Reyes Contreras Murcia v. City of Santa Monica
Reyes Contreras Murcia v. City of Santa Monica
Trial Court Opinion
Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 1 of 10 Page ID #:322
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7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9
10 REYES CONTRERAS MURCIA and 11 SHERMAN A. PERRYMAN, Case No. 2:22-cv-5253 FLA-MAR individually and as class 12 representatives, PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING DISCLOSURE OF 13 Plaintiffs, THIRD PARTY INFORMATION (ALL CITY TOW) 14 vs. [DISCOVERY MATTER] 15 CITY OF SANTA MONICA, a municipal corporation; SANTA 16 MONICA POLICE DEPARTMENT, a public entity; CHIEF RAMON 17 BATISTA, individually and in his official capacity; CITY MANAGER 18 DAVID WHITE; individually and in his official capacity; MATTHEW J. 19 LIEB, individually and in his official capacity; and DOES 1-10, inclusive, 20 21 Defendants.
22 1. INTRODUCTION 23 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 24 Production of records from non-party All City Tow pursuant to Plaintiffs’ 25 subpoena issued August 6, 2022 may involve production of confidential, proprietary, 26 or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 27 use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 28 1 00154648.DOCX Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 2 of 10 Page ID #:323
1 Accordingly, All City Tow and Plaintiffs hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 2 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. All City Tow and Plaintiffs1 3 acknowledge that if issued, the Order would not confer blanket protections on all 4 disclosures or responses to discovery; rather, the protection it affords from public 5 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that may be 6 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The Parties 7 further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that the Stipulated Protective 8 Order would not entitle any party or non-party to this litigation to file confidential 9 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be 10 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from 11 the Court to file material under seal. 12 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 13 Plaintiffs served on non-party All City Tow (a California corporation) a 14 deposition subpoena duces tecum seeking production of electronic data maintained 15 by All City Tow in its computer database program. The data concerns vehicles All 16 City Tow towed and stored at the direction of the City of Santa Monica, tows that 17 occurred pursuant to a contractual relationship between the City and All City Tow. 18 Plaintiffs contend the subpoenaed data is necessary for proof that defendant City of 19 Santa Monica tows vehicles pursuant to an unlawful City policy, and that the data is 20 necessary for Plaintiffs to prosecute this action as a class action for damages and 21 injunctive relief. All City Tow contends and Plaintiffs agree that the subpoenaed data 22 may reflect confidential third party information and may also reflect confidential 23 propriety information regarding All City Tow’s business operations. 24 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 25 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 26 27 1 Simply for reading convenience, when referred to collectively All City Tow and Plaintiffs are called “Parties.” This reference, however, is not a statement or admission 28 that All City Tow is a party to this lawsuit (it is not). 2 00154648.DOCX Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 3 of 10 Page ID #:324
1 protect information All City Tow may be entitled to keep confidential while ensuring 2 that the parties to this lawsuit are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material 3 in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of 4 the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 5 justified in this matter. 6 2. DEFINITIONS 7 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit, no. 2:22-cv-5253 FLA-MAR. 8 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 9 information or items under this Order. 10 2.3 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 11 support staff). 12 2.4 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 13 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 14 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 15 2.5 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 16 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 17 counsel. 18 2.6 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 19 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 20 2.7 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 21 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 22 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 23 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 24 2.8 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 25 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 26 support staffs). 27 2.9 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 28 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 3 00154648.DOCX Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 4 of 10 Page ID #:325
1 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 2 and their employees and subcontractors. 3 2.10 Protected Material: electronic data All City Tow produces in response to 4 the subpoena duces tecum dated August 6, 2022 and issued by Plaintiffs. 5 2.11 Receiving Party: a party or his / her / its counsel to this litigation that 6 receives the Protective Material defined above. 7 3. SCOPE 8 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover only the 9 electronic data itself (including copies thereof) that constitutes the Protected Material; 10 the Stipulation and Order does not cover summaries, or compilations of Protected 11 Material except as to any names or other identifying information concerning non- 12 parties to this litigation (such as birth date, driver’s license number, home address, 13 social security number, credit card number) which is covered by this Stipulation and 14 Order. Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 15 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 16 4. DURATION 17 Should this Action proceed to trial or to a determination on its merits via a Rule 18 56 motion, and in connection therewith any or all of the Protected Material is offered 19 as evidence, the Protected Material offered as evidence becomes public and will be 20 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 21 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are 22 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial or hearing on any dispositive motion. 23 See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 1180–81 (9th Cir. 24 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 25 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 26 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend 27 beyond the commencement of the trial. 28 Because All City Tow is not a party, should any party to this Action seek to 4 00154648.DOCX Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 5 of 10 Page ID #:326
1 offer Protected Material as publicly-available evidence at any proceeding in this 2 Action, the offering party shall give two weeks written notice to counsel for All City 3 Tow so that it may seek relief from the Court that All City Two believes may be 4 necessary. 5 5. CHALLENGING THE CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTIVE MATERIAL 6 5.1 Timing of Challenges. Consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order, any 7 Party or Non-Party may challenge the designation of the All City Tow electronic data 8 as confidential information for which a protective order is necessary. 9 5.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute resolution 10 process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 11 5.3 The Burden of Persuasion. In any such challenge proceeding will be on All 12 City Tow. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 13 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 14 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless All City Tow has waived or withdrawn in 15 writing the confidentiality designation, all parties will continue to afford the Protected 16 Material the level of protection to which it is entitled under this Protective Order until 17 the Court rules on the challenge. 18 6. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 6.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material in 20 connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle 21 this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of 22 persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been 23 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below 24 (FINAL DISPOSITION). Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a 25 Receiving Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited 26 to the persons authorized under this Order. 27 6.2 Disclosure of Protected Material. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or 28 permitted in writing by All City Tow, a Receiving Party may disclose Protected 5 00154648.DOCX Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 6 of 10 Page ID #:327
1 Material or any subset thereof, only to: 2 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 3 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 4 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 5 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 6 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 7 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 8 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have agreed to be 9 bound by the Protective Order (Exhibit A); 10 (d) the Court and its personnel; 11 (e) court reporters and their staff; 12 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 13 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who 14 have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 15 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 16 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 17 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 18 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 19 party requests that the witness agrees on the record to the terms of 20 confidentiality as specified in Exhibit A hereto; and (2) the witness must return 21 the Protective Material, including any subset thereof, to the party from whom 22 the witness obtained the Protected Material, \. unless otherwise agreed by All 23 City Tow. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions 24 that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 25 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated 26 Protective Order; and 27 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 28 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 6 00154648.DOCX Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 7 of 10 Page ID #:328
1 The Protective Material shall not be disclosed to any individual Plaintiff unless 2 authorized by the Court, or if the Protective Material was made a public record in 3 accordance with governing law and the terms of this Stipulation and Order. 4 7. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 5 OTHER LITIGATION 6 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 7 that compels disclosure of the Protective Material or any subset thereof, that Party 8 must: 9 (a) promptly notify in writing All City Tow or its counsel.Such 10 notification will include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 11 (b) promptly notify in writing the person or entity who caused the 12 subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the 13 Protective Material sought by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective 14 Order. Such notification will include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; 15 and 16 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 17 pursued by All City Tow whose Protected Material may be affected. 18 If All City Tow timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 19 subpoena or court order will not produce subpoenaed Protected Material before a 20 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party 21 has obtained All City Tow’s written permission. All City Tow will bear the burden 22 and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing 23 in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving 24 Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 25 8. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 27 Protected Material or any subset thereof to any person or entity or in any circumstance 28 not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must 7 00154648.DOCX Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 8 of 10 Page ID #:329
1 immediately (a) notify in writing All City Tow of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) 2 use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) 3 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the 4 terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to return the Protected 5 Material, including any copies thereof however recorded (on paper, electronically, 6 etc.). 7 9. MISCELLANEOUS 8 9.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 10 9.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 11 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 16 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 17 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 18 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is 19 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 20 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 21 10. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, and 23 assuming Protective Material was not made part of the public record in accordance 24 with the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, within 60 days of a written request 25 by All City Tow each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to All City 26 Tow or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” 27 includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format 28 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected 8 00154648.DOCX Case #:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 9of10 Page ID #:330
1 || Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 2 || certification to All City Tow by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, 3 || where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) 4 || affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 5 || summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 6 || Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 7 || pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 8 || correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, 9 || and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 10 || Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 11 || remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 12 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 13 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 14 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 15 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 16 \ Le. 17 || DATED: 2/2/2023 (0.0 LJ () 18 ~ Donald W. Cook, Attorney for Plaintiffs s/ Robert A. Ring !9 || DATED: 2/2/2023 20 Robert A. Ring, Attorney for Non-Party All City Tow 4 Pursuant to L.R. 5-4.3.4, the filer of this document attests that all other 7 || signatories listed and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s 53 || content and have authorized the filing. 4 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 95 || DATED: February 2_, 2023 26 7. a: 27 HON. MARGO A. ROCCONI 38 United States Magistrate Judge 00154648.DOCX
Case 2:22-cv-05253-FLA-MAR Document 44 Filed 02/02/23 Page 10 of 10 Page ID #:331
1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], counsel for 4 [identify the party], declare under penalty of perjury that I gave [insert name] of [insert 5 address] a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 6 District Court for the Central District of California on _________ [date] in the case 7 of ___________ [insert formal case name and the numbers and initials assigned to it 8 by the court]. I secured the agreement of [insert name] to be bound by all the terms of 9 this Stipulated Protective Order, and further informed [insert name] that failure to so 10 comply could expose [insert name] to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 11 contempt. I further secured [insert name]’s agreement to submit to the jurisdiction of 12 the United States District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose 13 of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement 14 proceedings occur after termination of this action. 15 Date: ______________________________________ 16 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 17 Printed name: _____________________, counsel for [insert party] 18 Signature: __________________________________ 19
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