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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

8 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 CRESTBROOK INSURANCE COMPANY, Case No. 1:24-cv-01075-SAB 11 Plaintiff, ORDER RE: STIPULATION FOR 12 PROTECTIVE ORDER v. 13 (ECF No. 15)

THE TRAVELERS INDEMNITY

14 COMPANY OF CONNECTICUT, et al., 15 Defendants.

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 21 to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that 22 this 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 24 extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 25 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, 26 as set forth in Section 12.3 (Filing Protected Material), below, that this Stipulated 27 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; 1 Civil Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 2 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 3 material under seal. 4 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 5 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, commercial, financial, 6 medical, insurance, and/or personally identifiable information for which special 7 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 8 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary 9 materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential personal 10 and privileged records of the parties’ insureds collected and/or received in 11 connection with the underlying insurance claim (including information 12 implicating privacy rights of the parties’ insureds and other third parties such as 13 medical, financial, and personally identifiable information), information 14 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or 15 otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, 16 case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 17 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of 18 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled 19 and/or required to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted 20 reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct 21 of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of 22 justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the 23 intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for 24 tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that 25 it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good 26 cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 27 / / / / / / 1 2. DEFINITIONS 2 2.1 Action: Crestbrook Insurance Company v. Travelers Indemnity 3 Company of Connecticut, et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-1075-SAB. 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 7 of 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 13 or 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, 16 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or 17 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible 18 things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in 19 this matter. 20 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a 21 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel 22 to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 23 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 24 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 25 outside counsel. 26 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, 27 association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 1 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action 2 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a 3 law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff. 4 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 5 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of 6 Record (and their support staffs). 7 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 8 Discovery Material in this Action. 9 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 10 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits 11 or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 12 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 13 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 14 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 15 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 16 Material from a Producing Party. 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 4. DURATION 26 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 27 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 1 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, 2 with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and 3 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, 4 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of 5 time pursuant to applicable law. 6 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 8 Protection. 9 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 10 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 11 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate 12 for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 13 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 14 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 15 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 16 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 17 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for 18 an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development 19 process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 20 expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 21 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 22 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party 23 must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 24 designation. 25 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided 26 in this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of Section 5.2(a) below), or as 27 otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material 1 is disclosed or produced. 2 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 3 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 4 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 5 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 6 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 7 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a 8 page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 9 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 10 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 11 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party 12 has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the 13 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for 14 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 15 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 16 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 17 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party 18 must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected 19 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for 20 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 21 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 22 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 23 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 24 the deposition all protected testimony. 25 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 26 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 27 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the 1 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 2 shall identify the protected portion(s). 3 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 4 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing 5 alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order 6 for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party 7 must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance 8 with the provisions of this Order. 9 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 10 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 11 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 12 Scheduling Order. 13 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 14 resolution process under Civil Local Rule 251 et seq. 15 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be 16 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 17 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 18 other parties), may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 19 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all 20 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of 21 protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until 22 the Court rules on the challenge. 23 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material 25 that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection 26 with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this 27 Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has 1 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 2 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party 4 at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the 5 persons authorized under this Order. 6 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 7 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, 8 a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 9 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 10 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 11 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 12 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 13 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 14 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 15 Action; 16 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 17 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 18 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 19 (d) the Court and its personnel; 20 (e) court reporters and their staff; 21 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 22 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who 23 have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 25 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 26 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 27 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 1 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign 2 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless 3 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of 4 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 5 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed 6 to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 7 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 8 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 9 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 10 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 11 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other 12 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this 13 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 14 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 15 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 16 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 17 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 18 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 19 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 21 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 22 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served 23 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in 24 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from 25 which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the 26 Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and 27 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material, and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 1 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 2 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 3 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 4 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 5 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 6 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is 7 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 8 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking 9 additional protections. 10 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 11 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 12 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 13 confidential information, then the Party shall: 14 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 15 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 16 agreement with a Non-Party; 17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 18 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 19 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 21 Non-Party, if requested. 22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court 23 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 24 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information 25 responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective 26 order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or 27 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 1 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this Court of its 2 Protected Material. 3 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 5 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 6 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 7 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 8 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) 9 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all 10 the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 11 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as 12 Exhibit A. 13 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 14 PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 16 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 17 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 18 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 19 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 20 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 21 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of 22 disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 23 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement 24 in the stipulated protective order submitted to the Court. 25 12. MISCELLANEOUS 26 12.1 Right to Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 27 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 1 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 2 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 3 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object 4 on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 5 Order. 6 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 7 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141. Protected Material 8 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of 9 the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected 10 Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the 11 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 12 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 13 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4 14 (DURATION), within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each 15 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or 16 destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” 17 includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format 18 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected 19 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 20 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 21 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 22 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed; and (2) 23 affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 24 compilations, summaries, or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 25 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain 26 an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 27 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, 1 even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that 2 contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as 3 set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). To the extent the Parties are required by 4 law to retain copies of Protected Materials in their Claim Files, such Protected 5 Material shall remain subject to this Protective order as set forth in Section 4. 6 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 7 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or 8 monetary sanctions. 9 10 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 11 Dated: February 12, 2025 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP 12

13 14 By /s/ Preston B. Bennett

PRESTON B. BENNETT

15 Attorneys for Defendants The Travelers Indemnity 16 Company of Connecticut and Travelers Property 17 Casualty Company of America

18 Dated: February 12, 2025 McCORMICK, BARSTOW, SHEPPARD, WAYTE & 19

CARRUTH LLP

20

21 By /s/ James P. Wagoner 22 JAMES P. WAGONER

23 Attorneys for Plaintiff Crestbrook Insurance 24 Company

25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of 7 California on [date] in the case of Crestbrook Insurance Company v. Travelers 8 Indemnity Company of Connecticut, et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-1075-SAB. I agree 9 to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective 10 Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose 11 me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise 12 that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to 13 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 16 Court for the Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms 17 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur 18 after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ 19 [print or type full name] of _______________________________________ 20 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for 21 service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to 22 enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 Signature: __________________________________ 1 COURT ORDER ENTERING STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 2 Pursuant to the stipulation of the parties and good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY 3 | ORDERED that: 4 1. The above stipulated protective order is ENTERED; 5 2. The provisions of the parties’ stipulation and this protective order shall remain in 6 effect until further order of the Court; 7 3. The parties are advised that pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States 8 District Court, Eastern District of California, any documents which are to be filed 9 under seal will require a written request which complies with Local Rule 141; 10 4. The party making a request to file documents under seal shall be required to show 11 either good cause or compelling reasons to seal the documents, depending on the 12 type of filing, Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-78 (9th Cir. 13 2009); Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir. 14 2016); and 15 5. If a party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, 16 then the previously filed material shall be immediately accepted by the court and 17 become information in the public record and the information will be deemed filed 18 as of the date that the request to file the Protected Information under seal was 19 made. 20 IT IS SO ORDERED. DAM Le 22 | Dated: _ February 12, 2025 _ ef

STANLEY A. BOONE

23 United States Magistrate Judge 24 25 26 27 28