JOHN E. McDERMOTT, Magistrate Judge.
Discovery in this action is likely to involve the production of confidential, proprietary, and/or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 13.4, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
The parties jointly request that the Court issue this stipulated protective order because discovery in this action will likely involve disclosure of proprietary business information, confidential trade secrets, non-public personal information and/or other information that would result in competitive, commercial or financial harm to a party.
Additionally, SoulCycle Inc. ("SoulCycle") has filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding an initial public offering of its stock. It filed a registration statement on July 30, 2015 and an amended registration statement on December 9, 2015. As a result, SoulCycle is in a quiet period and it is particularly necessary to prevent sensitive, material, non-public confidential business information from being disclosed to the public.
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The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; or (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.
5.1
(a) In the case of documents produced by a Party, designation shall be made either by notation on the document, by notation in the filename, or by written notice to counsel for the Parties hereto if the other forms of designation are not practicable. In the case of original documents made available for inspection, the Producing Party need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed "CONFIDENTIAL." After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the "CONFIDENTIAL legend" to each page that contains Protected Material.
(b) In the case of documents produced by a Non-Party, designation shall be made by a Party or the Producing Party by notifying all counsel in writing of those documents which are to be stamped or otherwise treated as such at any time up to thirty (30) calendar days after actual receipt of copies of those documents by counsel for the Receiving Party. Prior to the expiration of that 30-day period (or until a designation is made, if such a designation is made in a shorter period of time), all such Discovery Material shall be treated as Confidential Material.
(c) In the case of testimony, designation shall be made by notifying all counsel of those portions which are to be stamped or otherwise treated as such either by statement on the record of the deposition or in writing at any time up to thirty (30) calendar days after the transcript is made available to the Designating Party. Prior to the expiration of that 30-day period (or until a designation is made, if such a designation is made in a shorter period of time), all such Discovery Material shall be treated as Confidential Material. Notwithstanding the preceding language in this paragraph, in the event that (i) a document produced and designated by a Non-Party as "Confidential" is used as an exhibit in a deposition and (ii) counsel for the Non-Party is not present at the deposition, the Parties agree that the exhibit remains designated "Confidential" and that any testimony concerning the exhibit shall be deemed to have been designated in writing as "Confidential" as is required in this paragraph.
(d) In the case of reports created by an expert or consultant relying on or incorporating Protected Material in whole or in part, designation shall be made by the Party responsible for its creation by notation on the report.
(e) In the case of non-electronic information or materials other than documents, the Producing Party shall affix the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored. If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
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6.4 Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions.
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(a) the Receiving Party's Counsel in this Action, as well as their employees to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
(b) the officers, directors, and employees of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" prior to disclosure (Exhibit A); Further, any expert receiving Confidential Information shall:
(i) Maintain such Confidential Information in a manner calculated to prevent its public disclosure;
(ii) Not disclose such Confidential Information to anyone, or use such Confidential Information, except as permitted by the Protective Order;
(iii) Submit to the jurisdiction of this Court for purposes of enforcing the Protective Order; and
(iv) Use such Confidential Information and the information contained therein solely for the purpose of rendering consulting services to a party to this Action, including providing testimony in this Action.
(d) the Court and its personnel;
(e) court reporters and their staff;
(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);
(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
(h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A); and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
Nothing in this Order shall restrict any party to this Action or its attorneys from disclosing or using, in any manner and for any purpose, its own Confidential Information.
If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as "CONFIDENTIAL," that Party must:
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party; such notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as "CONFIDENTIAL" before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party's permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as "CONFIDENTIAL." Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-Party's confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party's confidential information, then the Party shall:
(i) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
(ii) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information requested; and
(iii) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if requested.
(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party's confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). Any information subject to a claim of privilege or other protections that the Producing Party deems to have been inadvertently disclosed shall be, upon written request, returned to the Producing Party or destroyed within five business days of the discovery of the inadvertent disclosure and the Producing Party shall provide redacted versions of the documents, if applicable. The Receiving Party shall, in writing, within five business days after notification of the inadvertent disclosure by the Producing Party, return or destroy all copies of the Protective Information and provide a certification of counsel that all such information has been returned or destroyed. If the claim that the material qualifies as privileged or otherwise protected information is disputed, the party disputing the assertion may retain one copy of the disputed information pending a judicial determination of the matter pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5)(B) and Fed. R. Evid. 502. The party disputing the assertion may move the Court for an Order compelling production of the inadvertently disclosed information. The motion shall be filed under seal and shall not assert as a ground for entering such an Order the fact or circumstances of the inadvertent production.
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After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4 (DURATION), within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must either: (i) return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or (ii) destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, "all Protected Material" includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are 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 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
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IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, ______________________________ [
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________