Beach District Surgery Center v. Aetna Life Ins. Co.
Beach District Surgery Center v. Aetna Life Ins. Co.
Trial Court Opinion
1 COURTNEY CULWELL HILL (SBN: 210143) [email protected] 2 SHANNON L. ERNSTER (SBN: 264940) [email protected] 3 HELA VAKNIN (SBN: 342083) [email protected] 4 GORDON REES SCULLY MANSUKHANI, LLP 633 West Fifth Street, 52nd Floor 5 Los Angeles, CA 90071 Telephone: (213) 576-5000 6 Facsimile: (213) 680-4470
7 Attorneys for Defendant AETNA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 8
9 JONATHAN A. STIEGLITZ (SBN 278028) [email protected] 10 THE LAW OFFICES OF JONATHAN A. STIEGLITZ 11 11845 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 800 Los Angeles, California 90064 12 Telephone: (323) 979-2063 Facsimile: (323) 488-6748 13 Attorney for Plaintiff BEACH DISTRICT SURGERY CENTER 14
15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 16 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17
18 BEACH DISTRICT SURGERY CASE NO. 2:22-cv-05859-WLH-MAR CENTER Judge: Wesley L. Hsu 19 Magistrate: Margo A. Rocconi 20 Plaintiff,
21 vs. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 22 ORDER1 AETNA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, and DOES 1-10, 23
24 Defendants.
25
26 27 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 3 Discovery in this action will involve the production of confidential, 4 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 5 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 6 be warranted. Accordingly, Plaintiff Beach District Surgery Center (“Plaintiff”) and 7 Defendant Aetna Life Insurance Company (“Defendant”) (collectively, the 8 “Parties”) hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 9 Protective Order. This Protective Order shall govern any record of information 10 produced in this action and designated pursuant to this Protective Order, including 11 all designated deposition testimony, all designated testimony taken at a hearing or 12 other proceeding, all designated deposition exhibits, interrogatory answers, 13 admissions, documents and other discovery materials, whether produced informally 14 or in response to interrogatories, requests for admissions, requests for production of 15 documents or other formal methods of discovery. 16 This Protective Order shall also govern any designated record of information 17 produced in this action pursuant to required disclosures under any federal procedural 18 rule or local rule of the Court and any supplementary disclosures thereto. 19 This Protective Order shall apply to the Parties and to any nonparty from 20 whom discovery may be sought who desires the protection of this Protective Order. 21 The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 22 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 23 under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 24 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 25 to file material under seal. 26 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENTThis action arises out of a dispute 27 between Plaintiff and Defendant regarding payment for medical services rendered 1 administrated by Defendant. Discovery in this action will involve the disclosure of 2 private information of the Patients, including personal health information and 3 information regarding the medical services provided, trade secrets, and other 4 valuable commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which 5 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 6 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials 7 and information includes, among other things, confidential business or financial 8 information, information regarding confidential business practices, information 9 implicating privacy rights of third parties, information otherwise generally 10 unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from 11 disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common 12 law. 13 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 14 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 15 protect information the Parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 16 Parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 17 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 18 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 19 matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be designated as 20 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing will be so designated without a 21 good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, 22 and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 23 24 2. DEFINITIONS 25 2.1 Action: Beach District Surgery Center v. Aetna Life Insurance 26 Company, Central District of California, 2:22-cv-05859-WLH-MAR. 27 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 1 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 2 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 3 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 4 the Good Cause Statement. 5 The term Confidential Information shall include confidential or proprietary 6 technical, scientific, financial, business, health, or medical information designated as 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” by the producing party. 8 The term “Confidential Health Information” shall constitute a subset of 9 Confidential Information, and shall be designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and 10 subject to all other terms and conditions governing the treatment of Confidential 11 Information. Confidential Health Information shall mean information supplied in 12 any form, or any portion thereof, that identifies an individual or subscriber in any 13 manner and relates to the past, present, or future care, services, or supplies relating 14 to the physical or mental health or condition of such individual or subscriber, the 15 provision of health care to such individual or subscriber, or the past, present, or 16 future payment for the provision of health care to such individual or subscriber. 17 Confidential Health Information shall include, but is not limited to, claim data, 18 claim forms, grievances, appeals, or other documents or records that contain any 19 patient health information required to be kept confidential under any state or federal 20 law, including 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164 promulgated pursuant to the Health 21 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (see
45 C.F.R. §§ 164.501& 22 160.103), and the following subscriber, patient, or member identifiers: 23 a. names; 24 b. all geographic subdivisions smaller than a State, including street 25 address, city, county, precinct, and zip code; 26 c. all elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an 27 individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, age, and date 1 d. telephone numbers; 2 e. fax numbers; 3 f. electronic mail addresses; 4 g. social security numbers; 5 h. medical record numbers; 6 i. health plan beneficiary numbers; 7 j. account numbers; 8 k. certificate/license numbers; 9 l. vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers; 10 m. device identifiers and serial numbers; 11 n. web universal resource locators (“URLs”); 12 o. internet protocol (“IP”) address numbers; 13 p. biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints; 14 q. full face photographic images and any comparable images; and/or 15 r. any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code. 16 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 17 their support staff). 18 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 19 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 20 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 21 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 22 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 23 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or 24 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 25 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 26 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 27 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 1 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 2 counsel. 3 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 4 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 5 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 6 Party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party to this Action and 7 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm 8 that has appeared on behalf of that Party, and includes support staff. 9 2.11 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 10 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 11 support staffs). 12 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 13 Discovery Material in this Action. 14 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 15 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 16 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 17 and their employees and subcontractors. 18 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 19 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEYS’ EYES 20 ONLY.” 21 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 22 Material from a Producing Party. 23 2.16 Technical Advisor: any person who is not a Party to this action or not 24 presently employed by the receiving party or a company affiliated through common 25 ownership, who has been designated by the receiving Party to receive another 26 Party’s Confidential Information, including Confidential Health Information. Each 27 Party’s Technical Advisors shall be limited to such person as, in the judgment of 1 that Party’s case. These persons include outside experts or consultants retained to 2 provide technical or other expert services such as expert testimony or otherwise 3 assist in trial preparation. 4 5 3. SCOPE 6 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 7 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 8 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 9 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 10 presentations by Parties or their 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 14 4. DURATION 15 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 16 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 17 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 18 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 19 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 20 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” 21 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 22 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 23 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 24 25 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 27 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 1 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 2 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or 3 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 4 documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 5 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 6 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 7 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 8 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 9 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 10 Party to sanctions. 11 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 12 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 13 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 14 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 15 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 16 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 17 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 18 produced. 19 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 20 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 21 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 22 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 23 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 24 contains protected material, including Confidential Health Information. If only a 25 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 26 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 27 in the margins). 1 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 2 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 3 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 4 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 5 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 6 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 7 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 8 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 9 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 10 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 11 in the margins). 12 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 13 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 14 deposition all protected testimony. 15 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 16 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 17 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 18 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 19 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 20 protected portion(s). 21 (d) for information disclosed at a hearing or trial that the Designating 22 Party requests the Judge, at the time the information is proffered or adduced, to 23 receive the information only in the presence of those persons designated to receive 24 such information and Court personnel, and to designate the transcript appropriately. 25 A Party may also designate Confidential Information as “CONFIDENTIAL - 26 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Confidential Information marked as 27 “CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” may be used solely for the 1 The parties may designate Confidential Information as “CONFIDENTIAL - 2 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” in the same manner set forth above with an added 3 reference to “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Information designated 4 “CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” may be viewed by, copied by, 5 exhibited to, or disclosed to only the persons described in Paragraph 7.2(a), (d), (i), 6 and (j) and Retained Experts and Consultants, all subject to the requirements of 7 Paragraph 7.1. “Retained Experts and Consultants” means third party experts or 8 consultants actually retained by a party, and does not include purely percipient 9 experts or party employees. 10 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 11 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 12 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 13 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 14 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 15 Order. 16 17 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 18 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 19 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 20 Scheduling Order. 21 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 22 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 23 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 24 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 25 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 26 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 27 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 1 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 2 challenge. 3 4 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 6 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 7 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action and for no 8 other action. A Receiving Party shall hold such information received from the 9 disclosing Party in confidence, shall not use it for any business or other commercial 10 purpose, shall not use it for filing or prosecuting any patent application (of any type) 11 or patent reissue or reexamination request, and shall not disclose it to any person, 12 except as hereinafter provided. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to 13 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When 14 the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions 15 of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 16 All documents, including attorney notes and abstracts, which contain another 17 party’s Confidential Information, shall be handled as if they were designated 18 pursuant to paragraph 5. 19 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 20 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 21 authorized under this Order. 22 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 23 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 24 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 25 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 26 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 27 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record (excluding experts and 1 Action; 2 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 3 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 4 (c) Technical Advisors and Experts (as defined in this Order) of the 5 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who 6 have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 7 (d) the Court and its personnel; 8 (e) court reporters and their staff; 9 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 10 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 11 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 13 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 14 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 15 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 16 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 17 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 18 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 19 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 20 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 21 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 22 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; 23 (i) Stenographers and videographers engaged to transcribe or record 24 depositions conducted in this action provided that such individuals agree in writing, 25 in the form attached at Appendix A, to be bound by the terms of this Order; and 26 (j) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 27 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions, 1 to be bound by the terms of this Order. 2 3 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 4 IN OTHER LITIGATION 5 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 6 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 7 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 8 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 9 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 10 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 11 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 12 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 13 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 14 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 15 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 16 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 17 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 18 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 19 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 20 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 21 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 22 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 23 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 24 25 9. A NON-PARTY’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 1 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 2 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 3 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 4 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 5 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 6 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 7 confidential information, then the Party will: 8 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 9 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 10 agreement with a Non-Party;(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the 11 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 12 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 13 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 14 Non-Party, if requested. 15 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 16 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 17 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 18 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 19 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 20 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 21 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 22 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 23 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 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 1 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 2 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 3 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 4 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 5 6 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 7 PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 9 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 10 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 11 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 12 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 13 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 14 (e), insofar as the Parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 15 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 16 product protection, the Parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 17 protective order submitted to the court. 18 19 12. MISCELLANEOUS 20 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 21 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 22 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 23 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 24 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 25 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 26 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 27 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 1 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 2 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 3 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 4 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 5 6 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 7 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 8 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 9 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 10 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 11 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 12 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 13 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 14 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 15 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 16 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 17 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 18 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 19 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 20 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 21 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 22 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 23 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 24 Section 4 (DURATION). 25 26 14. VIOLATION 27 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 1 || at the discretion of the Court. 2 3 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 4 Dated: June 6, 2023 GORDON REES SCULLY 5 MANSUKHANI, LLP 6 7 By: /s/ Shannon L. Ernster Courtney C. Hill 8 Shannon L. Ernster Hela Vaknin 9 Attorneys for Defendant 10 AETNA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
11 Dated: May 25, 2023 THE LAW OFFICES OF D JONATHAN A. STIEGLITZ
13 By: /s/ Jonathan A. Stieglitz 14 Jonathan A. Stieglitz Attorney for Plaintiff 15 BEACH DISTRICT SURGERY CENTER 16 17 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 19 DATED: June 8, 2023 JAX 20 Hon. Margo A. Rocconi Magistrate Judge 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 8 on [date] in the case of Beach District Surgery Center v. Aetna Life Insurance 9 Company, Case No. 2:22-cv-05859-WLH-MAR. I agree to comply with and to be 10 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 11 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 12 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 13 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 14 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 17 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of 18 this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full 19 name] of _______________________________________ [print or type full address 20 and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection 21 with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated 22 Protective Order. 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO LOCAL RULE 5-4.3.4(A)(2)(I) 1 Pursuant to section 2(f)(4) of the electronic case filing administrative policies 2 and procedures manual, I hereby certify that the content of this document is 3 acceptable to Jonathan A. Stieglitz, counsel for Plaintiff, and I have obtained his 4 authorization to affix his electronic signature to this document. 5
6 By: /s/ Shannon L. Ernster 7 Shannon L. Ernster
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Reference
- Status
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