1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 CITY OF ANAHEIM Case No.: 8:24-cv-01916-FWS-JDE 10 Plaintiff, 11 vs. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 12 SCOTTSDALE INSURANCE COMPANY and NATIONWIDE 13 MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY,

14 Defendants. 15 16 Based on the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 26) and for good cause shown, the Court 17 finds and orders as follows. 18 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 19 Plaintiff has requested document production from Defendants in this action which 20 Defendants contend includes production of confidential, proprietary or private 21 information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any 22 purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, Plaintiff City 23 of Anaheim and Defendants Scottsdale Insurance Company and Nationwide Mutual 24 Insurance Company (collectively, the “parties”) hereby stipulate to and petition the Court 25 to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. This Order does not confer blanket 26 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 27 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 This action is likely to involve trade secrets and other valuable research, 3 development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which 4 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 5 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and 6 information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial 7 information, information regarding confidential business practices and procedures, 8 including claims handling manuals, or other confidential research, development, or 9 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties 10 such as claim files or personnel records), information otherwise generally unavailable to 11 the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state 12 or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite 13 the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality 14 of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 15 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such 16 material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end 17 of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 18 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 19 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a 20 good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 21 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 22 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 23 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 15.3, below, that this 24 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 25 seal. Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 26 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 27 material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu,

, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors ; Corp.,

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

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good ° cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper ° evidentiary support and legal justification must be made with respect to Protected ’ Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of ° competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under '0 seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos 4 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n.,

(9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type ° of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 6 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable *° in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include an

35 explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 4, DEFINITIONS 4.1 Action: This pending lawsuit. 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information or items under this Order.

1 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 2 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 3 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as stated above in the Good Cause Statement. 4 4.4 Counsel: Counsel of Record (as well as their support staff). 5 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items 6 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 7 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 8 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among 9 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in 10 disclosures or responses to discovery. 11 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 12 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 13 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 14 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 15 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 16 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or other 17 legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 18 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 19 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in this 20 Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf 21 of that party, and includes support staff. 22 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 23 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 24 support staffs). 25 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 26 Discovery Material in this Action. 27 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 1 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 2 their employees and subcontractors. 3 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 4 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 5 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 6 from a Producing Party. 7 5. SCOPE 8 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 9 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 10 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 11 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 12 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall 13 be governed by the orders of the trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order 14 does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 15 6. DURATION 16 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 17 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as 18 an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of 19 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 20 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See 21 Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 22 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 23 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective 24 order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 25 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each 27 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order 1 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those 2 parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so that 3 other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which protection 4 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 5 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that 6 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 7 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 8 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 9 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 10 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 11 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 12 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 13 Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that 14 qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material 15 is disclosed or produced. Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 16 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 17 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), 18 that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 19 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 20 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 21 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by appropriate markings in the margins). 22 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 23 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 24 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 25 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 26 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 27 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 1 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 2 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 3 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., 4 by making appropriate markings in the margins). 5 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 6 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 7 protected testimony. 8 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 9 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 10 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 11 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 12 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 13 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 14 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 15 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 16 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 17 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 2 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 3 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 4 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 5 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 6 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint 7 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 8 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 9 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 10 harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 11 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 12 the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question 13 the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until 14 the Court rules on the challenge. 15 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 17 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action 18 only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected 19 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 20 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must 21 comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 23 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 24 authorized under this Order. 25 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 26 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 27 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 1 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 2 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 3 disclose the information for this Action; 4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 5 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 7 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (d) the court and its personnel; 10 (e) court reporters and their staff; 11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 12 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 13 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 15 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 17 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 18 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not 19 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 20 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 21 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 22 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 23 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Order; and 24 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 25 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 26 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 1 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 2 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 3 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 4 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 5 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 6 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 7 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” 8 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 9 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 10 PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 12 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of 13 the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 14 This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e- 15 discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to 16 Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the 17 effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 18 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 19 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 20 12. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 21 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 22 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 23 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced 24 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 25 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a 26 Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 27 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 1 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, 2 then the Party shall: 3 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 4 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 5 with a Non-Party; 6 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 7 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 8 specific description of the information requested; and 9 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 10 Party, if requested. 11 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 12 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 13 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If 14 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 15 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 16 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 17 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 18 court of its Protected Material. 19 13. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 21 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 22 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 23 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 24 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 25 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 26 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” 27 attached hereto as Exhibit A. 1 14. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 2 IN OTHER LITIGATION 3 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 4 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 5 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 7 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 9 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 10 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 11 Stipulated Protective Order; and 12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 13 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating 14 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order 15 shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before 16 a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party 17 has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the 18 burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and 19 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 20 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 21 15. MISCELLANEOUS 22 15.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 23 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 24 15.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 25 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 26 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 27 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground 1 15.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 2 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only 3 be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 4 Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by 5 the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 6 otherwise instructed by the court. 7 16. FINAL DISPOSITION 8 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 days 9 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 10 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 11 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 12 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 13 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit 14 a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 15 Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 16 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that 17 the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or 18 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding 19 this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of their entire file. Any such 20 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 21 Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 22 17. VIOLATION 23 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 24 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 25 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 26 27 DATED: _J_u_ly_ _3_1_, _2_0_2_5______ ________________________________ JOHN D. EARLY United States Magistrate Judge 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ 4 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety 5 and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 6 District Court for the Central District of California on July 31, 2025, in the case of City of 7 Anaheim v. Scottsdale Ins. Co. and Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co., Case No. 8:24-cv- 8 01916-FWS-JDE. 9 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 10 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 11 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise 12 that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 13 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 14 provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 16 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing this Stipulated Protective 17 Order, even if such proceedings occur after termination of the action. 18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone 20 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or 21 any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 22 Date:__________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed:________________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _____________________________________________ 26 Signature: ________________________________________________ 27