DOUGLAS F. McCORMICK, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff William L. Grivas, Sr. ("Plaintiff") and Metagenics, Inc. ("Metagenics" or "Defendant") (collectively, "the parties"), by and through their respective counsel of record, stipulate and jointly move the Court to issue the following protective order ("Protective Order") to govern the disclosure of documents, things, and information produced in the above-captioned action (the "Action").
Discovery in this action is likely to involve 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 may be warranted. Such confidential and proprietary information consists of, but is not limited to, confidential business or financial information, information regarding business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. 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 12.3, 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.
2.1
2.2
2.3
(a) Referring or related to confidential and proprietary human resources, business or pricing information and/or financial records and information of Defendant;
(b) Referring or related to any current, former or prospective business partner or third-party vendor of Defendant;
(c) Referring or related to any other confidential or trade secret information of Defendant; and
(d) Any portions of depositions (including audio or video) where Confidential Information is disclosed or used as exhibits.
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
2.11
2.12
2.13
2.14
2.15
2.16
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. However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order.
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; and (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 and bankruptcy proceedings arising from the claims asserted in this action.
5.1
5.2
Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
If it comes to a Designating Party's attention that information or items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
5.3
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" (hereinafter "CONFIDENTIALITY Legend"), to each page that contains protected material.
A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 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 "HIGHLY 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 "CONFIDENTIALITY legend" to each page that contains Protected Material.
(b) for testimony given in depositions, that the Designating Party designate within forty-five (45) days of receiving the final deposition transcript the page and line number those portions of the testimony that are to be treated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL." In the interim period, the deposition testimony and transcripts and video recordings of the depositions must be treated as CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. If any part of the deposition recorded by videographic means is designed "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," the recording storage medium and its container shall bear the "CONFIDENTIALITY Legend."
(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," as the case may be. If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
5.4
6.1
6.2
6.3
The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating Party. 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. Unless the Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion to retain confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party's designation until the court rules on the challenge.
7.1
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
7.2
(a) the Receiving Party's Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party, including the named Plaintiffs, 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;
(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;
(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. 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;
(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions or ordered by the Court;
(j) outside photocopying, data processing, e-discovery or graphic production vendors employed by any Party or its counsel to assist in the Action; and
(k) any person to whom the Designating Party agrees to disclosure in writing in advance of the disclosure.
7.3
7.4 Disclosure of Confidential Information to persons identified in Paragraphs 7.2(c), (f), (h)-(i), and (k) and disclosure of Highly Confidential Information to persons identified in Paragraph 7.2(c), and (i)-(k) shall be made only after the person to whom the disclosure is being made has been given a copy of this Protective Order and has signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" attached as
7.5 Persons receiving Confidential Information or Highly Confidential Information under this Protective Order are prohibited from disclosing it to any person except in conformance with this Protective Order. The recipient of any Confidential Information shall maintain such information in a secure and safe area and shall exercise the same standard of due and proper care with respect to the storage, custody, use, or dissemination of such information as is exercised by the recipient with respect to its own proprietary and confidential information. The recipient of any Highly Confidential Information shall maintain such information in a separate locked file under the direct supervision of an attorney involved in this Action and shall exercise the same standard of due and proper care with respect to the storage, custody, use or dissemination of such information as is exercised by the recipient with respect to its own highly proprietary and 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" or "HIGHLY 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" or "HIGHLY 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.
9.1 The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY 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.
9.2 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:
(a) 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;
(b) 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
(c) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if requested.
If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 30 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 and all pertinent facts related to the disclosures, including steps taken to prevent any use or further dissemination of the Confidential Information or Highly Confidential Information, (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
11.1 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection (e.g., work product immunity), the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), the parties agree that the inadvertent or unintentional disclosure by the Producing Party of material that is privileged or subject to other protection shall not be deemed a waiver in whole or in part of the claim of privilege or other protection, either as to the specific information disclosed or as to any other information relating thereto on the same or related subject matter.
11.2 Upon learning of an inadvertent or unintentional disclosure of privileged information, the Producing Party shall provide written notice to the parties who have received such information. Within fourteen (14) days of the date of that written notice, the documents or materials described in that notice shall be returned to counsel for the Producing Party, and in the same time frame, any notes or other writing or recordings that copy, summarize, reflect, or discuss the content of the documents or materials shall be destroyed. No use shall be made of such documents or materials from such inadvertent production during deposition or at trial, nor shall such documents or materials be provided to anyone who did not already have access to them prior to the request by the Producing Party that they be returned.
11.3 If the Receiving Party intends to challenge the assertion of privilege, it must provide written notice within this fourteen-day period, explaining the grounds for its challenge. The Receiving Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 within fourteen (14) days of date of service of the Receiving Party's notice disputing a claim of inadvertent production.
11.4 If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court intervention, the Receiving Party may move the Court for an order compelling production of any inadvertently produced or disclosed document or material in compliance with Local Rule 37, but the motion shall not assert as a ground for production the fact of the inadvertent production or disclosure. Pending the Court's ruling, the party challenging the assertion of privilege shall segregate the affected documents and materials and shall not make any use of such information.
11.5 Nothing herein shall be deemed or construed as a waiver of any applicable privilege, right of privacy, immunity from production, or proprietary interest with respect to any document or information.
12.1
12.2
12.3
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Paragraph 5, within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or 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) certifies that 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).
IT IS SO STIPULATED, through Counsel of Record.
I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _____________________________________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California in the case of Grivas. v. Metagenics, Inc., Case No. SACV15-1838 CJC (DFMx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 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 __________________________ [print or type full name] of _______________________________________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
I, William L. Stern, am the ECF User whose ID and password are being used to file this STIPULATED [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER. In compliance with Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i), I hereby attest that Craig Nicholas has concurred in this filing.