Filed: Apr. 15, 2015
Latest Update: Apr. 15, 2015
Summary: STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER PAUL L. ABRAMS , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiffs Live Face on Web, LLC ("Plaintiffs"), along with Defendant United California Discount Corporation ("United"), (collectively, "Parties") through their respective counsel of record in this litigation, enter into this Stipulation for Entry of Protective Order and mutually request that the Court enter a Protective Order for purposes of discovery and other proceedings in this litigation, as follows: Disclosure and discov
Summary: STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER PAUL L. ABRAMS , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiffs Live Face on Web, LLC ("Plaintiffs"), along with Defendant United California Discount Corporation ("United"), (collectively, "Parties") through their respective counsel of record in this litigation, enter into this Stipulation for Entry of Protective Order and mutually request that the Court enter a Protective Order for purposes of discovery and other proceedings in this litigation, as follows: Disclosure and discove..
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
PAUL L. ABRAMS, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiffs Live Face on Web, LLC ("Plaintiffs"), along with Defendant United California Discount Corporation ("United"), (collectively, "Parties") through their respective counsel of record in this litigation, enter into this Stipulation for Entry of Protective Order and mutually request that the Court enter a Protective Order for purposes of discovery and other proceedings in this litigation, as follows:
Disclosure and discovery activity in this action involve the production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation is warranted. To date the parties have propounded discovery that calls for the production of certain customer information, sales, revenue and cost data, profits, and other confidential and sensitive financial information. 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 extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled under the applicable legal principles to treatment as confidential.
I. SCOPE.
All documents or electronically stored information produced in the course of discovery, all responses to discovery requests, all deposition testimony and deposition exhibits, and any other materials which may be subject to discovery (hereinafter collectively referred to as "documents") shall be subject to this Order concerning confidential information and Information Claimed to be Privileged as set forth below.
II. CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS.
A. Documents Which May be Designated Confidential.
1. Any party or non-party may designate documents as CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY after review of the documents by an attorney or other representative for that party who has, in good faith, determined that the documents contain information protected from disclosure by statute, sensitive personal information, trade secrets, or confidential research, development, or commercial information. Information or documents which are available in the public sector may not be designated as confidential and are not presumed to be confidential.
2. In an effort to conduct discovery openly and in good faith, the designation of ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY is only to be utilized in extremely limited circumstances. Specifically, the documents which are being designated as ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY must contain information which is not commonly known by or available to the public and which information, derives economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy; and contains information protected from disclosure by statute, sensitive personal information, trade secrets, or confidential research, development, or commercial information, including but not limited to financial data, the disclosure of which would reveal profit margins, vendor pricing/discounts, or similar such financial information.
B. Form and Timing of Designation of Confidential Documents.
1. Confidential documents shall be so designated by placing or affixing the word "CONFIDENTIAL" or "ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" on the documents in a manner which will not interfere with the legibility of the document and shall be placed or affixed in a manner which will permit complete removal of the word "CONFIDENTIAL" or "ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY."
2. Documents shall be designated CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY prior to, or contemporaneously with, the production or disclosure of the documents.
C. Protection of Confidential Materials.
1. General Protections. All documents designated CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY under this Order shall not be used or disclosed by the parties or counsel for the parties or any other persons identified in Paragraph (ii) or (iii) below for any purposes whatsoever except as is provided in Paragraph (ii) or (iii) below.
2. Limited Third-Party Disclosures. The parties and counsel for the parties shall not disclose or permit the disclosure of any documents designated as CONFIDENTIAL under the terms of this Order to any other person or entity except as set forth in subparagraphs (a)-(h) below:
a. Parties and employees of a party to this Order but only to the extent that the individual party or employee's assistance is necessary to the conduct of the litigation in which the information is disclosed;
b. All lawyers representing a party with respect to this litigation, and other lawyers within their respective law firms, and their staffs to whom it is necessary that material be disclosed for the purposes of this litigation, including commercial copiers, draftsmen, etc.;
c. Bona Fide independent experts or consultants retained solely for the purpose of assisting legal counsel in the conducting of this litigation who have a need to know such CONFIDENTIAL information and who have, in advance of disclosure, executed the undertaking of Exhibit "A."
d. Any person who is a current employee, officer, director or representative of the party who produced such CONFIDENTIAL information;
e. Any witness testifying under oath who was previously: (i) an employee, officer, or director of; (ii) an individual or an employee of any entity which was a consultant, licensee or an employee of any entity which was a consultant, licensee to or licensor of; or (iii) an individual or an employee of any entity which was an assignee to or assignor of the party who produced such CONFIDENTIAL information, but only with respect to CONFIDENTIAL information to which such person or entity had actual access at any time during his or her association with the party or which such person participated in preparing; and
f. The Court and Court employees and staff, stenographic reporters, certified translators or interpreters, and American Arbitration Association personnel as are necessarily incident to the conduct of discovery, the preparation for the hearing, or the hearing itself;
g. Arbitrators, mediators and insurance claims representatives and their respective staffs who are necessary to facilitate settlement or resolution of the matter; and
h. Other persons only upon consent of the producing party or upon order of the Arbitrator, District Judge or Magistrate and on such conditions as are agreed to or ordered.
3. The parties and counsel for the parties shall not disclose or permit the disclosure of any documents designated as ATTORNEY'S EYES ONLY under the terms of this Order to any other person or entity except as set forth in subparagraphs (a)-(h) below:
a. All outside lawyers representing a party with respect to this litigation, and other lawyers within their respective law firms, and their staffs to whom it is necessary that material be disclosed for the purposes of this litigation, including commercial copiers, draftsmen, etc. The term "outside lawyers" shall mean and include lawyers who are not employees of any party and who are not otherwise shareholders, officers, or directors of any party;
b. Bona Fide independent experts or consultants retained solely for the purpose of assisting legal counsel in the conducting of this litigation who have a need to know such ATTORNEY'S EYES ONLY information and who have, in advance of disclosure, executed the undertaking of Exhibit "A."
c. Any person who is a current employee, officer, director or representative of the party who produced such ATTORNEY'S EYES ONLY information;
d. Any witness testifying under oath who was previously: (i) an employee, officer, or director of; (ii) an individual or an employee of any entity which was a consultant, licensee or an employee of any entity which was a consultant, licensee to or licensor of; or (iii) an individual or an employee of any entity which was an assignee to or assignor of the party who produced such ATTORNEY'S EYES ONLY information, but only with respect to ATTORNEY'S EYES ONLY information to which such person or entity had actual access at any time during his or her association with the party or which such person participated in preparing;
e. The Court and Court employees and staff, stenographic reporters, certified translators or interpreters, and American Arbitration Association personnel as are necessarily incident to the conduct of discovery, the preparation for the hearing, or the hearing itself;
f. Arbitrators, mediators and insurance claims representatives and their respective staffs who are necessary to facilitate settlement or resolution of the matter; and
g. Other persons only upon consent of the producing party or upon order of the Arbitrator, District Judge or Magistrate and on such conditions as are agreed to or ordered.
h. In no event shall named parties, their shareholders, offices, directors and employees be included in those qualified persons with access to ATTORNEY'S EYES ONLY information.
4. Control of Documents. Counsel for the parties shall take reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of documents designated as confidential pursuant to the terms of this Order.
5. Copies. All copies, duplicates, extracts, summaries or descriptions (hereinafter referred to collectively as "copies") of documents designated as confidential under this Order or any portion of such a document, shall be immediately affixed with the designation CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY if the word does not already appear on the copy. All such copies shall be afforded the full protection of this Order.
6. Restriction on Advice. Nothing herein shall restrict any counsel, whether in-house or outside counsel, from advising its client with respect to this action and from relying in a general way upon an examination of material designated pursuant to this Order in giving such advice; provided, however, that in giving such advice and communicating with the client, counsel shall not disclose the substance or contents of any "ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY" material except to persons permitted such access under this Order.
7. Use in Hearings and Trial. The parties shall reasonably endeavor to prepare their cases without any unnecessary disclosure of "CONFIDENTIAL" or "ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY" material. Nothing in this Order, however, prevents any party from using or offering into evidence any confidential material at any hearing, trial, or subsequent proceeding in this Lawsuit. This Order does not limit the admissibility of any evidence.
D. Challenges to Designation as Confidential or Attorney's Eyes Only.
1. Any CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY designation is subject to challenge. The following procedures shall apply to any such challenge:
2. The burden of proving the necessity of a CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY designation remains with the party asserting confidentiality.
3. A party who contends that documents designated CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY are not entitled to confidential treatment shall give written notice to the party who affixed the confidentiality designation of the specific basis for the challenge. The party who so designated the documents shall have fourteen (14) days from service of the written notice to determine if the dispute can be resolved without judicial intervention and, if not, to move for an Order confirming the CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY designation. Any motion must comply with Local Rule 37.
4. Notwithstanding any challenge to the designation of documents as confidential, all material previously designated CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY shall continue to be treated as subject to the full protections of this Order until one of the following occurs:
a. The party who claims that the documents are confidential withdraws such designation in writing;
b. The party who claims that the documents are confidential fails to move timely for an Order designating the documents as confidential as set forth in Paragraph II.D.3 above; or
c. The Arbitrator, District Judge or Magistrate rules that the documents should no longer be designated as confidential information.
5. Challenges to the confidentiality of documents may be made at any time within the discovery period set by the District Judge and are not waived by the failure to raise the challenge at the time of initial disclosure or designation.
6. Challenges may be made to the ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY designation for limited disclosure in circumstances, wherein an Attorney may need to show such documents to his or her client or other third party for assistance in the analysis of said documents to the case at hand. In such situations, the procedures set forth at Paragraph 4 will be followed absent an agreement by the opposing parties.
E. Treatment on Conclusion of Litigation.
1. Order Remains in Effect. All provisions of this Order restricting the use of documents designated CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY shall continue to be binding after the conclusion of the litigation unless otherwise agreed or ordered.
2. Return of Confidential Documents. Within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the arbitration, including conclusion of any appeal, all documents treated as confidential under this Order, including copies as defined in Paragraph II.C.5 above shall be returned to the producing party unless:
a. The document has been entered as evidence or filed (unless introduced or filed under seal);
b. The parties stipulate to destruction in lieu of return; or
c. As to documents containing the notation, summations, or other mental impressions of the receiving party, that party elects destruction.
III. PROTECTION OF DOCUMENTS WHICH MAY BE PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED.
A. Inadvertent Disclosure.
In the event of inadvertent production or disclosure of Information Claimed to be Privileged, counsel shall notify opposing counsel that privileged information was inadvertently produced. Within such time as the parties mutually agree, counsel for the party who received the Information Claimed to be Privileged shall locate the information and take reasonable steps to retrieve any copies, and either:
1. Destroy the Information Claimed to be Privileged and all copies of the information by a method mutually agreeable to the parties;
2. Sequester the Information Claimed to be Privileged and all copies of the information by a method mutually agreeable to the parties;
3. Return the Information Claimed to be Privileged and all copies; or
4. Return the Information Claimed to be Privileged and all copies to the producing party.
B. Challenging Designation.
Nothing in this Order shall preclude any party from challenging counsel's assertion of privilege or protection or requesting the Court's intervention to resolve the dispute. Any motion must comply with Local Rule 37.
IV. DEPOSITIONS.
Portions of depositions shall be deemed confidential only if designated as such when the deposition is taken or within thirty (30) days after receipt by counsel of the transcript; in the meantime, all parties shall treat all portions of a deposition as confidential pursuant to this Order. Such designation shall be specific as to the portions to be protected. Depositions may be designated as confidential only on the grounds specified for documents in Paragraph II.A.1 above. A designation of confidentiality of portions of a deposition shall be made either on the record at the deposition or in writing to counsel for all other parties
V. SUBJECT MATTER WAIVER.
The parties agree that the inadvertent production of Information Claimed to be Privileged, or the failure to follow the requirements for filing under seal, does not waive any claim of privilege or protection that may apply to the Information Claimed to be Privileged. The parties agree that the inadvertent or unintentional production or disclosure of original documents without prior designation as CONFIDENTIAL or ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY shall not be deemed a waiver, in whole or in part, of the right to designate documents as confidential as otherwise allowed by this Order
VI. PERSONS BOUND.
This Order, aside from being an Order, is also intended as an Order among the parties hereto and shall be binding upon those parties as of the date of signature.
IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
CERTIFICATION OF SIGNATURE
Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4, I hereby certify that the content of this document is acceptable to Brian Vanderhoof, attorney for Defendant, and that I obtained Mr. Vanderhoof's authorization to file this document.
EXHIBIT A
Certification and Confidentiality Agreement
The undersigned hereby acknowledges that he/she has read the Stipulated Protective Order dated April ___, 2015, in the litigation entitled Live Face on Web, LLC, v. United California Discount Corporation, Case Number 2:14-CV-06392, in the Central District of California. The undersigned further acknowledges that he/she understands the terms thereof and agrees to be bound by such terms. The undersigned submits to the jurisdiction of the Central District of California in matters relating to the Stipulated Protective Order and understands that the terms of said Stipulated Protective Order obligate him/her to use discovery materials designated Confidential solely for the purposes of the above-captioned action, and to not disclose any such Confidential Information to any other person, firm or concern.
The undersigned acknowledges that violation of the Stipulated Confidentiality Order may result in penalties for contempt of court.
Dated: _______________ Signature: _____________________________
Name: _____________________________
Job Title: _____________________________
Employer: _____________________________
Business _____________________________
Address: _____________________________
