distinguishing “good cause” 18 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 19 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
How later courts described this case
- distinguishing “good cause” 18 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 19 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
1 ROBERT E. HESS (SBN CA 178042)
rhess@maynardnexsen.com
2 CHARLES K. CHINEDUH (SBN 273258)
Charles.Chineduh@maynardnexsen.com
3 MAYNARD NEXSEN LLP
10100 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 550
4 Los Angeles, CA 90067
Telephone: (310) 596-4500
5
Attorneys for Defendant
6 Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company
7
8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11 JOHN BRIAN W. HORN, Case No.: 8:23-cv-00789-FWS-ADS
12 Plaintiff, (Hon. Fred W. Slaughter and Hon.
Autumn D. Spaeth)
13 vs.
14 PROVIDENT LIFE AND ACCIDENT STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
INSURANCE COMPANY; and DOES ORDER
15 1 through 10, inclusive,
16 Defendants.
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1 Plaintiff John Brian W. Horn and Defendant Provident Life and Accident
2 Insurance Company (collectively the “Parties”), by and through their counsel of
3 record, hereby stipulate to the following Protective Order regarding documents to be
4 produced in the above-captioned matter:
5 I. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
6 A. Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
7 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure
8 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.
9 Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the
10 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does
11 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that
12 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
13 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable
14 legal principles. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section XIII(C),
15 below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential
16 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be
17 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from
18 the Court to file material under seal.
19 II. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
20 This action is likely to involve confidential corporate information, trade secrets
21 and other commercial, financial and/or proprietary information for which special
22 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution
23 of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and
24 information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial
25 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other
26 confidential research, development, or commercial information (including
27 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise
28
1 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected
2 from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common
3 law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
4 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
5 protect information the Parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
6 Parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for
7 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and
8 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
9 matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be designated as
10 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith
11 belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is
12 good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
13 III. DEFINITIONS
14 A. Action: This pending federal lawsuit styled, John Brian W. Horn v.
15 Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company, United States District Court,
16 Central District of California, Case No. 8:23-cv-00789-FWS-ADS.
17 B. Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
18 of information or items under this Order.
19 C. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of
20 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection
21 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good
22 Cause Statement.
23 D. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their
24 support staff).
25 E. Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or
26 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
27 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
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1 F. Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless
2 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
3 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
4 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
5 G. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
6 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
7 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
8 H. House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
9 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
10 counsel.
11 I. Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
12 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
13 J. Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party
14 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
15 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
16 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
17 K. Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
18 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
19 support staffs).
20 L. Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
21 Discovery Material in this Action.
22 M. Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support
23 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
24 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
25 and their employees and subcontractors.
26 N. Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
27 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
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1 O. Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
2 from a Producing Party.
3 IV. SCOPE
4 A. The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
5 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted
6 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of
7 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties
8 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
9 B. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of
10 the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
11 V. DURATION
12 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
13 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Protective Order becomes public and will
14 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
15 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
16 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of
17 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
18 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
19 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
20 terms of this Protective Order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
21 VI. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
22 A. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection
23 1. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for
24 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific
25 material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must
26 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or
27 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
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1 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
2 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
3 2. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.
4 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an
5 improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or
6 to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the
7 Designating Party to sanctions.
8 3. If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or
9 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating
10 Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable
11 designation.
12 B. Manner and Timing of Designations
13 1. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., Section
14 B(2)(b) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery
15 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated
16 before the material is disclosed or produced.
17 2. Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following:
18 a. For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or
19 electronic 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 b. A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents
26 available for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the
27 inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced.
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1 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available
2 for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has
3 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
4 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this
5 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must
6 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material.
7 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
8 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
9 appropriate markings in the margins).
10 c. For testimony given in depositions, that the Designating
11 Party identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of
12 the deposition all protected testimony.
13 d. For information produced in form other than document and
14 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
15 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend
16 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
17 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
18 portion(s).
19 C. Inadvertent Failure to Designate
20 1. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified
21 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to
22 secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a
23 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the
24 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
25 ///
26 ///
27 ///
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1 VII. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
2 A. Timing of Challenges
3 1. Any party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of
4 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
5 B. Meet and Confer
6 1. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process
7 under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
8 C. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
9 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
10 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
11 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
12 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
13 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing
14 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
15 VIII. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
16 A. Basic Principles
17 1. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or
18 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for
19 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material
20 may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described
21 in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply
22 with the provisions of Section XIV below.
23 2. Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving
24 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the
25 persons authorized under this Order.
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1 B. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items
2 1. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by
3 the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item
4 designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
5 a. The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this
6 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is
7 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
8 b. The officers, directors, and employees (including House
9 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
10 Action;
11 c. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to
12 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
13 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
14 d. The Court and its personnel;
15 e. Court reporters and their staff;
16 f. Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
17 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and
18 who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” attached as
19 Exhibit A hereto;
20 g. The author or recipient of a document containing the
21 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the
22 information;
23 h. During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for
24 witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (i) the
25 deposing party requests that the witness sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement
26 to Be Bound;” and (ii) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information
27 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound,” unless
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1 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of
2 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected
3 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to
4 anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
5 i. Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting
6 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement
7 discussions.
8 IX. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
9 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
10 A. If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other
11 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this
12 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
13 1. Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such
14 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
15 2. Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
16 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
17 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
18 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
19 3. Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
20 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
21 B. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served
22 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
23 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court from which the
24 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
25 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
26 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 to
2 disobey a lawful directive from another court.
3 X. 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 Non-
6 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 shall:
14 1. Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
15 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
16 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 may
24 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.
25 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce
26 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality
27 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court
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1 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
2 protection in this court of its Protected Material.
3 XI. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
4 A. If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
5 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
6 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (1)
7 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its best
8 efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) inform the
9 person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of
10 this Order, and (4) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment
11 and Agreement to be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
12 XII. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
13 PROTECTED MATERIAL
14 A. 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 prior
19 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
20 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 XIII. MISCELLANEOUS
25 A. Right to Further Relief
26 1. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its
27 modification by the Court in the future.
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1 B. Right to Assert Other Objections
2 1. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, no Party
3 waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any
4 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order.
5 Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any
6 of the material covered by this Protective Order.
7 C. Filing Protected Material
8 1. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must
9 comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed under seal
10 pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at
11 issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court,
12 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
13 otherwise instructed by the Court.
14 XIV. FINAL DISPOSITION
15 A. After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section V, within
16 sixty (60) days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party
17 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
18 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
19 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
20 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the
21 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not
22 the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1)
23 identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned
24 or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
25 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
26 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
27 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
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1 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
2 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
3 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
4 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
5 Section V.
6 B. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
7 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
8 sanctions.
9 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
10 DONAHUE & HORROW, LLP
11
Dated: November 22, 2023 By: /s/ Scott E. Calvert
12 MICHAEL B. HORROW
SCOTT E. CALVERT
13 Attorneys for Plaintiff
JOHN BRIAN W. HORN
14
15
MAYNARD NEXSEN LLP
16
Dated: November 22, 2023 By: /s/ Charles K. Chineduh
17 ROBERT E. HESS
CHARLES K. CHINEDUH
18 Attorneys for Defendant
PROVIDENT LIFE AND ACCIDENT
19 INSURANCE COMPANY
20
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22 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
23
24 Dated: 11/27/2023 /s/ Autumn D. Speath
HONORABLE AUTUMN D. SPAETH
25
United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, [print/type full name], whose address is
4 [print/type full address], declare under penalty of
5 perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order
6 that was issue by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
7 on ___________, 202__ [date] in the case entitled John Brian W. Horn v. Provident
8 Life and Accident Insurance Company, Case No. 8:23-cv-00789-FWS-ADS. I agree
9 to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order
10 and 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 [print/type full name]
19 whose address is [print/type full address],
20 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 sworn and signed:
25 Printed Name:
26 Signature:
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