JEFFREY A. TOPOR (SBN 195545) 1 [email protected] LEANNE C. YU (SBN 290698) 2 [email protected] SIMMONDS & NARITA LLP 3 44 Montgomery Street, Suite 3010 San Francisco, CA 94104-4816 4 Telephone: (415) 283-1000 Facsimile: (415) 352-2625 5

6 Attorneys for Defendant Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC 7

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 12 HUGO RIVERA, CASE NO.: 2:19-cv-07909-RGK-AFM

13 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER1 14 vs. 15

16 PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES; and DOES 1 through 10, 17 inclusive, 18 19 Defendants.

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26 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is based substantially on the model 27 protective order provided under Magistrate Judge Alexander F. MacKinnon’s 28 Procedures. 1 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 3 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 10 under the applicable legal principles. 11 12 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 13 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, private financial information, or 14 company specific policies and procedures and/or proprietary information for which 15 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 16 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials 17 and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial 18 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or commercial 19 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), 20 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 21 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 22 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 23 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 24 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to 25 keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses 26 of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their 27 handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order 28 for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that 1 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that 2 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in 3 a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part 4 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 10 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 11 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right 12 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non- 13 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See 14 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu,

(9th Cir. 2006), 15 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp.,

, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar- 16 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc.,

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 17 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 18 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 19 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to 20 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material 21 as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the submission of competent evidence by 22 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 23 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 24 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 25 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 26 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 27 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n.,

(9th Cir. 2010). For 28 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 1 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 2 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 3 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 4 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 5 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 6 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. 7 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting 8 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, 9 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their 10 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 11 12 2. DEFINITIONS 13 2.1 Action: Hugo Rivera v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, Case No. 14 2:19-cv-07909-RGK-AFM 15 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 16 designation 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 19 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 20 the Good Cause Statement. 21 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 22 their 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 27 of 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 2 or 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 21 support 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 27 Material 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 4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 6 presentations by Parties 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 10 4. DURATION 11 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 12 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 13 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available 14 to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons 15 supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial 16 judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana,

(distinguishing 17 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from 18 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court 19 record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the 20 commencement of the trial. 21 22 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 24 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 25 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 26 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate 27 for protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 28 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 1 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 2 within the ambit of this Order. 3 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 4 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 5 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 6 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 7 Party to sanctions. 8 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 9 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 10 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 11 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 12 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 13 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 14 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 15 produced. 16 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 17 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 18 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 19 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 20 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 21 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 22 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 23 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 24 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 25 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 26 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 27 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 28 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 1 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine 2 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 3 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 4 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only 5 a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 6 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 7 in the margins). 8 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 9 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 10 the deposition all protected testimony. 11 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 12 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 13 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 14 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 15 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 16 protected portion(s). 17 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 18 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 19 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 20 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 21 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 22 Order. 23 24 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 25 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 26 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 27 Scheduling Order. 28 // 1 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 2 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. 3 6.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 4 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 5 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 6 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 7 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 8 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 9 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 10 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 11 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 12 challenge. 13 14 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 16 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 17 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 18 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 19 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 20 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 21 DISPOSITION). 22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 23 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 24 authorized under this Order. 25 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 26 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 27 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 28 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 1 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 2 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 3 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 5 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 6 (c) 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 (d) the court and its personnel; 10 (e) court reporters and their staff; 11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 12 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 13 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 15 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 17 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 18 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) 19 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 21 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 22 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 23 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 24 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 25 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 26 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 27 // 28 // 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 1 IN OTHER LITIGATION 2 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 3 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 4 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 5 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 6 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 7 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 8 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 9 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 10 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 11 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 12 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 13 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 14 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 15 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 16 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 17 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 18 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 19 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 20 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

21 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 22 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 23 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 24 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 25 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected 26 by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions 27 should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 28 // 1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 2 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 3 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 4 confidential information, then the Party shall: 5 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 6 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 7 agreement with a Non-Party; 8 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the 9 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 10 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 11 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by 12 the Non-Party, if requested. 13 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 14 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 15 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 16 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the 17 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that 18 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 19 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party 20 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected 21 Material. 22 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 24 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 25 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 26 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 27 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person 28 or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this 1 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 2 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

3 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 4 PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 6 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 7 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 8 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 9 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 10 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 11 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 12 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 13 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 14 protective order submitted to the court. 15 16 12. MISCELLANEOUS 17 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 18 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 19 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 20 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 21 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 22 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 23 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 24 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 25 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 26 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 27 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 28 // 1 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 2 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 3 4 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 5 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 6 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 7 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 8 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 9 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 10 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 11 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 12 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 13 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 14 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 15 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing 16 any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled 17 to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and 18 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, 19 expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even 20 if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain 21 or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth 22 in Section 4 (DURATION). 23 24 14. VIOLATION 25 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 26 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 27 // 28 // 1 || IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 2 3 |} DATED: 2/21/2021 4 5 ||/s/ Amir Goldstein Attorneys for Plaintiff 6 || Hugo Rivera 7 8 || DATED: 2/21/2021 9 19 ||/s/ Leanne C. Yu Attorneys for Defendant 1) Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC 12 GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 'S DATED: _ 3/1/2021 16 "| ly Mock ———— 18 19 HON. ALEXANDER F. MacKINNON United States Magistrate Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 8 on ____________[date] in the case of Hugo Rivera v. Portfolio Recovery 9 Associates, LLC, Case No. 2:19-cv-07909-RGK-AFM. I agree to comply with and 10 to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand 11 and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and 12 punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose 13 in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective 14 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this 15 Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 16 Court for the Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. 19 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 20 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 21 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 22 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 23 Order. 24 Date: ______________________________________ 25 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 28 Signature: __________________________________ 1 Pursuant to L.R. 5-4.3.4(a)(2), I, Leanne C. Yu, hereby certify that the content of this Stipulation Protective Order is acceptable to all parties who are 2 required to sign this stipulation. All counsel have authorized me to affix the 3 CM/ECF signatures to this document.

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5 By: s/Leanne C. Yu 6 Leanne C. Yu Attorneys for Defendant 7 Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28