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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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11 MILL CREEK MANAGEMENT ) Case No. 1:24-cv-00984-KES-BAM 12 AND REAL ESTATE SALES, INC., ) ) 13 Plaintiff, ) [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER 14 ) vs. ) 15 ) 16 UNITED STATES LIABILITY ) INSURANCE COMPANY, and 17 DOES 1 through 25, inclusive, ) ) 18 Defendants. ) ) 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 4 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 5 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 6 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 7 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does 8 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 9 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 10 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 11 legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, 12 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 13 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be 14 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from 15 the court to file material under seal. 16 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 17 The Parties have met and conferred and agree that discovery in this action may 18 yield documents and information of a sensitive and confidential nature, including but 19 not limited to business, proprietary, commercial, financial, and trade secret 20 information of the Parties, third parties to this action, and/or their respective counsel. 21 Accordingly, good cause for the entry of this protective order exists. 22 2. DEFINITIONS 23 2.1 Action: this lawsuit styled Mill Creek Management and Real Estate 24 Sales, Inc. v. United States Liability Insurance Company et al., Eastern District case 25 no. 1:24-cv-00984-KES-BAM. 26 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 27 of information or items under this Order. 28 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 1 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 2 Cause Statement. 3 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 4 support staff). 5 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 6 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 7 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 8 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 9 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 10 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 11 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 12 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 13 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 14 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 15 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 16 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 17 counsel. 18 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 19 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 20 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 21 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 22 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 23 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 24 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 25 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 26 support staffs). 27 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 28 Discovery Material in this Action. 1 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 2 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 3 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 4 and their employees and subcontractors. 5 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 6 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 7 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 8 from a Producing Party. 9 3. SCOPE 10 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 11 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 12 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 13 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 14 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 15 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 16 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 17 4. DURATION 18 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 19 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise 20 in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be deemed to be 21 the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without 22 prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all 23 appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time 24 limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to 25 applicable law. 26 27 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 28 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 1 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 2 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 3 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that 4 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications 5 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 6 this Order. 7 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 8 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 9 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 10 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 11 to sanctions. 12 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 13 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 14 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 15 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 16 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 17 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 18 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 19 produced. 20 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 21 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 22 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 23 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 24 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 25 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 26 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 27 markings in the margins). A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents 28 available for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the 1 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available 2 for inspection will be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 3 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 4 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 5 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must 6 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. 7 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 8 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 9 appropriate markings in the margins). 10 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 11 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 12 protected testimony. 13 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 14 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior 15 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 16 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 17 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 18 portion(s). 19 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 20 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 21 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 22 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 23 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 24 Order. 25 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 26 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 27 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 28 Scheduling Order. 1 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 2 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 251. 3 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 4 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 5 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 6 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 7 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will continue to afford the 8 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 9 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 10 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 12 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 13 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 14 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 15 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 16 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 17 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 18 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 19 authorized under this Order. 20 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 21 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 22 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 23 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 24 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 25 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 26 disclose the information for this Action; 27 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 28 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 1 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 2 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 4 (d) the Court and its personnel; 5 (e) court reporters and their staff; 6 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors 7 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 10 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 11 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 12 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 13 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will 14 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 16 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 17 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 18 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 19 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 21 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 22 23 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 24 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 25 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 26 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 27 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 28 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will 1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 2 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 3 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of 4 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 5 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 6 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 8 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this action 9 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 10 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 11 Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 12 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 13 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 14 directive from another court. 15 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 16 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 18 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 19 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 20 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 21 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 22 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 23 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 24 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 25 information, then the Party will: 26 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 27 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with 28 a Non-Party; 1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 2 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 3 description of the information requested; and 4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, 5 if requested. 6 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 7 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 8 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 9 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will not produce 10 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 11 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court 12 order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking 13 protection in this court of its Protected Material. 14 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 16 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 18 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 19 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 20 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 21 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 22 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 23 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 24 PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 26 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 27 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 28 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 1 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 2 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 3 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 4 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 5 to the court. 6 12. MISCELLANEOUS 7 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 8 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 9 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 10 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 11 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 12 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 13 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 14 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 15 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141. Protected Material may 16 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 17 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal 18 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 19 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 20 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 21 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 22 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 23 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 24 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 25 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 26 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 27 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 28 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 1 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 2 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 3 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 4 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 5 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 6 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 7 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 8 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 9 paragraph 4. 10 /// 11 /// 12 ///

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 14. ENFORCEMENT 2 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 3 contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 4 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 5 6 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 7 8 DATED: November 11, 2024 WILKINS DROLSHAGEN &

CZESHINSKI LLP

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11 By /s/James H. Wilkins 12 JAMES H. WILKINS Attorneys for Plaintiff MILL CREEK 13

MANAGEMENT AND REAL

14 ESTATE SALES, INC. 15 16 DATED: November 11, 2024 SACRO & WALKER LLP 17 18

19 By /s/Richard D. Bremer 20 JENNIFER YU SACRO

RICHARD D. BREMER

21 Attorneys for Defendant UNITED 22 STATES LIABILITY INSURANCE

COMPANY

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25 26 27 28 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 4 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 5 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 6 District Court for the Eastern District of California in the case of Mill Creek 7 Management and Real Estate Sales, Inc. v. United States Liability Insurance 8 Company et al., United States District Court for the Eastern District case no. 1:24-cv- 9 00984-KES-BAM. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 10 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 11 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 12 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that 13 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 14 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 19 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 24 Date: ____________________________________________________ 25 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 26 Printed name: _____________________________________________ 27 28 Signature: ________________________________________________ 1 ORDER 2 Having considered the above stipulation and finding good cause, the Court 3 adopts the signed stipulated protective order. 4 The parties are advised that pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States 5 District Court, Eastern District of California, any documents subject to the 6 protective order to be filed under seal must be accompanied by a written request 7 which complies with Local Rule 141 prior to sealing. The party making a request to 8 file documents under seal shall be required to show good cause for documents 9 attached to a non-dispositive motion or compelling reasons for documents attached 10 to a dispositive motion. Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-78 11 (9th Cir. 2009). Within five (5) days of any approved document filed under seal, the 12 party shall file a redacted copy of the sealed document. The redactions shall be 13 narrowly tailored to protect only the information that is confidential or was deemed 14 confidential. 15 Additionally, the parties shall consider resolving any dispute arising under the 16 protective order according to the Court’s informal discovery dispute procedure. 17

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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19 Dated: November 13, 2024 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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