Joyce Igasaki v. State Farm General Insurance Company

1 HELEN M. LUETTO, State Bar No. 119478

hluetto@wfbm.com

2 SHEILA K. McDONALD, State Bar No. 232863

smcdonald@wfbm.com

3 MARLENE K. FLORES, State Bar No. 304302

mflores@wfbm.com

4 WFBM, LLP

Attorneys at Law

5 19900 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 1150

Irvine, California 92612-2445

6 Telephone: (714) 634-2522

Facsimile: (714) 634-0686

7

Attorneys for Defendant STATE FARM

8 GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11

12 JOYCE IGASAKI, an individual, Case No. 8:22-cv-01978 - FWS-DFM

13 Plaintiff, Judge: Fred W. Slaughter

14 v. ORDER REGARDING PARTIES'

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

15 STATE FARM GENERAL ORDER CONCERNING

INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

16 corporation; and DOES 1 through 100,

inclusive,

17 Action Filed: April 20, 2022

Defendants. Trial Date: April 30, 2024

18

19

The Court, having reviewed the plaintiff Joyce Igasaki ("Plaintiff") and State

20

Farm General Insurance Company's ("State Farm's) stipulation regarding a protective

21

order concerning confidential information [DOC. 23], hereby enters the Protective

22

Order, which shall now read as follows:

23

1.A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

24

Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

25

proprietary or private information for which special protection from public disclosure

26

and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.

27

Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the

1 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does

2 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that

3 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited

4 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable

5 legal principles.

6 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

7 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and

8 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or

9 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from

10 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such

11 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,

12 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential

13 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial

14 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),

15 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged

16 or 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 materials,

19 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to

20 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in

21 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the

22 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is

23 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be

24 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated

25 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public

26 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this

27 case.

1 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL

2 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, 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 and

5 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file

6 material under seal.

7 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial

8 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions,

9 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and

10 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006); Phillips v. Gen. Motors

11 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc.,

12 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good

13 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with

14 proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to

15 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation

16 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the

17 submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material

18 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise

19 protectable—constitute good cause.

20 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then

21 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief

22 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See

23 Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each

24 item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under

25 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must

26 articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for

27 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to

1 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in

2 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If

3 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only

4 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document shall

5 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety

6 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

7 2. DEFINITIONS

8 2.1 Action: Joyce Igasaki v. State Farm General Insurance Company,

9 United States District Court, Case No. 8:22-cv-01978 - FWS-DFM.

10 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation

11 of information or items under this Order.

12 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

13 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection

14 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good

15 Cause Statement.

16 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their

17 support staff).

18 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

19 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as

20 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

21 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

22 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,

23 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or

24 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

25 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

26 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as

27 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

1 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

2 counsel.

3 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or

4 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

5 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party

6 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have

7 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that

8 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

9 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

10 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their

11 support staffs).

12 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

13 Discovery Material in this Action.

14 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

15 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

16 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)

17 and their employees and subcontractors.

18 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

19 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

20 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

21 from a Producing Party.

22 3. SCOPE

23 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

24 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted

25 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of

26 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties

27 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

1 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

2 4. DURATION

3 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

4 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced

5 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all

6 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by

7 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance

8 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”

9 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”

10 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the

11 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

12 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

13 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

14 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this

15 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies

16 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection

17 only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that

18 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications

19 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of

20 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 impose

24 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party

25 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 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

2 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise

3 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection

4 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or

5 produced.

6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

7 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,

8 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the

9 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter

10 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a

11 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

12 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings

13 in the margins).

14 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection

15 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated

16 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and

17 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be

18 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents

19 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,

20 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing

21 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL

22 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material

23 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the

24 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

25 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies the

26 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all

27 protected testimony.

1 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior

2 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

3 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants

4 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected

5 portion(s).

6 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

7 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the

8 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.

9 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable

10 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this

11 Order.

12 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

13 6.1 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 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

17 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.

18 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on

19 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose

20 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may

21 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived

22 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the

23 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing

24 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

25 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

26 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

27 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this

1 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the

2 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving

3 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 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 well as

12 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to

13 disclose the information for this Action;

14 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the

15 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 Vendors

22 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

23 “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 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 be

5 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as

6 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

7 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually

8 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.

9 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN

10 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 shall

15 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

16 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to

17 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena

18 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of

19 this Stipulated Protective Order; and

20 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued

21 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 shall not produce any information designated in this action

24 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena

25 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The

26 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court

27 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as

1 directive from another court.

2 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

3 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

4 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-

5 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information

6 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the

7 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be

8 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce

10 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an

11 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential

12 information, then the Party shall:

13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that

14 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with

15 a Non-Party;

16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective

17 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific

18 description of the information requested; and

19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party,

20 if requested.

21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14

22 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may

23 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.

24 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce

25 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality

26 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court

27 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

1 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

3 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

4 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in

5 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts

6 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or

7 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,

8 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and

9 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

10 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

11 PROTECTED MATERIAL

12 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

13 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,

14 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil

15 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure

16 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior

17 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the

18 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or

19 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the

20 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted

21 to the court.

22 12. MISCELLANEOUS

23 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

24 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

25 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

26 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

27 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

1 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

2 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

3 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may

4 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific

5 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal

6 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public

7 record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

8 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

9 A. After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4,

10 within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party

11 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As

12 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,

13 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the

14 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the

15 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not

16 the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1)

17 identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned

18 or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,

19 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any

20 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to

21 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing

22 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert

23 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such

24 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or

25 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in

26 Section 4.

27 B. Nothing in this Order disallows State Farm's from:

1 ||/reporting of information to a regulator or government entity as permitted and/or

2 || required by applicable state and federal law;

3 b. adding information discovered that is relevant to a claim to the relevant

4 || electronic record in its electronic claim system;

5 C. disclosing evidence of a crime or fraud; retaining information necessary

6 || to meet mandated retention requirements; or,

7 d. retaining copies of Protected Material that may exists on back-up media

8 || or other computer or archive storage not regularly accessed by business users in the

9 ordinary course provided that should a copy of the Confidential Information be

10 || accessed it will not be used for a purpose inconsistent with this Order.

11]}14. VIOLATION

12 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures

13 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

16

17||FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

18

19 || DATED: September 21, 2023

20 ¢ n—\>

HON. DOUGLAS F. McCORMICK

United States District Court Magistrate Judge

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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 that

6 I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was

7 issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on

8 [date] in the case of Joyce Igasaki v. State Farm General Insurance Company, Case

9 No. 8:22-cv-01978 - FWS- DFM. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the

10 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 information

13 or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except

14 in strict compliance with the 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 enforcing the terms of this Stipulated

17 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this

18 action. 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.

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