Abraham Isaac Esquivel v. County of Los Angeles
Abraham Isaac Esquivel v. County of Los Angeles
Trial Court Opinion
Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 1 of 14 Page ID #:114
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10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12
13 ABRAHAM ISAAC ESQUIVEL Case No. 2:22-CV-01911-SVW-JPR 14
15 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 16 v.
17 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES; JUAN BENDEZU; SHERIFF ALEX 18 VILLANUEVA; and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive. 19 20 Defendant.
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22 1. INTRODUCTION 23 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 24 Discovery in this action may involve production of confidential, proprietary, 25 or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 26 use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 27 Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 28 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 2 of 14 Page ID #:115
1 following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order 2 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and 3 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 4 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the 5 applicable legal principles. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 6 12.3 below, that this Order does not entitle them to file Confidential Information 7 under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 8 and the standards that will be applied when a Party seeks permission from the Court 9 to file material under seal. 10 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 11 Good cause exists for entry of this order. As Plaintiff is seeking and Defendants 12 may produce, among other things, internal, security sensitive, third party and law 13 enforcement private and confidential information, administrative and institutional 14 documents, which contain sensitive information that the County of Los Angeles 15 believes need special protection from public disclosure. 16 The documents identified in this Protective Order, which Defendants believe 17 in good faith constitute or embody confidential information which the County of Los 18 Angeles maintains as strictly confidential and are otherwise generally unavailable to 19 the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under 20 state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law, are therefore 21 entitled to heightened protection from disclosure. Accordingly, to expedite the flow 22 of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 23 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 24 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such 25 material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the 26 end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 27 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 28 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 2 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 3 of 14 Page ID #:116
1 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 2 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 3 record of this case. 4 2. DEFINITIONS 5 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit. 6 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation 7 of information or items under this Order. 8 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 9 how it is generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 10 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and as specified above in the 11 Good Cause Statement. 12 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 13 their support staff). 14 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Nonparty that designates information or 15 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 16 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 17 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 18 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 19 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 20 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 21 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 22 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 23 an expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 24 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action. 25 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 26 counsel. 27 2.9 Nonparty: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 28 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 3 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 4 of 14 Page ID #:117
1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 2 Party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party and have appeared 3 in this Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm that has 4 appeared on behalf of that Party, including support staff. 5 2.11 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 7 support staffs). 8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or 9 Discovery Material in this Action. 10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 11 support services (for example, photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing 12 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 13 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 17 Material from a Producing Party. 18 3. SCOPE 19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 20 Protected Material (as defined above) but also any information copied or extracted 21 from Protected Material; all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 22 Protected Material; and any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or 23 their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 24 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the 25 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 26 4. DURATION 27 Once a case proceeds to trial, all the information that was designated as 28 confidential or maintained under this Order becomes public and will be 4 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 5 of 14 Page ID #:118
1 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless the 2 trial judge finds compelling reasons to proceed otherwise. See Kamakana v. City & 3 Cnty. of Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good 4 cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling 5 reasons” needed for merits-related documents). Accordingly, the terms of this 6 Order do not extend beyond the beginning of trial. 7 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 5.1 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for 9 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific 10 material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 11 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or 12 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 13 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 14 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 15 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 16 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 17 purpose (for example, to unnecessarily encumber the case-development process or 18 to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 19 Designating Party to sanctions. 20 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items it 21 designated for protection do not qualify for that level of protection, that Designating 22 Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 23 designation. 24 5.2 Except as otherwise provided in this Order, Disclosure or Discovery 25 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated 26 before the material is disclosed or produced. 27 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 28 5 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 6 of 14 Page ID #:119
1 (a) for information in documentary form (for example, paper or electronic 2 documents but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 3 proceedings), the Producing Party must affix at a minimum the legend 4 “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion 5 or portions of the material on a page qualify for protection, the Producing Party 6 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate 7 markings in the margins). 8 A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents available for inspection 9 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 10 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 11 before the designation, all material made available for inspection must be treated as 12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it 13 wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 14 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 15 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” 16 legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of 17 the material on a page qualify for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 18 identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate markings in 19 the margins). 20 (b) for testimony given in depositions, the Designating Party must identify 21 the Disclosure or Discovery Material that is protected on the record, before the close 22 of the deposition. 23 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 24 any other tangible items, the Producing Party must affix in a prominent place on the 25 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 26 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrant 27 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, must identify the protected 28 portion(s). 6 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 7 of 14 Page ID #:120
1 5.3 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified 2 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to 3 secure protection under this Order for that material. On timely correction of a 4 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the 5 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 6 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 7 6.1 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of confidentiality 8 at any time consistent with the Court’s scheduling order. 9 6.2 The Challenging Party must initiate the dispute-resolution process (and, 10 if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37. 11 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such proceeding is on the Designating 12 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (for example, 13 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), may expose 14 the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 15 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties must continue to afford the 16 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the 17 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 18 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 7.1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 20 produced by another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this Action only for 21 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material 22 may be disclosed only to the categories of people and under the conditions described 23 in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply 24 with the provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 25 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 26 location and in a manner sufficiently secure to ensure that access is limited to the 27 people authorized under this Order. 28 7 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 8 of 14 Page ID #:121
1 7.2 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 2 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item 3 designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to the following people: 4 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 5 well as employees of that Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 6 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 7 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 8 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 9 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 10 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 11 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (d) the Court and its personnel; 13 (e) court reporters and their staff; 14 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 15 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 16 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 18 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 19 (h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for witnesses to 20 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, provided that the deposing party requests 21 that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto and the witnesses will 22 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the form, 23 unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of 24 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 25 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 26 anyone except as permitted under this Order; and 27 28 8 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 9 of 14 Page ID #:122
1 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 2 mutually agreed on by any of the Parties engaged in settlement discussions or 3 appointed by the Court. 4 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 5 IN OTHER LITIGATION 6 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 as 8 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must 9 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 10 must include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 11 (b) 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 by the 13 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification must include 14 a copy of this Order; and 15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 16 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 17 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 18 the subpoena or court order should not produce any information designated in this 19 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination on the protective-order request 20 by the relevant court unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 21 permission. The Designating Party bears the burden and expense of seeking 22 protection of its Confidential Material, and nothing in these provisions should be 23 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey 24 a lawful directive from another court. 25 9. A NONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 26 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 27 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 28 Nonparty in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information is 9 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 10 of 14 Page ID #:123
1 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 2 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from seeking additional 3 protections. 4 (b) In the event that a Party is required by a valid discovery request to 5 produce a Nonparty’s Confidential Information in its possession and the Party is 6 subject to an agreement with the Nonparty not to produce the Nonparty’s 7 Confidential Information, then the Party must 8 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Nonparty 9 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 10 agreement with a Nonparty; 11 (2) promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of this Order, the 12 relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the 13 information requested; and 14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 15 Nonparty, if requested. 16 (c) If the Nonparty fails to seek a protective order within 21 days of 17 receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 18 produce the Nonparty’s Confidential Information responsive to the discovery 19 request. If the Nonparty timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party must 20 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 21 confidentiality agreement with the Nonparty before a ruling on the protective-order 22 request. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Nonparty must bear the burden 23 and expense of seeking protection of its Protected Material. 24 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 If a Receiving Party learns that by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 26 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 27 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately notify the Designating Party in writing 28 of the unauthorized disclosures, use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized 10 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 11 of 14 Page ID #:124
1 copies of the Protected Material, inform the person or people to whom unauthorized 2 disclosures were made of the terms of this Order, and ask that person or people to 3 execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto 4 as Exhibit A. 5 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 6 PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 8 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 9 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 10 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 11 12. MISCELLANEOUS 12 12.1 Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its 13 modification by the Court. 14 12.2 By stipulating to the entry of this Order, no Party waives any right it 15 otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item 16 on any ground not addressed in this Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to 17 object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this 18 Order. 19 12.3 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must 20 comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may be filed under seal only 21 pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at 22 issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied, then the 23 Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise 24 instructed by the Court. 25 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 26 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 27 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 28 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 11 Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 12 of 14 Page ID #:125
1 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 2 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 3 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 4 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 5 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that identifies (by 6 category, when appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 7 destroyed and affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 8 compilations, summaries, or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 9 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 10 archival copy of all pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and hearing 11 transcripts; legal memoranda; correspondence; deposition and trial exhibits; expert 12 reports; attorney work product; and consultant and expert work product even if such 13 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 14 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Order as set forth in Section 4 15 (DURATION). 16 14. SANCTIONS 17 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 18 contempt, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or 19 other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 20 21 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 22 23 DATED: August 25, 2022 /s/ Joseph B. McGinley Joseph B. McGinley 24 Attorneys for Plaintiff
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26 DATED: August 25, 2022 /s/ Laura E. Inlow 27 Laura E. Inlow Attorneys for Defendants 28 12 Case 4/22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 130f14 Page ID #:126 2 || DATED: 9/6/2022 | fn Prcnlilate~ 6 || JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH , U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 13
Case 2:22-cv-01911-SVW-JPR Document 29 Filed 09/06/22 Page 14 of 14 Page ID #:127
1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the U.S. District Court 7 for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert 8 case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all terms of 9 this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment, including contempt. I 11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that 12 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 13 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the 15 Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 18 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28 14
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