1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 MONICA BENITEZ MENDEZ, ) Case No. 2:24-CV-08688-MWF-PVCx 11 ) 12 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

ORDER

) 13 vs. ) 14 )

JEFFERSON CAPITAL SYSTEMS, )

15 LLC, et al., ) 16 ) Defendants. ) 17 ) 18 19 1. INTRODUCTION 20 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 22 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 23 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 24 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 25 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 26 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 27 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 1 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 2 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 3 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to 4 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 5 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 6 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 7 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 8 Discovery in this action may include financial and account records, 9 medical records, records reflecting confidential personally identifying 10 information (such as customer contact information and call data), trade secrets, 11 technical information, and other confidential, proprietary and non-public 12 business and personal documents and information, the public disclosure of 13 which could be detrimental to the interests of Plaintiff, Defendants and/or their 14 personnel or related corporate entities; documents which may contain 15 information that is personal and confidential to third parties, including entities 16 or individuals (including putative class members), the public disclosure of 17 which could be detrimental to the interests of said parties or that are 18 contractually prohibited from disclosure; and/or documents and information 19 subject to a claim of privilege or immunity from discovery (including but not 20 limited to attorney-client privilege, work product immunity, joint 21 defense/common interest privilege, and other immunities created by federal or 22 state statute or regulation). The undersigned Parties therefore agree that the 23 above-described documents and information, including electronically stored 24 information, should be given the protection of an order of this Court to prevent 25 irreparable harm through disclosure to persons other than those persons 26 involved in the prosecution or defense of this litigation. The Parties also agree, 27 in the interest of facilitating the exchange of information, to be bound by the 1 Court’s formal entry thereof. 2 3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 2.1 Action: This pending federal law suit. 5 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 6 designation of information or items under this Order. 7 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 8 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 9 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 10 the Good Cause Statement. [Note: any request for a two-tiered, attorney-eyes- 11 only protective order that designates certain material as “Highly Confidential” 12 will require a separate and detailed showing of need.] 13 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 14 their support staff). 15 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 16 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 17 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 19 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 20 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 21 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 22 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 23 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 24 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 25 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 26 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 27 counsel. 1 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 2 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 3 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 4 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 5 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 6 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 7 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 8 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 9 support staffs). 10 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 11 Discovery Material in this Action. 12 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 13 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 14 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 15 and their employees and subcontractors. 16 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 17 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 18 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 19 Material from a Producing Party. 20 21 3. SCOPE 22 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 23 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 24 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 25 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 26 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 27 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the 1 4. DURATION 2 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 3 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will 4 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 5 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are 6 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of 7 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” 8 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 9 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 10 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 11 12 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 14 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 15 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 16 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 17 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 18 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 19 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 20 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 21 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 22 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 23 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 24 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 25 Party to sanctions. 26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 27 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 1 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 2 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 3 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 4 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 5 produced. 6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 7 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 8 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that 9 the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 10 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 11 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 12 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 13 markings in the margins). 14 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 15 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 16 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 17 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be 18 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 19 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 20 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 21 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 22 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 23 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 24 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 25 markings in the margins). 26 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 27 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 2 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 3 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 4 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 5 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 6 portion(s). 7 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 8 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 9 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 10 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 11 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 12 Order. 13 14 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 15 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 16 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 17 Scheduling Order. 18 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 19 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 20 et seq. 21 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 22 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 23 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 24 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 25 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will 26 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 27 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 3 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 4 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 5 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 6 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 7 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 8 DISPOSITION). 9 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 10 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 11 authorized under this Order. 12 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 13 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 14 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 15 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 16 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 17 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 18 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 19 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 20 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 21 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 22 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 23 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (d) the Court and its personnel; 25 (e) court reporters and their staff; 26 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 27 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 1 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 2 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 3 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 4 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 5 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 6 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 8 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 9 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 10 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 11 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 12 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 13 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 14 15 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 16 IN OTHER LITIGATION 17 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 18 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 19 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 20 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 21 will include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 22 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 23 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 24 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include 25 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 26 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 27 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 1 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 2 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this 3 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 4 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 5 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking 6 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 7 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 8 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 9 10 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 11 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 12 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 13 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 14 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 15 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 16 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 17 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 18 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 19 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 20 confidential information, then the Party will: 21 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 22 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 23 agreement with a Non-Party; 24 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 25 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 26 specific description of the information requested; and 27 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 1 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 2 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 3 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 4 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will 5 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 6 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 7 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense 8 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 9 10 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 12 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 13 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 14 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 15 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 16 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 17 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 18 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 19 20 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 21 PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 23 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 24 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 25 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 26 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 27 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 1 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 2 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 3 protective order submitted to the court. 4 5 12. MISCELLANEOUS 6 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 7 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 8 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 9 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 10 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 11 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 12 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 13 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 14 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 15 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 16 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 17 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 18 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 19 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 24 this 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 1 || (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 2 || destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 3 || abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 4 || of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 5 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 6 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 7 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 8 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 9 |) constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 10 || Section 4 (DURATION). 11 12 || 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 13 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 14 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 15 16 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS SO 17 || ORDERED. 18 19 fuk f He

20 || DATED: January 17, 2025 21 United States Magistrate Judge 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [full name], of 4 ______________________________________________________ [full address], 5 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 6 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for 7 the Central District of California on _____________ [date] in the case of Monica 8 Benitez Mendez v. Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC, et al., 2:24-CV-08688-MWF- 9 PVC. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 10 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 11 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 12 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject 13 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance 14 with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central 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 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27