 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
16 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
17 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
18 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
19 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action,
20 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
21 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
22 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House
23 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for
24 this Action;
25 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to
26 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
28 (d) the Court and its personnel;
1 (e) court reporters and their staff;
2 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
3 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action
4 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
5 (Exhibit A);
6 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the
7 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the
8 information;
9 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses,
10 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the
11 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto;
12 and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they
13 sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless
14 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of
15 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected
16 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed
17 to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
18 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting
19 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement
20 discussions.
21 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
22 IN OTHER LITIGATION
23 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
24 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
25 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
26 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such
27 notification will include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
28
1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena
2 or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by
3 the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will
4 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
5 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
6 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served
8 with the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in
9 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which
10 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
11 permission. The Designating Party will 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.
15 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
16 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced
18 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such
19 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected
20 by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions
21 should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional
22 protections.
23 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery
24 request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and
25 the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-
26 Party’s confidential information, then the Party will:
27
28
1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the
2 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a
3 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the
5 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a
6 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and
7 (3) make the information requested available for inspection
8 by the Non-Party, if requested.
9 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court
10 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the
11 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive
12 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the
13 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that
14 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a
15 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party
16 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its
17 Protected Material.
18 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
19 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
20 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
21 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a)
22 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its
23 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform
24 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms
25 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
26 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as
27 Exhibit A.
28
1 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
2 PROTECTED MATERIAL
3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
4 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
5 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
6 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
7 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
8 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
9 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure
10 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or
11 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the
12 stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
13 12. MISCELLANEOUS
14 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of
15 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
16 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
17 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
18 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in
19 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on
20 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective
21 Order.
22 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
23 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material
24 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
25 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
26 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
27 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
28
1 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within
3 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must
4 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
5 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
6 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
7 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the
8 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if
9 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that
10 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was
11 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any
12 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
13 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel
14 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,
15 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition
16 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert
17 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such
18 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this
19 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
20 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
21 contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
22 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
23
24 ///
25 ///
26 ///
27 ///
28 ///
|[ TP IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
3 ||DATED: May 26, 2023 /s/ Antoinette Waller
David Alden Erikson
4 Antoinette Waller
5 ERIKSON LAW GROUP
6 Attorneys for Plaintiff Angelica Cota
8 | DATED: May 26, 2023 Douglas Q. Hahn
9 Douglas Q. Hahn
10 Ahmad S. Takouche
STRADLING YOCCA CARLSON &
1] RAUTH
12 Attorneys for Defendants
13 Lula Holdings, Inc. and Lula Beauty Inc.
14
15 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
16
17
DATED: June I, 2023
18 HON. MARGO A. ROCCONI
19 United States Magistrate Judge
20
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24
25
26
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28
Raven f[————————
CTIDTTT ATEN PROTECTIVE ORPNEPR

1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, ______________________________ [print or type full name], of
4 __________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury
5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
7 on __________ [date] in the case of __________ [insert formal case name and
8 the numbers and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and
9 to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand
10 and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
11 punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose
12 in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective
13 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this
14 Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District
16 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms
17 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur
18 after termination of this action. I hereby appoint ______________________ [print
19 or type full name] of ____________________________________ [print or type
20 full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
21 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
22 Stipulated Protective Order.
23 Date:
24 City and State where signed:
25
26 Printed name:
27
28 Signature:

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9983365. Public record. Not legal advice.