1 [email protected] Elizabeth LaRocque (SBN 219977) 2 [email protected] ([email protected]) 3 STRATEGIC LEGAL PRACTICES A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 4 1888 Century Park East, 19th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90067 5 Telephone: (310) 929-4900 Facsimile: (310) 943-3838 6 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 7 Stephen Allen Tankersley and Clear Path Utility Solutions

8 Steven D. Park (SBN 215219) [email protected] 9 John R. Lawless (SBN 223561) [email protected] 10 Vincent Tremonti (SBN 301571) [email protected] 11 Charles C. Cavanagh (SBN 198468) [email protected] 12 PARK LAWLESS & TREMONTI LLP 515 South Flower Street, 18th Floor 13 Los Angeles, CA 90071 Telephone: (213) 640-3770 14 Facsimile: (213) 640-3015

15 Attorneys for Defendant FCA US, LLC 16

17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 19 Stephen Allen Tankersley and Clear Path Case No.: 2:25-cv-00464-DC-CKD 20 Utility Solutions, 21 Plaintiffs, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

22 v. WITH MODIFICATION BY THE COURT 23 FCA US, LLC, Defendant. 24

25

26

27 28 1 At least some of the documents and information ("materials") being sought through 2 discovery in the above-captioned action are, for competitive reasons, normally kept confidential 3 by the parties. The parties have agreed to be bound by the terms of this Protective Order (“Order”) 4 in this action. 5 The materials to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation between the parties 6 may contain trade secret or other confidential research, technical, cost, price, marketing or other 7 commercial information, as is contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G). The 8 purpose of this Order is to protect the confidentiality of such materials as much as practical during 9 the litigation. THEREFORE: 10 DEFINITIONS 11 1. The term "confidential information" will mean and include information contained 12 or disclosed in any materials, including documents, portions of documents, answers to 13 interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, trial testimony, deposition testimony, and 14 transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, including data, summaries, and compilations derived 15 therefrom that is deemed to be confidential information by any party to which it belongs. 16 2. The term "materials" will include, but is not be limited to: documents; 17 correspondence; memoranda; bulletins; blueprints; specifications; customer lists or other material 18 that identify customers or potential customers; price lists or schedules or other matter identifying 19 pricing; minutes; telegrams; letters; statements; cancelled checks; contracts; invoices; drafts; 20 books of account; worksheets; notes of conversations; desk diaries; appointment books; expense 21 accounts; recordings; photographs; motion pictures; compilations from which information can be 22 obtained and translated into reasonably usable form through detection devices; sketches; drawings; 23 notes (including laboratory notebooks and records); reports; instructions; disclosures; other 24 writings; models and prototypes and other physical objects. 25 3. The term "counsel" will mean outside counsel of record, and other attorneys, 26 paralegals, secretaries, and other support staff employed in the law firms identified below: 27 Strategic Legal Practices, APC, Park Lawless & Tremonti LLP, and Miller, Canfield, Paddock & 28 Stone, PLC. 1 GENERAL RULES 2 4. Each party to this litigation that produces or discloses any materials, answers to 3 interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, trial testimony, deposition testimony, and 4 transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, or information that the producing party believes 5 should be subject to this Protective Order may designate the same as "CONFIDENTIAL" or 6 "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY." 7 a. Designation as "CONFIDENTIAL": Any party may designate information as 8 "CONFIDENTIAL" only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its counsel, the unrestricted 9 disclosure of such information could be potentially prejudicial to the business or operations of such 10 party. 11 b. Designation as "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY": Any party may 12 designate information as "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" only if, in the good faith 13 belief of such party and its counsel, the information is among that considered to be most sensitive 14 by the party, including but not limited to trade secret or other confidential research, development, 15 financial or other commercial information. 16 5. In the event the producing party elects to produce materials for inspection, no 17 marking need be made by the producing party in advance of the initial inspection. For purposes of 18 the initial inspection, all materials produced will be considered as "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR 19 COUNSEL ONLY," and must be treated as such pursuant to the terms of this Order. Thereafter, 20 upon selection of specified materials for copying by the inspecting party, the producing party must, 21 within a reasonable time prior to producing those materials to the inspecting party, mark the copies 22 of those materials that contain confidential information with the appropriate confidentiality 23 marking. 24 6. Whenever a deposition taken on behalf of any party involves a disclosure of 25 confidential information of any party: 26 a. the deposition or portions of the deposition must be designated as 27 containing confidential information subject to the provisions of this Order; 28 such designation must be made on the record whenever possible, but a party 1 may designate portions of depositions as containing confidential 2 information after transcription of the proceedings; [A] party will have until 3 fourteen (14) days after receipt of the deposition transcript to inform the 4 other party or parties to the action of the portions of the transcript to be 5 designated "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL 6 ONLY.” 7 b. the disclosing party will have the right to exclude from attendance at the 8 deposition, during such time as the confidential information is to be 9 disclosed, any person other than the deponent, counsel (including their staff 10 and associates), the court reporter, and the person(s) agreed upon pursuant 11 to paragraph 8 below; and 12 c. the originals of the deposition transcripts and all copies of the deposition 13 must bear the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR 14 COUNSEL ONLY," as appropriate, and the original or any copy ultimately 15 presented to a court for filing must not be filed unless it can be accomplished 16 under seal, identified as being subject to this Order, and protected from 17 being opened except by order of this Court. 18 7. All confidential information designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or 19 "CONFIDENTIAL FOR COUNSEL ONLY" must not be disclosed by the receiving party to 20 anyone other than those persons designated within this order and must be handled in the manner 21 set forth below and, in any event, must not be used for any purpose other than in connection with 22 this litigation, unless and until such designation is removed either by agreement of the parties, or 23 by order of the Court. 24 8. Information designated "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" must be 25 viewed only by counsel (as defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, and by independent 26 experts under the conditions set forth in this Paragraph. The right of any independent expert to 27 receive any confidential information will be subject to the advance approval of such expert by the 28 producing party or by permission of the Court. The party seeking approval of an independent 1 expert must provide the producing party with the name and curriculum vitae of the proposed 2 independent expert, and an executed copy of the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, in advance of 3 providing any confidential information of the producing party to the expert. Any objection by the 4 producing party to an independent expert receiving confidential information must be made in 5 writing within fourteen (14) days following receipt of the identification of the proposed expert. 6 Confidential information may be disclosed to an independent expert if the fourteen (14) day period 7 has passed and no objection has been made. The approval of independent experts must not be 8 unreasonably withheld. 9 9. Information designated "confidential" must be viewed only by counsel (as defined 10 in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, by independent experts (pursuant to the terms of paragraph 11 8), by court personnel, and by the additional individuals listed below, provided each such 12 individual has read this Order in advance of disclosure and has agreed in writing to be bound by 13 its terms: 14 a) Executives who are required to participate in policy decisions with 15 reference to this action; 16 b) Technical personnel of the parties with whom Counsel for the parties find 17 it necessary to consult, in the discretion of such counsel, in preparation for 18 trial of this action; and 19 c) Stenographic and clerical employees associated with the individuals 20 identified above. 21 10. With respect to material designated "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL – 22 FOR COUNSEL ONLY," any person indicated on the face of the document to be its originator, 23 author or a recipient of a copy of the document, may be shown the same. 24 11. All information which has been designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or 25 "CONFIDENTIAL -FOR COUNSEL ONLY" by the producing or disclosing party, and any and 26 all reproductions of that information, must be retained in the custody of the counsel for the 27 receiving party identified in paragraph 3, except that independent experts authorized to view such 28 information under the terms of this Order may retain custody of copies such as are necessary for 1 their participation in this litigation. 2 12. Before any materials produced in discovery, answers to interrogatories, responses 3 to requests for admissions, deposition transcripts, or other documents which are designated as 4 confidential information are filed with the Court for any purpose, the party seeking to file such 5 material must seek permission of the Court to file the material under seal. 6 13. At any stage of these proceedings, any party may object to a designation of the 7 materials as confidential information. The party objecting to confidentiality must notify, in writing, 8 counsel for the designating party of the objected-to materials and the grounds for the objection. If 9 the dispute is not resolved consensually between the parties within seven (7) days of receipt of 10 such a notice of objections, the objecting party may move the Court for a ruling on the objection. 11 The materials at issue must be treated as confidential information, as designated by the designating 12 party, until the Court has ruled on the objection or the matter has been otherwise resolved. 13 14. All confidential information must be held in confidence by those inspecting or 14 receiving it, and must be used only for purposes of this action. Counsel for each party, and each 15 person receiving confidential information must take reasonable precautions to prevent the 16 unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such information. If confidential information is disclosed 17 to any person other than a person authorized by this Order, the party responsible for the 18 unauthorized disclosure must immediately bring all pertinent facts relating to the unauthorized 19 disclosure to the attention of the other parties and, without prejudice to any rights and remedies of 20 the other parties, make every effort to prevent further disclosure by the party and by the person(s) 21 receiving the unauthorized disclosure. 22 15. No party will be responsible to another party for disclosure of confidential 23 information under this Order if the information in question is not labeled or otherwise identified 24 as such in accordance with this Order. 25 16. If a party, through inadvertence, produces any confidential information without 26 labeling or marking or otherwise designating it as such in accordance with this Order, the 27 designating party may give written notice to the receiving party that the document or thing 28 produced is deemed confidential information, and that the document or thing produced should be 1 treated as such in accordance with that designation under this Order. The receiving party must treat 2 the materials as confidential, once the designating party so notifies the receiving party. If the 3 receiving party has disclosed the materials before receiving the designation, the receiving party 4 must notify the designating party in writing of each such disclosure. Counsel for the parties will 5 agree on a mutually acceptable manner of labeling or marking the inadvertently produced materials 6 as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" - SUBJECT TO 7 PROTECTIVE ORDER. 8 17. Nothing within this order will prejudice the right of any party to object to the 9 production of any discovery material on the grounds that the material is protected as privileged or 10 as attorney work product. 11 18. Nothing in this Order will bar counsel from rendering advice to their clients with 12 respect to this litigation and, in the course thereof, relying upon any information designated as 13 confidential information, provided that the contents of the information must not be disclosed. 14 19. This Order will be without prejudice to the right of any party to oppose production 15 of any information for lack of relevance or any other ground other than the mere presence of 16 confidential information. The existence of this Order must not be used by either party as a basis 17 for discovery that is otherwise improper under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 18 20. Nothing within this order will be construed to prevent disclosure of confidential 19 information if such disclosure is required by law or by order of the Court. 20 21. Upon final termination of this action, including any and all appeals, counsel for 21 each party must, upon request of the producing party, return all confidential information to the 22 party that produced the information, including any copies, excerpts, and summaries of that 23 information, or must destroy same at the option of the receiving party, and must purge all such 24 information from all machine-readable media on which it resides. Notwithstanding the foregoing, 25 counsel for each party may retain all pleadings, briefs, memoranda, motions, and other documents 26 filed with the Court that refer to or incorporate confidential information, and will continue to be 27 bound by this Order with respect to all such retained information. Further, attorney work product 28 materials that contain confidential information need not be destroyed, but, if they are not destroyed, 1 the person in possession of the attorney work product will continue to be bound by this Order with 2 respect to all such retained information. 3 22. The restrictions and obligations set forth within this order will not apply to any 4 information that: (a) the parties agree should not be designated confidential information; (b) the 5 parties agree, or the Court rules, is already public knowledge; (c) the parties agree, or the Court 6 rules, has become public knowledge other than as a result of disclosure by the receiving party, its 7 employees, or its agents in violation of this Order; or (d) has come or will come into the receiving 8 party's legitimate knowledge independently of the production by the designating party. Prior 9 knowledge must be established by pre-production documentation. 10 23. The restrictions and obligations within this order will not be deemed to prohibit 11 discussions of any confidential information with anyone if that person already has or obtains 12 legitimate possession of that information. 13 24. Transmission by email or some other currently utilized method of transmission is 14 acceptable for all notification purposes within this Order. 15 25. This Order may be modified by agreement of the parties, subject to approval by the 16 Court. 17 26. The Court may modify the terms and conditions of this Order for good cause, or in 18 the interest of justice, or on its own order at any time in these proceedings. The parties prefer that 19 the Court provide them with notice of the Court's intent to modify the Order and the content of 20 those modifications, prior to entry of such an order. 21 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 22 Dated: May 14, 2025 STRATEGIC LEGAL PRACTICES, APC 23 By: /s/Elizabeth LaRocque 24 Tionna Carvalho Elizabeth LaRocque 25 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Stephen Allen Tankersley and Clear Path Utility 26 Solutions

27 /// 28 /I/ 1 Dated: May 14, 2025 PARK LAWLESS & TREMONTI LLP 2 3 By: ___/s/Steven D. Park Steven D. Park 4 John R. Lawless Vincent Tremonti 5 Charles C. Cavanagh Attorneys for Defendant 6 FCA US, LLC 7 g ORDER 9 The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order. (ECF No. 6.) The 10 stipulation comports with the relevant authorities and the court’s applicable local rule. See L.R. 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following clarifications. The 1] Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R. 141.1(f); see also, 13 MD Helicopters, Inc. v. Aerometals, Inc.,

(E.D. Cal., Feb. 03, 2017) 14 || (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain jurisdiction for disputes concerning 15 || Protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, the Court will not retain jurisdiction over this 16 protective order once the case is closed. Further, this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle a party to file confidential 17 information under seal. Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 18 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material 19 || under seal. If a party’s request to file confidential material under seal is denied by the Court, then 20 || the party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. 21 || Dated: May 16, 2025 my f) 4 / 22 Candfe “AP CAROLYN K. DELANEY 23 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 24 5, tank.0464.25 25 26 27 28

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