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7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 SOUTHERN DIVISION 11 MICHAEL JOHNSTON, an ) CASE NO. 8:21-cv-01664-DOC (JDE) ) 12 individual, and JOHN ARNOLD, an ) individual, ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 13 ) ORDER Plaintiffs, ) 14 ) ) v. 15 ) ) 16 MICHAEL MITTMAN, an ) ) individual, ) 17 ) ) 18 Defendant. ) 19 20 Pursuant to the Stipulation of the parties (Dkt. 45), and for good cause 21 shown, the Court finds and orders as follows. 22 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 23 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 24 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 25 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 26 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 27 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 1 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 2 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 3 under the applicable legal principles. 4 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 5 This action is likely to involve valuable commercial, personal financial, 6 private, technical and/or proprietary information for which special protection 7 from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this 8 action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information 9 consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial information, 10 attorney-client privileged information, information regarding confidential business 11 practices, or other confidential commercial information (including information 12 implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally 13 unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from 14 disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common 15 law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 16 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 17 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 18 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 19 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, 20 and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in 21 this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 22 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 23 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 24 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 25 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL 26 FILING PROCEDURE 27 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 1 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 2 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the 3 court to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has 4 a right of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection 5 with non-dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under 6 seal. See, Kamakana v. City and Cnty. of Honolulu,

, 1176 (9th Cir. 7 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp.,

, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), 8 Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electr., Inc.,

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 9 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 10 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 11 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to 12 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material 13 as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence 14 by declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies 15 as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 16 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 17 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and 18 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be 19 protected. See, Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n.,

(9th Cir. 20 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed 21 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling 22 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing 23 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 24 under seal must be provided by declaration. 25 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable 26 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be 27 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, 1 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the 2 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in 3 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 4 4. DEFINITIONS 5 4.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit. 6 4.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the 7 designation of information or items under this Order. 8 4.3 “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or “CONFIDENTIAL” Information 9 or Items: information (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or 10 tangible things that qualify for protection under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), and as 11 specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 12 4.4 Counsel: Counsel of Record (as well as their support staff). 13 4.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information 14 or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 15 “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, 17 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained 18 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that 19 are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 20 4.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a 21 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to 22 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 23 4.8 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association 24 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 25 4.9 Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party to 26 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared 27 in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has 1 4.10 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 2 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Counsel of Record (and their 3 support staffs). 4 4.11 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 5 Discovery Material in this Action. 6 4.12 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation 7 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 8 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 9 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 10 4.13 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 11 designated as “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or “CONFIDENTIAL.” 12 4.14 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 13 Material from a Producing Party. 14 5. SCOPE 15 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 16 Protected Material (as defined above), but also: (1) any information copied or 17 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 18 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 19 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 20 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 21 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 22 Protected Material at trial. 23 6. DURATION 24 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 25 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 26 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively 27 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 1 trial judge in advance of the trial. See, Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 2 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 3 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 4 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend 5 beyond the commencement of the trial. 6 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 8 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 9 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation 10 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating 11 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items 12 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the 13 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not 14 warranted are not 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 (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 18 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 that 21 it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party 22 must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 23 designation. 24 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 25 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 26 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 27 the material is disclosed or produced. 1 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 2 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 3 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 4 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 5 “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 6 “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY legend” or “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each 7 page that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page 8 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 9 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 10 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 11 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party 12 has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the 13 inspection and before the designation, all the material made available for 14 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 15 identified the documents that it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party 16 must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under 17 this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party 18 must affix the “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY legend” or “CONFIDENTIAL 19 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the 20 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 21 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 22 margins). 23 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 24 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 25 the deposition all protected testimony. 26 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 27 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 1 stored the legend “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or “CONFIDENTIAL.” If 2 only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing 3 Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 4 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 5 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 6 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 7 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 8 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 9 provisions of this Order. 10 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 11 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 12 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 13 Scheduling Order. 14 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 15 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 16 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 17 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 18 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 19 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 20 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 21 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 22 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 23 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 24 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 25 challenge. 26 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 1 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 2 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 3 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 4 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL 5 DISPOSITION). 6 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 7 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 8 authorized under this Order. 9 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 10 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 11 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 12 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 13 (a) the Receiving Party’s Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 14 employees of said Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 15 disclose the information for this Action; 16 (b) the officers, directors, and employees of the Receiving Party to 17 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 18 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 19 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 21 (d) the court and its personnel; 22 (e) court reporters and their staff; 23 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 24 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 25 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 26 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information 27 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 1 2 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 3 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 4 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and 5 (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign 6 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 7 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 8 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 9 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 10 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 11 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 12 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 13 9.3 Disclosure of “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information or Items. 14 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating 15 Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 16 “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only to: 17 (a) the Receiving Party’s Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 18 employees of said Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 19 disclose the information for this Action; 20 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 21 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 22 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 23 (d) the court and its personnel under seal; 24 (e) court reporters and their staff; 25 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 26 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 27 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 1 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information 2 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 3 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 4 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 5 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 6 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign 7 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 8 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 9 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 10 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 11 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 12 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 13 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 14 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 15 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

16 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 17 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 18 “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 19 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 20 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 21 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 22 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 23 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 24 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 25 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 26 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 27 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 1 action as “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or “CONFIDENTIAL” before a 2 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the 3 Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party 4 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its 5 confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 6 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 7 directive from another court. 8 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 9 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

10 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 11 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or 12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection 13 with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. 14 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from 15 seeking additional protections. 16 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 17 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 18 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 19 confidential information, then the Party shall: 20 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 21 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 22 agreement with a Non-Party; 23 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 24 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 25 specific description of the information requested; and 26 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 27 Non-Party, if requested. 1 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 2 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 3 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 4 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the 5 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that 6 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 7 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party 8 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its 9 Protected Material. 10 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 11 MATERIAL

12 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 13 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 14 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately: (a) 15 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures; (b) use its 16 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material; (c) inform 17 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the 18 terms of this Order; and (d) request such 19 person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” 20 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 21 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 22 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 24 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 25 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 26 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 27 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 1 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 2 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 3 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 4 protective order submitted to the court. 5 14. MISCELLANEOUS 6 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 7 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 8 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 9 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 10 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 11 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 12 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this 13 Protective Order. 14 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 15 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 16 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of 17 the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under 18 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in 19 the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 20 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 21 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 22 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must 23 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 24 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 25 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of 26 the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, 27 the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party 1 || deadline that: (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected 2 || Material that was returned or destroyed; and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party 3 || has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other 4 || format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding 5 |! this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, 6 || motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 7 || correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work 8 || product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain ? || Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected 10 |) Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 11 || (DURATION). 12 16. VIOLATION 13 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 15 '® || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 || DATED: March 31, 2023 19 / 21 JO D. EARLY 2 United States Magistrate Judge 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 ______________________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty 5 of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order 6 that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 7 on March 31, 2023, in the case of Michael Johnston, et al. v. Michael Mittman, Case 8 No. 8:21-cv-01664-DOC (JDE). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms 9 of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is 12 subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 13 compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction 14 of the United States District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose 15 of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement 16 proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint 17 __________________________ [print or type full name] of 18 ___________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone 19 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or 20 any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21

22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 Printed name: _______________________________ 25 Signature: __________________________________________ 26 27