1 Glenn R. Kantor – State Bar No. 122643 E-mail: [email protected] 2 Anna Maria Martin – State Bar No. 524279 E-mail: [email protected] 3 Jaclyn Conover – State Bar No. 266749 E-mail: [email protected] 4 KANTOR & KANTOR, LLP 19839 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91324 5 Telephone: (818) 886-2525 Facsimile: (818) 350-6272 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff 7 ANDREA HUMPHREY SCHMIDT

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 ANDREA HUMPHREY SCHMIDT, Case No. 2:20-cv-09804-JVS-AFMx

12 Plaintiff,

13 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

14 AMERICAN MODERN HOME INSURANCE COMPANY, 15 Defendant. 16

17 I. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 18 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or 19 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for 20 any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the 21 parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 22 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 23 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 24 1 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 2 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 3 B GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 4 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and other valuable 5 research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information

6 for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other 7 than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials 8 and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial 9 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential 10 research, development, or commercial information (including information implicating 11 privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, 12 or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal 13 statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow 14 of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 15 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 16 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such

17 material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the 18 end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information 19 is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 20 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without 21 a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 22 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 23 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 24 1 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 2 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 3 seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 4 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 5 material under seal.

6 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 7 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good 8 cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County 9 of Honolulu,

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

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

, 577 11 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a 12 specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support 13 and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks 14 to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as 15 CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by 16 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as

17 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 18 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 19 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 20 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos 21 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n.,

(9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type 22 of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal in 23 connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must articulate 24 compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested 1 sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 2 under seal must be provided by declaration. 3 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its 4 entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 5 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the

6 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. 7 Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include 8 an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 9 2. DEFINITIONS 10 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 11 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 12 information or items under this Order. 13 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how 14 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 15 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 16 Cause Statement.

17 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 18 support staff). 19 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 20 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 21 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 22 2.6. Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 23 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 24 1 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are 2 produced 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 5 as 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 to 12 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 14 which 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

17 their 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 23 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 24 1 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 2 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 3 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 4 from a Producing Party. 5 3. SCOPE

6 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 7 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 8 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 9 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 10 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 11 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 12 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 13 4. DURATION 14 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 15 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Protective Order becomes public and will be 16 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless

17 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made 18 to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 19

(9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 20 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 21 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this Protective 22 Order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 23 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection 1 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 2 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 3 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 4 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 5 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or

6 communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 7 the ambit of this Order. 8 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 9 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose 10 (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 11 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 12 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 13 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 14 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 15 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations 16 Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., Section B(2)(b) below), or as

17 otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for 18 protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed 19 or produced. 20 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 21 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 22 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 23 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 24 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 1 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party 2 also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 3 in the margins). 4 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 5 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which

6 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 7 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 8 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 9 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 10 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 11 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 12 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 13 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 14 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 15 (b) for testimony given in depositions, that the Designating Party identify the 16 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all

17 protected testimony. 18 (c) for information produced in form other than document and for any other 19 tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the 20 container or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” 21 If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, 22 to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 23 5.3 Inadvertent Failure to Designate 24 1 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or 2 items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection 3 under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the 4 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in 5 accordance with the provisions of this Order.

6 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 7 6.1 Timing of Challenges. 8 Any party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of confidentiality at any time 9 that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 10 6.2 Meet and Confer. 11 The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process under Local 12 Rule 37-1 et seq. 13 6.3 Joint Stipulation. 14 Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint stipulation pursuant to 15 Local Rule 37-2. 16 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the

17 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., 18 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 19 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 20 the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in 21 question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s 22 designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 23 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 7.1. Basic Principles. 1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by 2 another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, 3 defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed 4 only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When 5 the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of

6 Section XIV below. 7 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 8 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 9 authorized under this Order. 10 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. 11 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating 12 Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 13 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 14 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 15 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary 16 to disclose the information for this Action;

17 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 18 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 19 (c) experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 20 is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment 21 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (d) the court and its personnel; 23 (e) court reporters and their staff; 24 1 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 2 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary or this Action and who have 3 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” attached as Exhibit A 4 hereto; 5 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

6 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 7 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 8 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 9 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 10 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign 11 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) unless otherwise 12 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 13 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 14 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 15 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 16 (i) Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

17 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 18 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 19 IN OTHER LITIGATION 20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 21 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 23 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 24 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 2 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 3 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 4 Stipulated Protective Order; and 5 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued

6 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 8 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as 9 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court from which the subpoena or 10 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 directive 14 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 a Non- 18 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced 19 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 20 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting 21 a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 22 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 23 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject 24 1 to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 2 information, then the Party shall: 3 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 4 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 5 agreement with a Non-Party;

6 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 7 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 8 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 9 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 10 Party, if requested. 11 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 12 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 13 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If 14 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 15 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 16 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the

17 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 18 court of its Protected Material. 19 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 21 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 22 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 23 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 24 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 1 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 2 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” 3 that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 5 PROTECTED MATERIAL

6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the 8 obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be 10 established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege 11 review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach 12 an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by 13 the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate 14 their agreement in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted to the court. 15 12. MISCELLANEOUS 16 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

17 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 18 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 19 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing 20 or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 21 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in 22 evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 23 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 24 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only 1 be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 2 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is 3 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 4 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

6 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section V, within 60 days 7 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 8 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 9 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 10 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 11 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party 12 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person 13 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, 14 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) 15 affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 16 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.

17 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 18 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 19 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and 20 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. 21 Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to 22 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 23 14. VIOLATION 24 1 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures 2 | including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 3 4 5 | ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 6 Dated: October 27, 2021 s/Jaclyn Conover 7 Jaclyn D. Conover Attorney for Plaintiff 8 9 | Dated:_October 27, 2021 s/Mark Israel Mark Israel 10 Attorney(s) for Defendant 11 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 13 | Dated: 10/27/2021 (Wy 14 □□ HONORABLE ALEXANDER F,. MACKINNON 15 United States Magistrate Judge 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

16

1 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2

3 I, [print or type full name], of 4 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I 5 have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issue 6 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [DATE] in the 7 case of [insert formal name of the case and the 8 number and initials assigned to it by the Court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound 9 by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge 10 that failure 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 information or 12 item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in 13 strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 15 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 17 action. I hereby appoint [print or type full name] of 18 [print or type full address and telephone number] as 19 my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any 20 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 Date: 22 City and State where sworn and signed: 23 Printed Name: 24 Signature: