1 2 3 4 5 6 7 DISTRICT COURT 8 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 NAZILA NEMAN, an individual; and Case No. 2:19-cv-10104-RGK (AFMx) BIJAN NEMAN, an individual; 11 [State Court Case No. 19SMCV002881] Plaintiffs, 12 [PROPOSED] STIPULATED v. PROTECTIVE ORDER1 13 STATE FARM GENERAL 14 INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois corporation; and DOES 1 through 20, 15 inclusive, 16 Defendants. 17 18 19 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 20 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 21 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 22 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 23 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 24 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does 25 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 26 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 27 28 1This Stipulated Protective Order is based substantially on the model protective order provided under Magistrate 1 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 2 legal principles. 3 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 4 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, and other valuable research, 5 development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information, as well 6 as private personal information, for which special protection from public disclosure 7 and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. More 8 specifically, this action may involve the production of State Farm’s pertinent 9 operational guidelines and State Farm’s underwriting file, which were created with 10 considerable time and expense. Further, such materials were created and maintained 11 for a business purpose, and contain unique information to State Farm. Additionally, 12 such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 13 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding 14 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or 15 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third 16 parties), private personal information, information otherwise generally unavailable to 17 the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under 18 state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Further, this 19 action is likely to involve the production of Plaintiffs’ confidential healthcare records 20 as Plaintiffs’ seek damages for loss of enjoyment of property and emotional distress 21 damages, which include, but it not limited to, stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, worry, 22 frustration, sadness, and hopelessness. 23 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 24 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 25 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 26 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and 27 in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve 28 the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. 1 It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for 2 tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it 3 has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause 4 why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 5 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER 6 SEAL 7 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 8 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 9 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 10 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 11 material under seal. 12 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 13 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 14 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 15 County of Honolulu,

(9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 16 Corp.,

, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002),Makar-Welbonv.Sony Electrics, Inc., 17

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good 18 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with 19 proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to 20 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation 21 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the 22 submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material 23 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 24 protectable—constitute good cause. 25 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 26 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 27 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See 28 Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n.,

(9th Cir. 2010). For each 1 item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under 2 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must 3 articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for 4 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to 5 file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 6 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 7 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 8 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only 9 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall 10 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 11 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 12 2. DEFINITIONS 13 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, entitled Nazila & Bijan Neman v. 14 State Farm General Insurance Company, Case No. 2:19-cv-10104-RGK (AFMx). 15 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 16 of information or items under this Order. 17 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 18 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 19 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 20 Cause Statement. 21 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (aswell as their 22 support staff). 23 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 24 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 27 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 28 1 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 2 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 3 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 4 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 5 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 6 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 7 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 8 counsel. 9 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 10 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 11 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 12 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 13 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 14 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 15 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 16 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 17 support staffs). 18 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 19 Discovery Material in this Action. 20 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 21 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 22 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 23 and their employees and subcontractors. 24 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 25 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 27 from a Producing Party. 28 1 3. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 4 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 5 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 6 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 8 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 9 4. DURATION 10 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 11 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 12 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 13 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 14 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 15 of the trial. See Kamakana,

(distinguishing “good cause” 16 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 17 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 18 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 19 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 21 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 22 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 23 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 24 only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that 25 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications 26 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 27 this Order. 28 1 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 2 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 3 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 4 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 5 to sanctions. 6 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 7 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 8 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 9 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 10 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 11 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 12 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 13 produced. 14 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 15 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 16 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 17 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 18 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 19 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 20 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 21 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 22 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 23 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 24 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 25 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 26 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 27 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 28 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 1 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 2 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material 3 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 4 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 5 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 6 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 7 deposition all protected testimony. 8 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 9 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place 10 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 11 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 12 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 13 portion(s). 14 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 15 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 16 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 17 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 18 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 19 Order. 20 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 21 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 22 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 23 Scheduling Order. 24 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 25 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 26 6.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 27 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 28 1 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 2 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 3 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 4 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 5 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 6 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 7 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 8 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 10 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 11 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 12 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 13 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 14 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 15 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 16 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 17 authorized under this Order. 18 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 19 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 20 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 21 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 22 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, 23 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 24 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 25 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 26 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 27 28 1 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 2 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 4 (d) the court and its personnel; 5 (e) court reporters and their staff; 6 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 7 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and 8 who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information 10 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 11 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 12 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 13 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they 14 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 16 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 17 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 18 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 19 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 21 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 22 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 23 OTHER LITIGATION 24 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 25 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 26 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 27 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 28 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 2 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 3 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 4 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 5 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 6 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 8 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 9 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 10 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 11 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 12 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 13 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 14 directive from another court. 15 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 16 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 18 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 19 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 20 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 21 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 22 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 23 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 24 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 25 confidential information, then the Party shall: 26 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 27 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 28 agreement with a Non-Party; 1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the 2 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 3 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by 5 the Non-Party, if requested. 6 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 7 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 8 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 9 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 10 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to 11 the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 12 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense 13 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 14 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 16 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 18 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 19 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 20 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 21 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 22 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 23 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 24 PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 26 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 27 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 28 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 1 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 2 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 3 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 4 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 5 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 6 to the court. 7 12. MISCELLANEOUS 8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 11 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 16 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 17 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 18 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal 19 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 20 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 21 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 23 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 24 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material, except in order 25 to comply with laws or regulations concerning disclosure, or in the conduct of the 26 Parties’ communications with attorneys, financial advisors or auditors or insurers, or 27 in the conduct of the Parties’ business including without limitation disclosure by State 28 Farm to its reinsurers, counsel and auditors. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected 1|| Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other 2|| format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected 3|| Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 4|| certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 5|| Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 6|| appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms 7\|that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 9|| Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 10|| pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 11|| correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, 12||and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 13|| Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 14|| remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 14. VIOLATION 16 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 17|| including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 18 19] FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 DATED: 7/16/2020 22 23 (Wy Woe 24 ALEXANDER F.MacKINNON —ssi—‘“—~*~s~S™ United States Magistrate Judge 27 28 14

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, ___________________________________________________ [print or type full 5 name], of ____________________________________________________ [print or 6 type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 7 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 8 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of Nazila & 9 Bijan Neman v. State Farm General Insurance Company, Case No. 2:19-cv-10104- 10 RGK (AFMx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 11 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 12 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 13 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that 14 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 15 compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the 16 jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of California 17 for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement 18 proceedings occur after termination of this action. 19 I hereby appoint _________________________________ [print or type full name] 20 of _______________________________________________ [print or type full 21 address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in 22 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this 23 Stipulated Protective Order. 24 Date: ___________________ 25 City and State where sworn and signed: ___________________________________ 26 Printed name: ________________________________________________________ 27 Signature: ___________________________________________________________ 28