distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents 13 produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 14 related documents are part of court record
How later courts described this case
- distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents 13 produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 14 related documents are part of court record
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
1 SEKI, NISHIMURA & WATASE, PLC
2 JOSEPH P. ESPOSITO (142785)
jesposito@snw-law.com
3 JANET L. KEUPER (SBN 128417) NOTE: CHANGES MADE BY THE COURT
4 jkeuper@snw-law.com
600 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1250
5 Los Angeles, California 90017
6 Tel.: (213) 481-2869 | Fax: (213) 481-2871
7
Attorneys for Defendant COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
8
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9
10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
11
SEBASTIAN PALMA, Case No.: 2:23-cv-06829-AB-JPR
12
13 Plaintiff, (Hon. Judge Andre Birotte, Jr.)
14
vs. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
15 ORDER
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES;
16
DEPUTY NAVARRO; and DOES 1
17 through 10 inclusive, Complaint Filed: August 18, 2023
18
Defendants.
19
20 Plaintiff SEBASTIAN PALMA, and Defendant, COUNTY OF LOS
21 ANGELES, by and through their respective counsel, hereby stipulate and
22 agree as follows:
23 1. INTRODUCTION
24 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
25 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
26 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public
27
28
1
disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation
2
may be warranted.
3
Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
4
enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge
5
that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or
6
responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public
7
disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are
8
entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
9
The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below,
10
that this Stipulated Protective Order does not automatically entitle them to
11
file confidential information under seal and that Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets
12
forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be
13
applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under
14
seal. The parties agree that this protective order does not waive the parties’
15
rights to object to discovery demands or requests for documents and/or
16
information.
17
1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
18
This civil action arises out of the arrest of plaintiff, Sebastian Palma
19
on May 9, 2022 by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies. Plaintiff claims
20
he was arrested on a false charge of molesting his ex-girlfriend’s daughter.
21
He further claims that he was denied medical care, missed his arraignment,
22
and that although the District Attorney declined to file charges against
23
Plaintiff on May 11, 2022, he was not released until May 13, 2022 and on
24
May 12, 2022, he was battered by other inmates causing severe pain and
25
injuries.
26
This action is likely to involve confidential, proprietary, official,
27
and/or private law enforcement and police personnel information for which
28
1
special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other
2
than prosecution of this action may be warranted. Such confidential and
3
proprietary materials and information may consist of, among other things,
4
confidential proprietary information/or private personnel police information,
5
contained in police personnel files, official law enforcement investigative
6
information, information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or
7
which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state
8
or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law.
9
Additionally, the action is likely to involve confidential information
10
regarding Plaintiff, including medical records, as well as information
11
regarding the allegations of the minor victim.
12
Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the
13
prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to
14
adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential,
15
to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such
16
material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their
17
handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a
18
protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent
19
of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for
20
tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief
21
that it has been maintained as confidential.
22
2. DEFINITIONS
23
2.1 Action: Sebastian Palma v. County of Los Angeles, et al., 2:23-
24
cv-06829-AB-JPR.
25
2.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the
26
designation of information or items under this Order.
27
28
1
2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information
2
(regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things
3
that a Designating Party believes is entitled to confidential treatment under
4
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the
5
Purposes and Limitations Statement. This also includes (1) any information
6
copied or extracted from the Confidential information; (2) all copies,
7
excerpts, summaries, abstracts or compilations of Confidential information;
8
and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations that might reveal
9
Confidential information.
10
2.4 Counsel: Counsel of record for the parties to this civil litigation
11
and their support staff.
12
2.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates
13
information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to
14
discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
15
2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information,
16
regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or
17
maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and
18
tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses
19
to discovery in this matter.
20
2.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in
21
a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its
22
counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
23
2.8 Final Disposition: When this Action has been fully and
24
completely terminated by way of settlement, dismissal, trial and/or appeal.
25
2.9 House Counsel: Attorneys other than Counsel (as defined in
26
paragraph 2.4) and who are employees of a party to this Action.
27
28
1
2.10 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation,
2
association or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
3
2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees
4
of a party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this
5
Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are
6
affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, and
7
includes support staff.
8
2.12 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers,
9
directors, boards, departments, divisions, employees, consultants, retained
10
experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staff).
11
2.13 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces
12
Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action.
13
2.14 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide
14
litigation support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating,
15
preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving
16
data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
17
2.15 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material
18
that is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
19
2.16 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
20
Material from a Producing Party.
21
3. SCOPE
22
The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
23
Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
24
extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, abstracts,
25
summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any deposition
26
testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that
27
might reveal Protected Material.
28
1
Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders
2
of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material
3
at trial.
4
4. DURATION
5
Once a trial commences in this Action, information that was
6
designated as CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective
7
order and that is introduced or admitted as an exhibit at trial becomes public
8
and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including
9
the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to
10
proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See
11
Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th
12
Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents
13
produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-
14
related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this
15
protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
16
5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
17
5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for
18
Protection.
19
Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for
20
protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to
21
specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. To the extent
22
practicable, the Designating Party must designate for protection only those
23
parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that
24
qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items or
25
communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
26
unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
27
28
1
Indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
2
that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an
3
improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development
4
process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties)
5
may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
6
If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items
7
that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that
8
Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is
9
withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
10
5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise
11
provided in this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below),
12
or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that
13
qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before
14
the material is disclosed or produced.
15
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
16
(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
17
documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
18
proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
19
“CONFIDENTIAL” or words of a similar effect, and that includes the case
20
name and case number (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each
21
page that contains protected material. To the extent practicable, if only a
22
portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
23
Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
24
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
27
Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced.
28
1
During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made
2
available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the
3
inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced,
4
the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof,
5
qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified
6
documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend”
7
to each page that contains Protected Material. To the extent practicable, if
8
only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
9
Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by
10
making appropriate markings in the margins):
11
(b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
12
identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the
13
close of the deposition all protected testimony.
14
(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary
15
and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a
16
prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the
17
information is stored the legend
18
“CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
19
warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall
20
identify the protected portion(s).
21
5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an
22
inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not,
23
standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection
24
under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of an inadvertent
25
failure to designate, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to
26
assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
27
Order.
28
1
6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
2
6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge
3
a designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
4
Scheduling Order.
5
6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the
6
dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
7
6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
8
shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for
9
an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and
10
burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions.
11
Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality
12
designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the
13
level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s
14
designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
15
7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
16
7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected
17
Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in
18
connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to
19
settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the
20
categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When
21
the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the
22
provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
23
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
25
to the persons authorized under this Order.
26
7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items.
27
Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the
28
1
Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item
2
designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
3
(a) the Receiving Party’s Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as
4
employees of said Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to
5
disclose the information for this Action;
6
(b) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
7
disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
8
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9
(c) the court and its personnel;
10
(d) court reporters and their staff;
11
(e) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
12
Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who
13
have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit
14
A);
15
(f) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or
16
a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the
17
information;
18
(g) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in
19
the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the
20
deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit
21
“A” hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential
22
information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
23
Bound” (Exhibit “A”), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or
24
ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to
25
depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the
26
court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under
27
this Stipulated Protective Order;
28
1
(h) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
2
mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement
3
discussions and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to
4
Be Bound” (Exhibit A); and
5
(i) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
6
of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
7
Action.
8
8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
9
PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
10
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
12
this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
13
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
14
shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law;
15
(b) 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
17
by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such
18
notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
19
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
20
pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
21
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order in the action
22
in which the subpoena or order was issued, the Party served with the
23
subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
24
action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from
25
which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the
26
Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden
27
and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material –
28
1
and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or
2
encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive
3
from another court.
4
9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
5
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
6
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by
7
a Non- Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such
8
information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is
9
protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these
10
provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking
11
additional protections.
12
(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request,
13
to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the
14
Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-
15
Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
16
(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the
17
Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is
18
subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
19
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the
20
Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant
21
discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of
22
the information requested; and
23
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by
24
the Non-Party, if requested.
25
(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court
26
within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the
27
28
1
Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information
2
responsive to the discovery request.
3
If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party
4
shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject
5
to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination
6
by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear
7
the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected
8
Material.
9
10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED
10
MATERIAL
11
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
12
disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not
13
authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must
14
immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized
15
disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the
16
Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized
17
disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such
18
person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
19
Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
20
11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
21
OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
22
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
23
inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
24
protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in
25
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended
26
to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order
27
that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to
28
1
Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an
2
agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information
3
covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
4
parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order
5
submitted to the court provided the Court so allows.
6
12. MISCELLANEOUS
7
12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the
8
right of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
9
12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry
10
of this Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have
11
to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground
12
not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives
13
any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material
14
covered by this Protective Order.
15
12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal
16
any Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected
17
Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing
18
the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to
19
file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving
20
Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise
21
instructed by the court.
22
13. FINAL DISPOSITION
23
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraphs 2.8
24
and 4, within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each
25
Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or
26
destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material”
27
includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format
28
1
reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the
2
Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit
3
a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or
4
entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by
5
category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
6
destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any
7
copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing
8
or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision,
9
Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion
10
papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
11
correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work
12
product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials
13
contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
14
constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set
15
forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
16
14. VIOLATION
17
Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate
18
measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or
19
monetary sanctions.
20
21
IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
22
DATED: March 29, 2024 SEKI, NISHIMURA & WATASE, PLC
23
24
By /s/ JANET L. KEUPER
25
JANET L. KEUPER
26 JOSEPH P. ESPOSITO
Attorneys for Defendant
27
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
28
1
2
3 || DATED: March 29, 2024 PLC LAW GROUP, APC
A
5
By: __/s/ NA’SHAUN L. NEAL
6 PETER L. CARR, IV
7 NA’SHAUN L. NEAL
LAUREN K. McRAE
8 Attorneys for Plaintiff
9 SEBASTIAN PALMA
10
11
b FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
13
4 DATED: 4/2/2024
15 ft hrehlotln
16 || HON. JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH
7 United States Magistrate Judge
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
1
EXHIBIT A
2
ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
I, _____________________________ [full name], of
4
_________________ [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I
5
have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
6
was issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on
7
[date] in the case of Sebastian Palma v. County of Los Angeles, et al., 2:23-
8
cv-06829-AB-JPR. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all terms of
9
this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that
10
failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment,
11
including contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any
12
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
14
of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the U.S. District
15
Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the
16
terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement
17
proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint
18
__________________________ [full name] of
19
_______________________________________ [full address and telephone
20
number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
21
this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated
22
Protective Order.
23
Date: ______________________________________
24
City and State where signed: _________________________________
25
Printed name: _______________________________
26
Signature: _________________________________
27
28