Keith Feder, M.D., Inc. v. Aetna Life Insurance Co.

United States District Court for the Central District of California

Keith Feder, M.D., Inc. v. Aetna Life Insurance Co.

Trial Court Opinion

1 SHANNON L. ERNSTER (SBN: 264940) [email protected] 2 HELA VAKNIN (SBN: 342083) [email protected] 3 GORDON REES SCULLY MANSUKHANI, LLP 633 West Fifth Street, 52nd Floor 4 Los Angeles, CA 90071 Telephone: (213) 576-5000 5 Facsimile: (213) 680-4470 NOTE: CHANGES MADE BY THE COURT

6 Attorneys for Defendant AETNA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 7

8 JONATHAN A. STIEGLITZ (SBN 278028) [email protected] 9 THE LAW OFFICES OF JONATHAN A. STIEGLITZ 10 11845 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 800 Los Angeles, California 90064 11 Telephone: (323) 979-2063 Facsimile: (323) 488-6748 12 Attorney for Plaintiff KEITH FEDER, M.D., INC. 13

14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 15 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 16

17 KEITH FEDER, M.D., INC. Case No. 2:23-cv-07026-JLS-JPR 18

19 Plaintiff(s), STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 20 v. ORDER1

21 AETNA LIFE INSURANCE 22

COMPANY, and DOES 1-10, 23

24 Defendant(s).

25 26 27 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is substantially based on the model protective order provided under Magistrate Judge Jean P. Rosenbluth as 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action may 3 involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for 4 which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any 5 purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 6 Accordingly, Plaintiff Keith Feder, M.D., Inc. (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant 7 Aetna Life Insurance Company (“Defendant”) (Plaintiff and Defendant 8 are collectively referred to herein as the “Parties”) hereby stipulate to 9 and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. 10 This Protective Order shall govern any record of information 11 produced in this action and designated pursuant to this Protective Order, 12 including all designated deposition testimony, all designated testimony 13 taken at a hearing or other proceeding, all designated deposition 14 exhibits, interrogatory answers, admissions, documents and other 15 discovery materials, whether produced informally or in response to 16 interrogatories, requests for admissions, requests for production of 17 documents or other formal methods of discovery. 18 This Protective Order shall also govern any designated record of 19 information produced in this action pursuant to required disclosures 20 under any federal procedural rule or local rule of the Court and any 21 22 supplementary disclosures thereto. 23 This Protective Order shall apply to the Parties and to any 24 nonparty from whom discovery may be sought who desires the protection 25 of this Protective Order. 26 The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 27 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the 1 protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 2 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 3 under the applicable legal principles. The Parties further acknowledge, 4 as set forth in Section 12.3 below, that this Order does not entitle them 5 to file Confidential Information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets 6 forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be 7 applied when a Party seeks permission from the Court to file material 8 under seal. 9 1.2 Good Cause Statement. 10 This action arises out of a dispute between Plaintiff and Defendant 11 regarding payment for medical services rendered by Plaintiff to multiple 12 Patients (“Patients”) enrolled in health benefit plans issued and 13 administered by Defendant. 14 In light of the nature of the claims and allegations in this case, this 15 action necessarily involves the production of confidential information for 16 which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any 17 purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 18 confidential and proprietary materials and information may consist of, 19 among other things, the personal health information of the Patients and 20 their medical treatment, as well as confidential business information, 21 22 information regarding confidential business practices, or other 23 confidential information (including information implicating privacy 24 rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to 25 the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from 26 disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or 27 common law. 1 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the 2 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, 3 to adequately protect information the Parties are required and/or 4 entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the Parties are permitted 5 reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the 6 conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 7 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 8 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information 9 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that 10 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been 11 maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause 12 why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 13 Good cause also exists for a two-tiered protective order in this case 14 that provides for the designation of certain material as “Highly 15 Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” because production of Defendant’s 16 internal business policies or confidential information of or relating to 17 Defendant’s customers could lead to significant harm to Defendant, its 18 affiliates, and its customers if subject to unauthorized disclosure or 19 misuse. 20

21 22 2. DEFINITIONS 23 2.1 Action: Keith Feder, M.D., Inc. v. Aetna Life Insurance 24 Company, United States District Court, Central District of California, 25 Case No. 2:23-cv-07026-JLS-JPR 26 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 27 designation of information or items under this Order. 1 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information 2 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible 3 things that qualify for protection under Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of 4 Civil Procedure, and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement and 5 below. 6 The term Confidential Information shall include confidential or 7 proprietary technical, scientific, financial, business, health, or medical 8 information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” by the producing party. 9 The term “Confidential Health Information” shall constitute a 10 subset of Confidential Information, and shall be designated as 11 “CONFIDENTIAL” and subject to all other terms and conditions 12 governing the treatment of Confidential Information. Confidential 13 Health Information shall mean information supplied in any form, or any 14 portion thereof, that identifies an individual or subscriber in any manner 15 and relates to the past, present, or future care, services, or supplies 16 relating to the physical or mental health or condition of such individual 17 or subscriber, the provision of health care to such individual or 18 subscriber, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of 19 health care to such individual or subscriber. Confidential Health 20 Information shall include, but is not limited to, claim data, claim forms, 21 grievances, appeals, or other documents or records that contain any 22 patient health information required to be kept confidential under any 23 state or federal law, including 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164 promulgated 24 pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 25 1996 (see

45 C.F.R. §§ 164.501

& 160.103), and the following subscriber, 26 patient, or member identifiers: 27 a. names; 1 b. all geographic subdivisions smaller than a State, including 2 street address, city, county, precinct, and zip code; 3 c. all elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to 4 an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, 5 age, and date of death; 6 d. telephone numbers; 7 e. fax numbers; 8 f. electronic mail addresses; 9 g. social security numbers; 10 h. medical record numbers; 11 i. health plan beneficiary numbers; 12 j. account numbers; 13 k. certificate/license numbers; 14 l. vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate 15 numbers; 16 m. device identifiers and serial numbers; 17 n. web universal resource locators (“URLs”); 18 o. internet protocol (“IP”) address numbers; 19 p. biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints; 20 q. full face photographic images and any comparable images; 21 and/or 22 r. any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code. 23 2.4 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 24 Information or Items: extremely sensitive “CONFIDENTIAL” 25 Information or Items, the disclosure of which to another Party or Non- 26 Party would create a substantial risk of serious harm that could not be 27 avoided by less restrictive means. 1 2.5 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as 2 well as their support staff). 3 2.6 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates 4 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to 5 discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 6 2.7 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, 7 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or 8 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and 9 tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or 10 responses to discovery in this matter. 11 2.8 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in 12 a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or 13 its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 14 2.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to 15 this Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of 16 Record or any other outside counsel. 17 2.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, 18 association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 19 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees 20 of a party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party to 21 22 this Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that Party or 23 are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that Party, 24 and includes support staff. 25 2.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 26 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel 27 of Record (and their support staffs). 1 2.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces 2 Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action. 3 2.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide 4 litigation- support services (for example, photocopying, videotaping, 5 translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, 6 storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees 7 and subcontractors. 8 2.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that 9 is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 10 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 11 2.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 12 Material from a Producing Party. 13

14 3. SCOPE 15 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not 16 only Protected Material (as defined above), but also any information 17 18 copied or extracted from Protected Material; all copies, excerpts, 19 summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and any testimony, 20 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might 21 reveal Protected Material. 22 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the 23 orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of 24 Protected Material at trial. 25 26 4. DURATION 27 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 1 CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 2 ONLY or maintained under this Order becomes public and will be 3 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the 4 press, unless the trial judge finds compelling reasons to proceed 5 otherwise. See Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu,

447 F.3d 1172

, 6 1180–81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 7 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” needed for 8 merits-related documents.) Accordingly, the terms of this Order do not 9 extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 10 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality 11 obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a 12 Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order 13 otherwise directs. Final disposition is the later of (1) dismissal of all 14 claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice, or (2) final 15 judgment after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 16 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for 17 filing any motions or applications for extension of time under applicable 18 law. 19

20 21 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 5.1 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items 23 for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such 24 designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 25 standards. To the extent practicable, the Designating Party must 26 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, 27 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of 1 the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection 2 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this 3 Order. 4 Indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. 5 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been 6 made for an improper purpose (for example, to unnecessarily encumber 7 the case-development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and 8 burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to 9 sanctions. 10 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or 11 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that 12 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 13 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 14 5.2 Except as otherwise provided in this Order, Disclosure or 15 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be 16 clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 17 18 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 19 (a) for information in documentary form (for example, paper or 20 electronic documents but excluding transcripts of depositions or other 21 pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a 22 minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 23 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” to each page that 24 contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the 25 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party should 26 to the extent practicable clearly identify the protected portion(s) (for 27 example, by making appropriate markings in the margins). 1 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 2 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the 3 inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied 4 and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of 5 the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 6 CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 7 ONLY. After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it 8 wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 9 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. 10 Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party 11 must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 12 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” legend to each page that contains 13 Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a 14 page qualify for protection, the Producing Party should to the extent 15 practical clearly identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by 16 making appropriate markings in the margins). 17 (b) for testimony given in depositions, the Designating Party 18 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material that is protected on the 19 record, before the close of the deposition. 20 (c) for information produced in some form other than 21 22 documentary and for any other tangible items, the Producing Party affix 23 in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in 24 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or 25 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” legend. If 26 only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the 27 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, must identify the protected 1 portion(s). 2 (d) for information disclosed at a hearing that the Designating 3 Party requests the Judge, at or before the time the information is 4 proffered or adduced, to receive the information only in the presence of 5 those persons designated to receive such information and Court 6 personnel, and to designate the transcript appropriately. 7 (e) Confidential Information marked as “CONFIDENTIAL - 8 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” may be used solely for the purpose of 9 conducting this Litigation and not for any other purpose whatsoever. 10 5.3 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate 11 qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 12 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for that 13 material. On timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party 14 must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in 15 accordance with the provisions of this Order. 16

17 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 18 19 6.1 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of 20 confidentiality at any time consistent with the Court’s scheduling order. 21 6.2 The Challenging Party must initiate the dispute resolution 22 process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37. 23 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding is 24 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 25 improper purpose (for example, to harass or impose unnecessary 26 expenses and burdens on other parties), may expose the Challenging 27 Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 1 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all Parties must continue to 2 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 3 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules 4 on the challenge. 5 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 7.1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 7 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Nonparty in connection 8 with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle 9 this Action and for no other action. A Receiving Party shall hold such 10 information received from the disclosing Party in confidence, shall not 11 use it for any business or other commercial purpose, shall not use it for 12 filing or prosecuting any patent application (of any type) or patent 13 reissue or reexamination request, and shall not disclose it to any person, 14 except as hereinafter provided. Such Protected Material may be 15 disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 16 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 17 18 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below 19 (FINAL DISPOSITION) 20 All documents, including attorney notes and abstracts, which 21 contain another Party’s Confidential Information, shall be handled as if 22 they were designated pursuant to Paragraph 5. 23 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving 24 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is 25 limited to the people authorized under this Order. 26 7.2 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in 27 writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 1 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to the following 2 people: 3 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 4 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record 5 (excluding experts and investigators) to whom it is reasonably necessary 6 to disclose the information for this Action; 7 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House 8 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably 9 necessary for this Action; 10 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 11 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 12 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 13 (d) the Court and its personnel; 14 (e) private court reporters and their staff to whom disclosure is 15 reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 16 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 18 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 19 this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement 20 to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 21 22 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the 23 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or 24 knew the information; 25 (h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for 26 witnesses to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, provided that the 27 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as 1 Exhibit A hereto and the witnesses will not be permitted to keep any 2 confidential information unless they sign form, unless otherwise agreed 3 by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 4 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 5 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be 6 disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Order; 7 (i) Stenographers and videographers engaged to transcribe or 8 record depositions conducted in this action provided that such 9 individuals agree in writing, in the form attached at Exhibit A, to be 10 bound by the terms of this Order; and 11 (j) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 12 personnel, mutually agreed on by any of the Parties engaged in 13 settlement discussions or appointed by the Court. 14 7.3 Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEYS’ 15 EYES ONLY” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the 16 court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving 17 Party may disclose any information or item designated “HIGHLY 18 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only to: 19 20 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, 21 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record (excluding 22 experts and investigators) to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose 23 the information for this Action; 24 (b) House Counsel; 25 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 26 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 27 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 1 (d) the court and its personnel; 2 (e) private court reporters and their staff to whom disclosure is 3 reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 4 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 5 (f) the author or recipient of a document containing the 6 information; and 7 (g) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 8 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the Parties engaged in 9 settlement discussions or appointed by the Court. 10 11 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 12 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 13 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in 14 other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items 15 designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 16 CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY,” that Party must: 17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 18 notification must include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless 19 prohibited by law; 20 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the 21 subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the 22 material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective 23 Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated 24 Protective Order; and 25 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to 26 27 be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be 1 affected. 2 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the 3 Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any 4 information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 5 CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” before a determination on 6 the protective-order request by the relevant court unless the Party has 7 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party 8 bears the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its 9 Confidential Material and nothing in these provisions should be 10 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this 11 Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 12

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

18 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 19 MATERIAL 20 21 If a Receiving Party learns that by inadvertence or otherwise, it 22 has disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance 23 not authorized under this Order, the Receiving Party must immediately 24 notify the Designating Party in writing of the unauthorized disclosures, 25 use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected 26 Material, inform the person or people to whom unauthorized disclosures 27 were made of all the terms of this Order, and ask that person or people 1 to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is 2 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 3 4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 5 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that 7 certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege 8 or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set 9 forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 10

11 12 12. MISCELLANEOUS 13 12.1 Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to 14 seek its modification by the Court. 15 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry 16 of this Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to 17 object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground 18 not addressed in this Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to 19 object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by 20 this Order. 21 12.3 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material 22 must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be 23 filed under seal only pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of 24 the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file 25 Protected Material under seal is denied, then the Receiving Party may 26 file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by 27 1 2 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 3 After the Final Disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4 4, within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each 5 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing 6 Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all 7 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 8 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 9 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or 10 destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to 11 the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 12 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that identifies (by category, 13 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 14 destroyed and affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any 15 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format 16 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 17 18 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 19 archival copy of all pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and 20 hearing transcripts; legal memoranda; correspondence; deposition and 21 trial exhibits; expert reports; attorney work product; and consultant and 22 expert work product even if such materials contain Protected Material. 23 Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 24 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4. 25 (DURATION) 26 / / / 27 1 / / / 2 / / / 3 / / / 4 / / / 5 6 / / / 7 / / / 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 || 14. SANCTIONS 2 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or 3 || criminal contempt, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to 4 || disciplinary authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of 5 || the Court. 6 7 | IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 8 ? | DATED: May 9, 2025 is|_ Jonathan A. Stieglitz Attorney(s) for Plaintiff(s)

12 3 DATED:_May 9, 2025 /sl| Shannon L. Ernster 14 Attorney(s) for Defendant(s) 15 16 17 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 fe hrohlattr 19 DATED: 5/14/2025 20 JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH >] United States Magistrate Judge 22 23 24 25 26 27

1 EXHIBIT A ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2

3 I, ________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under 5 penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 6 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the 8 case of __________ [insert formal name of the case and the 9 number and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to 10 comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 11 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 12 13 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 14 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 15 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective 16 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 17 provisions of this Order. 18 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States 19 District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of 20 enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such 21 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I 22 hereby appoint ________________________ [print or type full name] 23 of _________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as 24 25 26 27 1 my California agent for service of process in connection with this action 2 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 3 Order. 4 5 Date: ___________________________ 6 City and State where sworn and 7 signed: ___________________________ 8 Printed name: ___________________________ 9 Signature: ___________________________ 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Reference

Status
Unknown