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7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

KIRI VILLA

11 Case No. 2:24-cv-02572-FMO-MAR Plaintiff, 12 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 13 ORDER1

COLUMBIA DEBT RECOVERY,

14 LLC DBA GENESIS CREDIT

MANAGEMENT, LLC

15 Defendant. 16 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 17 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 18 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 19 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 20 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 21 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 22 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 23 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 24 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 25 under the applicable legal principles. 26 27 1 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 3 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 4 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and 5 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 6 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 7 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding 8 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or 9 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third 10 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 11 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 12 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 13 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 14 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 16 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 17 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 18 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 19 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 20 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 21 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 22 record of this case. 23 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 24 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 25 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 26 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 27 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 1 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 2 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 3 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 4 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006); Phillips v. Gen. Motors 5 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, 6 Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders 7 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling 8 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with 9 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere 10 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 11 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the 12 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 13 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 14 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 15 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 16 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 17 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For 18 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 19 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 20 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 21 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 22 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 23 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 24 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. 25 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting 26 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document 27 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their 1 2 2. DEFINITIONS 3 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit. 4 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 5 designation of information or items under this Order. 6 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 7 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 8 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 9 the Good Cause Statement. 10 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 11 their support staff). 12 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 13 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 15 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 16 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 17 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or 18 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 19 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 20 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 21 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 22 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 23 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 24 counsel. 25 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 26 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 27 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 1 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 2 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 3 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 5 support staffs). 6 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 7 Discovery Material in this Action. 8 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 9 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 11 and their employees and subcontractors. 12 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 15 Material from a Producing Party. 16 17 3. SCOPE 18 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 19 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 20 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 21 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 22 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 23 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 24 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 25 26 4. DURATION 27 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 1 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 2 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 3 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 4 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” 5 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 6 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 7 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 8 9 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 11 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 12 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 13 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 14 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 15 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 16 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 17 within the ambit of this Order. 18 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 19 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 20 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 21 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 22 Party to sanctions. 23 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 24 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 25 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 26 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 27 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 1 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 2 produced. 3 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 4 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 5 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 6 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 8 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 9 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 10 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 11 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 12 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 13 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 14 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 15 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 16 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 17 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 18 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 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 21 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 22 in the margins). 23 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 24 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 25 deposition all protected testimony. 26 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 27 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 1 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 2 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 3 protected portion(s). 4 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 5 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 6 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 7 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 8 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 9 Order. 10 11 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 12 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 13 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 14 Scheduling Order. 15 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 16 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 17 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 18 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 19 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 20 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 21 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 22 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 23 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 24 challenge. 25 26 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 1 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 2 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 3 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 4 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 5 DISPOSITION). 6 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 7 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 8 authorized under this Order. 9 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 10 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 11 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 12 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 13 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 14 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 15 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 16 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 17 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 18 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 19 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 21 (d) the court and its personnel; 22 (e) court reporters and their staff; 23 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 24 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 25 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 26 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 27 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 1 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 2 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 3 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 4 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 5 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 6 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 7 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 8 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 9 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 10 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 11 12 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 13 IN OTHER LITIGATION 14 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 15 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 16 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 18 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 20 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 21 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 22 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 24 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 25 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 26 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 27 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 1 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 2 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 3 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 4 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 5 6 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 7 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 8 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 9 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 10 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 11 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 12 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 13 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 14 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 15 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 16 confidential information, then the Party shall: 17 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 18 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 19 agreement with a Non-Party; 20 21 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 22 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 23 specific description of the information requested; and 24 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 25 Non-Party, if requested. 26 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 27 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 1 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 2 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 3 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 4 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 5 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 6 7 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 9 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 10 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 11 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 12 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 13 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 14 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 15 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 16 17 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 18 PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 20 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 21 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 22 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 23 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 24 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 25 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 26 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 27 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 1 2 12. MISCELLANEOUS 3 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 4 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 5 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 6 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 7 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 8 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 9 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 10 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 11 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 12 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 13 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 14 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 15 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 16 17 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 18 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 19 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 20 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 21 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 22 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 23 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 24 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 25 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 26 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 27 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 1 || of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 2 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 3 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 4 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 5 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 6 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 7 || Section 4 (DURATION). 8 9 || 14. VIOLATION 10 || Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 11 || without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 12 13 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 14 15 || DATED September 17, 2024 s/ Matthew M. Loker 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff

17 || DATED: September 17, 2024 s/ David J. Kaminski 13 Attorneys for Defendant

19 20 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 21

|| DATED: 2/24/2024 24 United States Magistrate Judge 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _______________________________________ [print or type full address], declare 6 under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated 7 Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central 8 District of California on or about September 17, 2024 in the case of Villa v. 9 Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC dba Genesis Credit Management, LLC; Case No.: 10 2:24-cv-02572-FMO-MAR. 11 12 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective 13 Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me 14 to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I 15 will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 16 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with 17 the provisions of this Order. 18 19 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 20 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 22 23 24 25 26 27 / / / 1 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 2 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 3 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 4 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 5 Order. 6 7 8 Date: ______________________________________ 9 10 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 11 12 Printed name: _______________________________ 13 14 15 Signature: __________________________________

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 SIGNATURE CERTIFICATION 2 Pursuant to L.R. 5-4.3.4(a)(2), I hereby certify that all signatories listed, on 3 whose behalf this filing is submitted, concur with the contents of this filing, and 4 have authorized the filing. 5 6 /s/ David J. Kaminski 7 8 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 9 I hereby certify that on September 17, 2024, I electronically filed the 10 foregoing with the Clerk of the Court using the ECF system, which will send notice 11 of such filing to all attorneys of record in this matte 12 13 /s/ David J. Kaminski 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27