Maggie Golden v. Somatics, LLC
Maggie Golden v. Somatics, LLC
Trial Court Opinion
1 WISNER BAUM, LLP Bijan Esfandiari (223216) 2 Monique Alarcon (311650) 11111 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 1750 3 Los Angeles, CA 90025 Telephone: (310) 207-3233 4 Facsimile: (310) 820-7444
5 Attorneys for Plaintiff MAGGIE GOLDEN 6
7 POOLE • SHAFFERY John H. Shaffery (SBN 160119) 8 Jason A. Benkner (SBN 286790) 25350 Magic Mountain Parkway, Suite 250 9 Santa Clarita, California 91355 Telephone: (661) 290-2991 10 Facsimile: (661) 290-3338
11 Attorneys for Defendant, SOMATICS, LLC 12
13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 14 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – WESTERN DIVISION 15 MAGGIE GOLDEN, Case No.: 2:23-cv-01791-JFW (MAAx) 16 [Assigned to Hon. John F. Walter, 17 Courtroom 7A] Plaintiff, 18 vs. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 19 SOMATICS, LLC and DOES 1-100, Complaint filed: October 18, 2022 20 Trial Date: Not Set
21 Defendants. 22 23
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26 27 1 Plaintiff, MAGGIE GOLDEN (“Plaintiff”), and Defendant, SOMATICS, LLC 2 (“Defendant”) (collectively the “Parties”), by and through their counsel of record, 3 hereby stipulate to, and jointly request the Court to issue, a protective order over 4 certain information and documents exchanged between the Parties pursuant to this 5 litigation. 6 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 7 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 8 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 9 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 10 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 11 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Stipulated 12 Protective Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses 13 to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 14 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 15 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in 16 Section 13.3 below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file 17 confidential information under seal; Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that 18 must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission 19 from the Court to file material under seal. 20 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 21 Good cause exists for the Court to enter this pretrial protective order. Plaintiff 22 alleges she suffered severe and permanent cognitive impairment and memory loss 23 after undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) from a device manufactured and 24 sold by Defendant Somatics. Investigation and discovery into this claim will involve 25 review of sensitive mental health records from before, during, and after ECT was 26 administered, which are afforded heightened privacy protection under Federal and 27 California law. This action is also likely to involve Defendant Somatics’ trade secrets, 1 research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary 2 information for which special protection of this action is warranted. Accordingly, to 3 expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over 4 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties 5 are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable 6 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address 7 their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective 8 order for such information is justified. It is the intent of the parties that information 9 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 10 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 11 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 12 record of this case. 13 3. DEFINITIONS 14 3.1. Action: This pending federal lawsuit. 15 3.2. Challenging Party: A Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation of 16 information or items under this Stipulated Protective Order. 17 3.3. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how 18 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 19 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 20 Cause Statement. 21 3.4. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and In-House Counsel (as well as 22 their support staff). 23 3.5. Designating Party: A Party or Nonparty that designates information or 24 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 3.6. Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of 27 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 1 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that is produced or 2 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 3 3.7. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 4 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 5 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 6 3.8. In-House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 7 In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 8 counsel. 9 3.9. Nonparty: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 10 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 11 3.10. Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party 12 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 13 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 14 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 15 3.11. Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 16 employees, consultants, retained experts, In-House Counsel, and Outside Counsel of 17 Record (and their support staffs). 18 3.12. Producing Party: A Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or 19 Discovery Material in this Action. 20 3.13. Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support 21 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 22 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 23 and their employees and subcontractors. 24 3.14. Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 25 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 3.15. Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 27 from a Producing Party. 1 4. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulated Protective Order cover not only 3 Protected Material, but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected 4 Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; 5 and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that 6 might reveal Protected Material. 7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 8 trial judge. This Stipulated Protective Order does not govern the use of Protected 9 Material at trial. 10 5. DURATION 11 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 12 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Stipulated Protective Order becomes 13 public and presumptively will be available to all members of the public, including the 14 press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed 15 otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City 16 and County of Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81(9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing 17 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from 18 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court 19 record). Accordingly, the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order do not extend 20 beyond the commencement of the trial. 21 6. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 6.1. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 23 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for protection 24 under this Stipulated Protective Order must take care to limit any such designation to 25 specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party 26 must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral 27 or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 1 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 2 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Stipulated Protective Order. 3 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 4 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 5 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 6 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 7 to sanctions. 8 6.2. Manner and Timing of Designations. 9 Except as otherwise provided in this Stipulated Protective Order (see, e.g., 10 Section 6.2(a)), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery 11 Material that qualifies for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order must be 12 clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 13 Designation in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order requires the 14 following: 15 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 16 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 17 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 18 “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion 19 or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 20 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 21 in the margins). 22 A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents available for 23 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 24 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection 25 and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 26 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 27 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 1 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order. 2 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 3 legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 4 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 5 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 6 markings in the margins). 7 (b) For testimony given in depositions, that the Designating Party 8 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 9 deposition, all protected testimony. 10 (c) For information produced in nondocumentary form, and for any other 11 tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of 12 the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 13 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 14 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 15 portion(s). 16 6.3. Inadvertent Failure to Designate. 17 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or 18 items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure 19 protection under this Stipulated Protective Order for such material. Upon timely 20 correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 21 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Stipulated 22 Protective Order. 23 7. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIAL DESIGNATIONS 24 7.1. Timing of Challenges. 25 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of confidentiality at any 26 time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 27 7.2. Meet and Confer. 1 The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process, which shall 2 comply with Local Rule 37.1 et seq., and with Section 4 of Judge Audero’s Procedures 3 (“Mandatory Telephonic Conference for Discovery Disputes”).1 4 7.3. Burden of Persuasion. 5 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 6 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 7 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 8 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 9 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 10 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 11 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 12 8. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIALS 13 8.1. Basic Principles. 14 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by 15 another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, 16 defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be 17 disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this 18 Stipulated Protective Order. When the Action reaches a final disposition, a Receiving 19 Party must comply with the provisions of Section 14 below. 20 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location 21 and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized 22 under this Stipulated Protective Order. 23 8.2. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. 24 25 26 27 1 Judge Audero’s Procedures are available at https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/honorable-maria-audero 1 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 2 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 3 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 4 (a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record, as well as 5 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 6 disclose the information for this Action; 7 (b) The officers, directors, and employees (including In-House Counsel) 8 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 9 (c) Experts of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably 10 necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement 11 to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (d) The Court and its personnel; 13 (e) Court reporters and their staff; 14 (f) Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 15 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary or this Action and who have 16 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (g) The author or recipient of a document containing the information or 18 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 19 (h) Plaintiff’s medical providers noticed for depositions or designated as 20 trial witnesses to the extent reasonably necessary to testify or in preparing to testify; 21 (i) During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 22 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (i) the deposing 23 party requests that the witness sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 24 Bound” (Exhibit A); and (ii) the witness will not be permitted to keep any confidential 25 information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound,” 26 unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of 27 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 1 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 2 anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 3 (j) Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 4 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 5 9. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 6 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 7 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 8 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 9 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 10 (a) Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 11 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 12 (b) Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 13 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 14 subpoena or order is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order. Such notification shall 15 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 16 (c) Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 17 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 18 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 19 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 20 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court from which the subpoena 21 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 22 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 23 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 24 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 25 directive from another court. 26 // 27 // 1 10. A NONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 3 10.1. Application. 4 The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order are applicable to information 5 produced by a Nonparty in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 6 information produced by Nonparties in connection with this litigation is protected by 7 the remedies and relief provided by this Stipulated Protective Order. Nothing in these 8 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from seeking additional 9 protections. 10 10.2. Notification. 11 In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a 12 Nonparty’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 13 agreement with the Nonparty not to produce the Nonparty’s confidential information, 14 then the Party shall: 15 (a) Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Nonparty that 16 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with 17 a Nonparty; 18 (b) Promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of the Stipulated 19 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 20 specific description of the information requested; and 21 (c) Make the information requested available for inspection by the 22 Nonparty, if requested. 23 10.3. Conditions of Production. 24 If the Nonparty fails to seek a protective order from this Court within fourteen 25 (14) days after receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 26 Party may produce the Nonparty’s confidential information responsive to the 27 discovery request. If the Nonparty timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party 1 shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 2 confidentiality agreement with the Nonparty before a determination by the Court. 3 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Nonparty shall bear the burden and expense 4 of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material. 5 11. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 7 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 8 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party immediately must (1) notify in 9 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its best efforts 10 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) inform the person or 11 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this 12 Stipulated Protective Order, and (4) request such person or persons to execute the 13 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” (Exhibit A). 14 12. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 15 PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 17 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 18 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 19 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 20 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 21 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 22 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 23 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 24 parties may incorporate their agreement in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted 25 to the Court. 26 13. MISCELLANEOUS 27 13.1. Right to Further Relief. 1 Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order abridges the right of any person to 2 seek its modification by the Court in the future. 3 13.2. Right to Assert Other Objections. 4 By stipulating to the entry of this Stipulated Protective Order, no Party waives 5 any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information 6 or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 7 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the 8 material covered by this Stipulated Protective Order. 9 13.3. Filing Protected Material. 10 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with 11 Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court 12 order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's 13 request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the Receiving 14 Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the 15 Court. 16 14. FINAL DISPOSITION 17 After the final disposition of this Action, within sixty (60) days of a written 18 request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected 19 Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, 20 “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and 21 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the 22 Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 23 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 24 Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 25 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms 26 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 27 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 1|| Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel is entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts; legal memoranda; correspondence; deposition and trial exhibits; expert reports; attorney work product; and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 5|| Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 6|| remain subject to this Stipulated Protective Order as set forth in Section 5. 15. VIOLATIONS 8 Any violation of this Stipulated Order may be punished by any and all 9|| appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 11 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 13 14] Dated: 9/21/2023 WISNER BAUM, LLP 15 16 Monique Alarcon 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff
Dated: 9/21/2023 POOLE SHAFFERY
Jason A. Benkner 21 Attorneys for Defendant Somatics 22 33|| FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 | wey Dated: September 22, 2023 Maria A. Audero 26 United States Magistrate Judge 27 28 —_————-$TIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, ________________________________________________[full name], of 4 _______________________________________________________[address], 5 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 6 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the 7 Central District of California on _________________[date] in the case of Golden v. 8 Somatics, LLC, case no. 2:23-cv-01791-JFW (MAAx). I agree to comply with and to 9 be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and 10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 11 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 12 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 13 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Stipulated 14 Protective Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint ________________________[full name] 19 of _______________________________________________[address and telephone 20 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action 21 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 22 23 Signature: 24 Printed Name: 25 Date: 26 City and State Where Sworn and Signed: 27
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