STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER RE TRANSLATIION PROTOCOL

DONNA M. RYU, Magistrate Judge.

WHEREAS, this litigation has been consolidated and transferred by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ("MDL Panel") to the above-referenced Court for pretrial proceedings; and

WHEREAS, it is in the interests of justice, and consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to adopt procedures to organize discovery and minimize burdens on the parties in these consolidated cases, all actions treated as "Related Cases" pursuant to Civil L.R. 3-12 that have been or may be filed in this District, and any additional present and future actions transferred to this Court as "tag-along actions" by the MDL Panel pursuant to Rule 7.4 of the Rules of Procedure (collectively the "Batteries Cases"). All items and limitations in this translation protocol may be modified for good cause shown or by agreement of the Parties.

THEREFORE, the undersigned parties hereby stipulate as follows:

I. Overall Considerations

A. This translation protocol addresses the protocol for translations and the use of translated documents in the Batteries Cases. This translation protocol incorporates Section IV, paragraphs E-I of the Order re Deposition Protocol, Case 4:13-md-02420-YGR, filed December 3, 2014 (Dkt. #593) ("Order re Deposition Protocol") by reference. To the extent that any difference between this translation protocol and the Order re Deposition Protocol exist, this translation protocol shall govern.

II. Certified Translations and Use of Certified Translations

A. Certified translations. A certified translation should be obtained for any document that contains non-English content that a Party enters into the record as an exhibit in the Batteries Cases, whether at deposition, or in connection with a motion. However, documents upon which a Party's expert relies need not be translated in their entirety and only the non-English portion(s) specifically relied upon require certified translation. Further, a certified translation of documents appearing only in an expert's report as a footnote, endnote, or as part of a string citation shall be obtained at the discretion of the offering Party. Certified translations are not required for any transactional data. The lack of a certified translation in instances where one is generally required does not preclude the use of the underlying document at deposition or otherwise, provided the Party has engaged in reasonable efforts to obtain the same in advance of the document's entry into the record. In these circumstances, a certified translation shall be obtained and provided to all Parties within ten business days of its entry.

B. Certification vendors. The Parties agree that certified translations for use in the Batteries Cases may be obtained only from one of the following professional translation vendor companies: Consortra, TransPerfect, Geotext, Park IP, or Divergent. The list may be modified by agreement of the Parties, as necessary. Translation vendor managers that work on the Batteries Cases and translators that review documents covered by the Stipulated Protective Order in the Batteries Cases, shall be required to execute Exhibit A to the Stipulated Protective Order.

C. Format for certification letters. All certified translations must include a notarized certification letter (by a Notary Public), which attests that the certified translation is a true and correct translation of the underlying Bates-numbered document. The certification letter must also identify the beginning and ending Bates numbers of the document being translated, as well as the original language and language of the translation, i.e., Japanese to English.

D. Format for certified translations. Certified translations shall bear the same Confidential or Highly Confidential designation as the original, if such designation is in place as of the time that the translation is prepared. A certified translation should also share the same Bates as the original, followed with the letter "E," signifying it is a translated version of the document from the original language1 into English. Similarly, documents translated from the original language into another language, such as an English document translated into Japanese or Korean, shall bear the suffix for the language to which the document is being translated, i.e., "J" for Japanese or "K" for Korean. Because languages occupy different amounts of space to say the same thing, it may be impractical for the certified translation to be paginated in the same way as the original. Parties should ensure the Bates numbers are located in the same location within the text as would be found in the underlying document (i.e., the Bates number may physically fall in the middle of a page, rather than at bottom). Unless otherwise agreed, certified translations shall use the same Bates number as the original, followed by .01, .02, etc. for any additional pages required for the translated text. A certified translation may not contain independent notes that are not within the text of the original document (i.e., notes from the translator or counsel). Emphasis in the certified translation (i.e., bold, italics, underlined) must appear in the same form as in the original document. However, translator notations such as "original text is in English," "original text is handwritten," "illegible text," or "untranslatable symbol," may be included in brackets.

E. Format for certified translation of native documents. Certified translations of native documents shall be formatted as close as possible to the formatting of original foreign language documents. Certified translations of native documents, such as Excel spreadsheets, shall identify the Bates numbers for the document, and identify each particular page or "sheet" that is part of a translation, i.e., "Bates (Sheet 1)" or, if the pagination carries over to more than the original page, "Bates (Sheet 1.01)," etc.

F. Completeness of certified translations. A certified translation entered into the record must be a complete recitation of the underlying foreign language original, with the following exceptions: (i) for correspondence, e-mail strings and memoranda for which the materials were incorrectly produced batching multiple, separate documents into a single document, only pages appropriately belonging to the correspondence, e-mail or memoranda need be translated; (ii) for calendars, notebooks, annual reports, financial statements and regulatory findings, only relevant portions need be translated, along with the first page of the document; (iii) for portions of documents that are illegible, such portions need not be translated; (iv) for Excel spreadsheets, a Party may elect to translate on a sheet-by-sheet basis; or (v) the Parties agree that other good reason exists and a Party provides advance notice to all other parties. Any Party may obtain the translation of additional parts of a document at its own expense.

G. Duplicative translations. Subject to the Provisions of Section III below, once a certified translation of a document is entered into the record as an exhibit at deposition or as an exhibit in connection with a motion or expert report, it becomes the operative translation for the entirety of the litigation. If a "duplicate" document (i.e., a document that bears the same Bates number and is translated into the same language) is inadvertently translated and entered into the record at a subsequent date, the first recorded document's certified translation shall remain the operative version, including the status of objections related to the same. Similarly, if a re-certified translation has replaced the original certified translation per the objection process outlined below in Section III, paragraph E, the re-certified version remains the operative version.

H. Previously certified translations. Documents that were submitted for certified translation prior to the date of this Order, need not be re-translated or re-formatted to conform with this Order, but shall be subject to the objection provisions of Section III, below.

I. Documents previously produced with full translations. For documents produced by Defendants with full English translations prior to the date of this Order (such as documents produced by Defendant LG Chem, Ltd. with full English translations), certified translation may be obtained at the discretion of the Party wishing to enter or use such documents. Any Party wishing to lodge any translation objections to such documents shall follow the provisions of Section III, below.

J. All certified translations shall be presumed to be accurate and objections to certified translations may only take place where there is a good faith belief that the translated content is inaccurate.

III. OBJECTIONS TO CERTIFIED TRANSLATIONS

A. Liaison counsel for objections to translations. Each of the Parties shall select one attorney to serve as its liaison counsel for purposes of objections to translations in this case ("Translation Liaison Counsel"). All Translation Liaison Counsel shall be copied on all written correspondence that relates to objections to translations. See Exhibit A for a list of all Translation Liaison Counsel. [Exhibit A to be attached after each party has provided liaison names.]

B. Coordination of translation objections and responses to certified translations. All Plaintiffs and all Defendants are required to consult and coordinate among themselves when serving objections to certified translations entered by the opposing party. For any translated exhibits used by Defendants at a deposition or submitted in connection with a motion or expert report, counsel for all Plaintiff groups in this action will consult with one another, and will collectively serve one set of objections per deposition, motion, or expert report. Likewise, for any translated exhibits entered by Plaintiffs at a deposition or submitted in connection with a motion or expert report, all counsel for Defendants will consult with one another, and will collectively serve one set of objections per deposition. In addition, any objection lodged to a particular word or phrase in a translation must be collective as well. Each such collective set of objections should be served on all Translation Liaison Counsel. With respect to objections to translated exhibits used at deposition, a single set of objections should be served on Translation Liaison Counsel, as well as all in attendance at the deposition during which the certified translation was first entered. Any responses to objections will follow the same protocol. Plaintiff and Defendant parties are prohibited from lodging individual, uncoordinated objections to translations entered at a deposition. To the extent only certain parties are involved with a deposition, motion or expert report, all parties involved must coordinate to serve one set of objections and/or responses. The failure of a party to participate in this process and note its objections collectively constitutes waiver. Translation Liaison Counsel for each Party shall determine among themselves who is responsible for coordinating and properly serving the coordinated objections and/or responses for each deposition on the opposing party.

C. Timing for objections. Objections to the accuracy of a certified translation introduced into the record shall be asserted within 60 days of the date the translation is first used at a deposition or in connection with a motion or expert report. If the translation is first used at a deposition, all objections shall be asserted within 60 days after the date on which the deposition is provided to counsel representing the deponent for correction. If the translation is submitted in connection with a motion or expert report, the 60 days will run from the date the motion or expert report is filed with the Court or served on the Parties. If no objection is made to a certified translation within the 60-day limits outlined in this paragraph, the translation shall be deemed accurate, and no objection to admissibility on grounds of inaccuracy of the translation will be permitted.

D. Objection process. Objections shall state the specific inaccuracies of the certified translation and should offer an alternative proposed translation. Parties making an objection should identify the corresponding Bates-numbered page containing the objected to-language and/or provide a red-line of the same. Upon receipt of the initial objections, all Parties should make best efforts to work in good faith to resolve the translation disputes in a timely manner. If the Parties conclude that an impasse has been reached and are unable to resolve any dispute, it may be submitted to the Magistrate for review.

E. Re-certification of agreed translations. After all objections to a particular certified translation are resolved, the Party that originally offered the translation will submit the document for re-certification. Once the re-certification is finalized and properly designated by the certification company as a final translation (i.e., "EF" or "JF" or "KF"), it will be circulated to all identified Translation Liaison Counsel. Once a certified translation is re-certified, it will serve as the operative version of the document for all purposes going forward in the litigation. However, until such time as all objections related to a particular translation are resolved and a re-certified translation can be issued, the original, underlying translation shall continue to be entered into the record as the operative version.

F. The Parties may agree on adjustments to this translation protocol to promote efficiency or fairness, and advise the Court accordingly. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Order, the Court retains discretion to alter the treatment and admissibility of translated documents at trial if necessary.

IV. BINDING ORDER

This Order re Translation Protocol Order is binding on all Parties in the Batteries Cases, including all current or future Parties. This Order re Translation Protocol may be modified only by stipulation and order, or by order of the Magistrate or the Court for good cause shown.

PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED.