Joyce Igasaki v. State Farm General Insurance Company

United States District Court for the Central District of California

Joyce Igasaki v. State Farm General Insurance Company

Trial Court Opinion

1 HELEN M. LUETTO, State Bar No. 119478 [email protected] 2 SHEILA K. McDONALD, State Bar No. 232863 [email protected] 3 MARLENE K. FLORES, State Bar No. 304302 [email protected] 4 WFBM, LLP Attorneys at Law 5 19900 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 1150 Irvine, California 92612-2445 6 Telephone: (714) 634-2522 Facsimile: (714) 634-0686 7 Attorneys for Defendant STATE FARM 8 GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 JOYCE IGASAKI, an individual, Case No. 8:22-cv-01978 - FWS-DFM

13 Plaintiff, Judge: Fred W. Slaughter

14 v. ORDER REGARDING PARTIES' STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 15 STATE FARM GENERAL ORDER CONCERNING INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 16 corporation; and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive, 17 Action Filed: April 20, 2022 Defendants. Trial Date: April 30, 2024 18

19 The Court, having reviewed the plaintiff Joyce Igasaki ("Plaintiff") and State 20 Farm General Insurance Company's ("State Farm's) stipulation regarding a protective 21 order concerning confidential information [DOC. 23], hereby enters the Protective 22 Order, which shall now read as follows: 23 1.A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 24 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 25 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 26 and from 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 1 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does 2 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 3 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 4 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 5 legal principles. 6 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 7 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 8 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 9 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 10 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 11 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, 12 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential 13 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial 14 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), 15 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged 16 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case 17 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to 18 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, 19 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 20 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 21 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 22 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 23 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 24 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 25 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public 26 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this 27 case. 1 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 2 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 3 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 4 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 5 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 6 material under seal. 7 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 8 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 9 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 10 County of Honolulu,

447 F.3d 1172, 1176

(9th Cir. 2006); Phillips v. Gen. Motors 11 Corp.,

307 F.3d 1206

, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 12

187 F.R.D. 576, 577

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good 13 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with 14 proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to 15 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation 16 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the 17 submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material 18 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 19 protectable—constitute good cause. 20 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 21 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 22 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See 23 Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n,

605 F.3d 665, 677-79

(9th Cir. 2010). For each 24 item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under 25 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must 26 articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for 27 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to 1 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 2 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 3 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only 4 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document shall 5 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 6 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 7 2. DEFINITIONS 8 2.1 Action: Joyce Igasaki v. State Farm General Insurance Company, 9 United States District Court, Case No. 8:22-cv-01978 - FWS-DFM. 10 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 11 of information or items under this Order. 12 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 13 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 14 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 15 Cause Statement. 16 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 17 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.” 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 party 6 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 7 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 8 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 support 15 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.” 20 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 21 from a Producing Party. 22 3. SCOPE 23 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 24 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 25 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 26 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 27 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 1 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 2 4. DURATION 3 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 4 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 5 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 6 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 7 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 8 of the trial. See Kamakana,

447 F.3d at 1180-81

(distinguishing “good cause” 9 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 10 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 11 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 12 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 14 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 15 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 16 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 17 only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that 18 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications 19 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 20 this Order. 21 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 22 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 23 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 24 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 25 to sanctions. 26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 27 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 1 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 2 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 3 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 4 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 5 produced. 6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 7 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 8 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 9 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 10 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 11 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 12 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 13 in the margins). 14 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 15 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 16 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 17 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 18 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 19 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 20 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 21 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 22 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material 23 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 24 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 25 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies the 26 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 27 protected testimony. 1 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior 2 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 3 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 4 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 5 portion(s). 6 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 7 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 8 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 9 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 10 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 11 Order. 12 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 13 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 14 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 15 Scheduling Order. 16 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 17 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 18 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 19 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 20 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 21 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 22 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 23 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 24 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 25 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 27 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 1 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 2 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 3 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 5 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 6 authorized under this Order. 7 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 8 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 9 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 11 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 12 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 13 disclose the information for this Action; 14 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 15 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 16 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 17 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 18 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 19 (d) the court and its personnel; 20 (e) court reporters and their staff; 21 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors 22 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 23 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 25 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 26 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 27 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 1 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 2 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 3 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 4 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 5 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 6 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 7 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 8 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 9 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 10 OTHER LITIGATION 11 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 12 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 14 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 15 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 16 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 17 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 18 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 19 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 21 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 22 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 23 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 24 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 25 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 26 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 27 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 1 directive from another court. 2 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 3 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 4 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 5 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 6 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 7 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 8 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 10 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 11 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 12 information, then the Party shall: 13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 14 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with 15 a Non-Party; 16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 17 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 18 description of the information requested; and 19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, 20 if requested. 21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 22 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 23 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 24 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce 25 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 26 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court 27 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 1 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 3 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 4 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 5 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 6 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 7 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 8 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 9 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 10 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 11 PROTECTED MATERIAL 12 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 13 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 14 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 15 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 16 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 17 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 18 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 19 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 20 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 21 to the court. 22 12. MISCELLANEOUS 23 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 24 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 25 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 26 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 27 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 1 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 2 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 3 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 4 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 5 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal 6 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 7 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 8 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 9 A. After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, 10 within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party 11 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 12 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 13 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 14 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 15 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not 16 the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) 17 identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned 18 or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 19 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 20 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 21 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 22 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 23 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 24 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 25 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 26 Section 4. 27 B. Nothing in this Order disallows State Farm's from: 1 ||/reporting of information to a regulator or government entity as permitted and/or 2 || required by applicable state and federal law; 3 b. adding information discovered that is relevant to a claim to the relevant 4 || electronic record in its electronic claim system; 5 C. disclosing evidence of a crime or fraud; retaining information necessary 6 || to meet mandated retention requirements; or, 7 d. retaining copies of Protected Material that may exists on back-up media 8 || or other computer or archive storage not regularly accessed by business users in the 9 ordinary course provided that should a copy of the Confidential Information be 10 || accessed it will not be used for a purpose inconsistent with this Order. 11]}14. VIOLATION 12 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 13 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

16 17||FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 19 || DATED: September 21, 2023 20 ¢ n—\> HON. DOUGLAS F. McCORMICK United States District Court Magistrate Judge

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 that 6 I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was 7 issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on 8 [date] in the case of Joyce Igasaki v. State Farm General Insurance Company, Case 9 No. 8:22-cv-01978 - FWS- DFM. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the 10 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that 11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information 13 or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except 14 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 this 18 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / /

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