The opinion
1 LEAmWailR: lEhNiltCoEn@ J.o HnIeLllTp.OcoNm ( Bar No. 156524)
2 ROBERT D. HUNT (Bar No. 247802)
Email: rhunt@onellp.com
3 ALEC SCHULMAN (Bar No. 336491)
Email: aschulman@onellp.com
4 ONE LLP
23 Corporate Plaza, Suite 150-105
5 Newport Beach, CA 92660
Telephone: (949) 502-2870
6 Facsimile: (949) 258-5081
7 Attorneys for Defendant and Counterclaimant,
NEW HIGH LIMITED
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10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
11 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
12 WESTERN DIVISION
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14 GLOBAL MED GROUP, LLC, a Texas Case No. 2:22-cv-06031-CAS (PVCx)
limited liability company, Hon. Pedro V. Castillo
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16 Plaintiff, [DISCOVERY MATTER]
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v. PROTECTIVE ORDER
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19 NEW HIGH LTD., a Hong Kong
corporation,
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21 Defendant.
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23 AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIMS
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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 in
12 Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
13 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 party
15 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
16 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
17 The case arises from a series of commercial transactions between Plaintiff and
18 Counter-Defendant Global Med Group, LLC (fka Global Merch Group, LLC), a
19 Texas limited liability company ( “Global Med”), on the one hand, and Defendant
20 and Counterclaimant New High Limited, on the other hand, and also involves
21 certain commercial transactions between the parties and allegations regarding
22 transfers of funds by and between Global Med and/or Counter-Defendants Danny
23 Guez, Andreana Bosilcic and Mapleton Capital, LLC.
24 Discovery in this case will involve, among other things, (1) the identification
25 of the individuals that are members, managers, officers or are otherwise in control of
26 the entity parties, (2) non-public financial information of the parties, and (3) and
27 commercial transactions between the parties.
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1 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
2 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
3 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
4 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for
5 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and
6 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
7 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as
8 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good
9 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and
10 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
11 2. DEFINITIONS
12 2.1 Action: Global Med Group, LLC v. New High Limited, and related
13 Counterclaims.
14 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
15 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 (as well as their support staff).
21 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
22 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
23 "CONFIDENTIAL."
24 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
25 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
26 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
27 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
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1 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
3 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
4 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
5 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
6 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
7 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
8 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
9 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
10 2.10 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its members, managers,
11 officers, directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of
12 Record (and their support staffs).
13 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
14 Discovery Material in this Action.
15 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
16 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
17 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
18 and their employees and subcontractors.
19 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
20 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
21 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
22 from a Producing Party.
23 3. SCOPE
24 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
25 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
26 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
27 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
28 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
1 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the
2 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
3 Likewise, the mere existence of this stipulation and Order shall not serve as a basis
4 to preclude the admission of any protected materials as evidence at the time of trial.
5 4. DURATION
6 4.1 Except for information specified in 4.2, the confidentiality obligations
7 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
8 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be
9 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with
10 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and
11 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action,
12 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
13 pursuant to applicable law.
14 4.2 If the case proceeds to trial, information designated as
15 CONFIDENTIAL under this protective order that is authorized for use at trial by
16 stipulation, order or is otherwise admitted as an exhibit will become public and will
17 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
18 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
19 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City & Cty. of
20 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1181 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
21 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
22 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record).
23 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
24 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
25 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
26 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
27 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
28 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
1 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
2 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
3 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
4 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
5 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
6 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
7 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
8 Party to sanctions.
9 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
10 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
11 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
12 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
13 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
14 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
15 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
16 produced.
17 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
18 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
19 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
20 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
21 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
22 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
23 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
24 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
25 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for
26 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has
27 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the
28 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for
1 inspection will be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has
2 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
3 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this
4 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must
5 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material.
6 To the extent practicable, if only a portion or portions of the material on a page
7 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
8 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
9 In the event a Non-Party produces documents regarding a Party that
10 qualifies for protection under this Order, that Party may require that each other Party
11 treat those documents as CONFIDENTIAL by identifying, in writing, each such
12 document, together with the reason(s) they qualify for protection within 15 days
13 after they are produced by the Non-Party. Any Party who intends to display copies
14 of documents so-designated at any deposition shall affix a CONFIDENTIAL
15 Legend on each such document prior to the deposition.
16 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
17 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
18 deposition all protected testimony.
19 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
20 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
21 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
22 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
23 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected
24 portion(s).
25 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
26 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
27 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
28 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
1 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
2 Order.
3 5.4 Independent Source. The protections conferred by this Stipulation and
4 Order shall not apply to materials which have been lawfully obtained by the
5 Receiving party through means independent of discovery in this case even if the
6 Designating Party later designates the same materials as CONFIDENTIAL in
7 accordance with the provisions of this Order.
8 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
9 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
10 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court's
11 Scheduling Order.
12 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
13 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37-1
14 et seq.
15 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will 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 will
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 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
24 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
25 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
26 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
27 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
28 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
1 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
2 DISPOSITION).
3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
4 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
5 authorized under this Order.
6 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
7 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
8 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
9 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
10 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well
11 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary
12 to disclose the information for this Action;
13 (b) the members, managers, officers, directors, and employees of the
14 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
15 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
16 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
18 (d) the Court and its personnel;
19 (e) court reporters and their staff;
20 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
21 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
22 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
23 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
24 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
25 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the
26 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
27 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they
28 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information (or receive any
1 CONFIDENTIAL materials in connection with signing the transcript) unless they
2 sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless
3 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of
4 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected
5 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to
6 anyone except 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 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
10 IN OTHER LITIGATION
11 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
12 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
13 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
14 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will
15 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
16 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
17 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
18 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a
19 copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
20 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
21 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
22 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
23 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this
24 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
25 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party's
26 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking
27 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
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1 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
2 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
3 9. A NON-PARTY'S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
4 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
5 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
6 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
7 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
8 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
9 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
10 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
11 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
12 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party's
13 confidential information, then the Party will:
14 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-
15 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
16 agreement with a Non-Party;
17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
18 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
19 specific description of the information requested; and
20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
21 Non-Party, if requested.
22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14
23 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
24 may produce the Non-Party's confidential information responsive to the discovery
25 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will
26 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
27 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
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1 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense
2 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
3 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
4 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
5 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
6 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
7 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
8 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
9 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
10 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
11 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
12 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
13 PROTECTED MATERIAL
14 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
15 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
16 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
17 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
18 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without
19 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar
20 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
21 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
22 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
23 to the court.
24 12. MISCELLANEOUS
25 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
26 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
27 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
28 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
1 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
2 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
3 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
4 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
5 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
6 only be 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 Material
8 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
9 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
10 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
11 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
12 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
13 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
14 this subdivision, "all Protected Material" includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
15 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
16 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
17 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
18 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
19 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
20 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
21 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
22 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
23 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
24 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
25 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
26 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
27 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
28 Section 4.
1 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
2 □□ contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
3 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
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5 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS
6 ||SO ORDERED.
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10 || Date: July 6, 2023 fu
Fon, Pedro V. Castillo ——SOSOSCS~™S
12 United States Magistrate Judge
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PROTECTIVE ORDER
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of Global
8 Med Group, LLC v. New High Ltd., Case No. 2:22-cv-06031-CAS-PVC. I agree to
9 comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and
10 I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to
11 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will
12 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated
13 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the
14 provisions of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full
19 name] of _______________________________________ [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.
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24 Date:
25 City and State where sworn and signed:
26 Printed name:
27 Signature:
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