Curtis Conyers v. Marisa Cano
Curtis Conyers v. Marisa Cano
Trial Court Opinion
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16 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
18 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 19
20 CURTIS CONYERS and DANIEL ) Case No. 2:20-cv03146 JFW (PLAx) 21 LANGFORD, trustees and/or ) participants of the CARPENTERS ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 22 SOUTHWEST TRUSTS ) ORDER 23 ) Plaintiffs, ) Complaint Filed: April 3, 2020 24 vs. ) 25 ) MARISA CANO, an individual; and 26 ) SANDRA MALONEY, an individual ) 27 ) Defendants. SANDRA MALONEY, an individual, ) 1 ) 2 Counterclaim Plaintiff, ) 3 ) vs. ) 4 ) CARPENTERS SOUTHWEST 5 ) ADMINISTRATIVE ) 6 CORPORATION, a California ) Corporation; CURTIS CONYERS and 7 ) DANIEL LANGFORD, trustees 8 and/or participants of the ) ) CARPENTERS SOUTHWEST 9 TRUSTS; BOARD OF TRUSTEES ) 10 FOR THE CARPENTERS ) SOUTHWEST TRUSTS: DOUGLAS ) 11 MCCARRON, an Individual; ) 12 ) 13 Counterclaim Defendants. ) ) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 1. GENERAL 2 a. Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve 3 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which 4 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other 5 than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties 6 hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 7 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer 8 blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the 9 protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 10 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under 11 the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 12 in Section 12(c), below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle 13 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets 14 forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be 15 applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under 16 seal. 17 b. Good Cause Statement. This action may implicate personal and private 18 information including, but not limited to, information protected under 19 HIPAA and information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, which 20 may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or 21 federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to 22 expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of 23 disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials to adequately protect 24 information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 25 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 26 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end 27 of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 1 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that 2 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and 3 that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been 4 maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why 5 it should not be part of the public record of this case. 6 2. DEFINITIONS 7 a. Action: this federal lawsuit filed in Central District Court of California; Case 8 Name: Curtis Conyers, et al v. Marisa Cano, et al., Case No. cv:20-3146- 9 JFW (PLAx). 10 b. Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 11 information or items under this Order. 12 c. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 13 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 14 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified 15 above in the Good Cause Statement. 16 d. Counsel: Outside Counsels of Record (as well as their support staff). 17 e. Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items 18 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 19 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 20 f. Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 21 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 22 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are 23 produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 24 g. Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 25 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to 26 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 27 1 h. Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other 2 legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 3 i. Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 4 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 5 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a 6 law firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff. 7 j. Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 8 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record 9 (and their support staffs). 10 k. Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 11 Material in this Action. 12 l. Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 13 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 14 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 15 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 16 m. Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 17 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 n. Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from 19 a Producing Party. 20 3. SCOPE 21 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 22 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 23 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 24 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 25 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 26 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 27 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 1 4. DURATION 2 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be 3 introduced that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant 4 to this protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 5 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported 6 by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in 7 advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 8 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 9 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when 10 merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this 11 protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 12 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 a. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 14 i. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for 15 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such 16 designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 17 standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only 18 those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 19 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 20 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not 21 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 22 ii. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 23 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been 24 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the 25 case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and 26 burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to 27 sanctions. 1 iii. If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items 2 that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that 3 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 4 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 5 b. Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 6 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5(b)(i) below), or as otherwise 7 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for 8 protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material 9 is disclosed or produced. Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 10 i. for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 11 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or 12 trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the 13 legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), 14 to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or 15 portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 16 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 17 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 18 ii. A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 19 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the 20 inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied 21 and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of 22 the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 23 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 24 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 25 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection 26 under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the 27 Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each 1 page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of 2 the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party 3 also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 4 appropriate markings in the margins). 5 1. for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 6 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before 7 the close of the deposition. 8 2. for information produced in some form other than documentary 9 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in 10 a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in 11 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If 12 only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 13 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 14 protected portion(s). 15 c. Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 16 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 17 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 18 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must 19 make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance 20 with the provisions of this Order. 21 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 22 a. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 23 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling 24 Order. 25 b. Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 26 process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly 27 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3. 1 c. Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be 2 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 3 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and 4 burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. 5 Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality 6 designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the 7 level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s 8 designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 9 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 a. Basic Principles. 11 i. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 12 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 13 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this 14 Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the 15 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. 16 When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply 17 with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 18 ii. Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving 19 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is 20 limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 21 b. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 22 ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 23 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 24 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 25 i. the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 26 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is 27 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 1 ii. the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 2 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 3 this Action; 4 iii. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 5 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 6 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 7 iv. the Court and its personnel; 8 v. court reporters and their staff; 9 vi. professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 10 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action 11 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 12 Bound” (Exhibit A); 13 vii. the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 14 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the 15 information; 16 viii. during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 17 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the 18 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as 19 Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any 20 confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and 21 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the 22 Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 23 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 24 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not 25 be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated 26 Protective Order; and 27 1 ix. any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 2 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 3 discussions. 4 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 5 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 6 a. If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 7 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action 8 as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 9 i. promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 10 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 11 ii. promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 12 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered 13 by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such 14 notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; 15 and 16 iii. cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 17 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be 18 affected. 19 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served 20 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in 21 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which 22 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 23 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 24 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 25 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 26 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 27 1 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 3 a. The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 4 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 5 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is 6 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 7 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking 8 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 11 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 12 confidential information, then the Party shall: 13 i. 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 15 agreement with a Non-Party; 16 ii. promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 17 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and 18 a reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 19 iii. make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 20 Party, 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 23 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to 24 the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the 25 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or 26 control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party 27 before a determination by the Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the 1 Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 2 Court of its Protected Material. 3 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 a. If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 5 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under 6 this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 7 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) 8 use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected 9 Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures 10 were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or 11 persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that 12 is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 13 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 14 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 a. When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 16 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 17 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in 18 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended 19 to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order 20 that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to 21 Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an 22 agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information 23 covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 24 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order 25 submitted to the Court.
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27 1 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 a. Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person 3 to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 4 b. Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 5 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object 6 to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not 7 addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any 8 right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 9 by this Protective Order. 10 c. Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected 11 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 12 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of 13 the specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the 14 request to file under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under 15 seal is denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 16 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. 17 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 18 a. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims 19 and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment 20 herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 21 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing 22 any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 23 b. After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request 24 by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected 25 Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 26 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 27 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any 1 of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or 2 destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the 3 Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating 4 Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 5 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and 6 (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 7 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 8 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are 9 entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, 10 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, 11 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and 12 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 13 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected 14 Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 15 (DURATION).
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18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER 2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 3 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or 4 monetary sanctions. 5 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 6 Dated: October 2, 2020 DeCARLO & SHANLEY A Professional Corporation 7 By: /s/ Daniel Shanley_____ 8 Attorneys for Plaintiffs and Counterclaim Defendants 9
10 Dated: October 2, 2020 Patrick M. Maloney The Maloney Firm, APC 11 By:_/s/ Patrick Maloney___ 12 Attorneys for Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff 13 Dated: October 2, 2020 Jay S. Rothman 14 Jay S. Rothman & Associates 15 By:/s/ Jay S. Rothman____ 16 Attorneys for Defendant Marisa 17 Cano
18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 DATED: October 2, 2020 ________________________ 20 Hon. Paul L. Abrams 21 United States Magistrate Judge 22
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27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, [print or type full name], of 4 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that 5 I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was 6 issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on 7 ________ in the case of Curtis Conyers, et al v. Marisa Cano, et al., Case No. 8 cv:20-3146-JFW (PLAx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms 9 of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure 10 to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 11 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 12 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 13 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 15 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms 16 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur 17 after termination of this action. I hereby appoint 18 [print or type full name] of [print or type full 19 address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in 20 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this 21 Stipulated Protective Order. 22 23 Date: 24 City and State where sworn and signed: 25 Printed Name: 26 Signature: 27
Reference
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