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

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10

11 JASON FELTS, ) Case No. 8:24-cv-02731-JWH-JDE ) ) 12 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION AND PROPOSED 13 ) PROTECTIVE ORDER ) v. ) 14 ) ) 15 JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., ) 16 AMERICAN EXPRESS ) )

NATIONAL BANK, CAPITAL )

17 ONE, N.A., CITY NATIONAL ) ) 18 BANK, THE CCS COMPANIES )

D/B/A CREDIT COLLECTION )

19 SERVICES, and DOES 1 through ) ) 20 100 inclusive, ) Defendants. ) 21 ) ) 22 )

23 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 24 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 25 26 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 27 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may 28 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the 1 Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties 2 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 3 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from 4 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that 5 are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 6 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 7 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, development, commercial, 8 financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special 9 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 10 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary 11 materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business 12 or financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, 13 or other confidential research, development, or commercial information 14 (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information 15 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or 16 otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, 17 case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 18 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality 19 of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are 20 21 entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable 22 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to 23 address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, 24 a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent 25 of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical 26 reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has 27 been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause 28 why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 1 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING 2 PROCEDURE 3 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that 4 this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 5 information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that 6 must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks 7 permission from the court to file material under seal. There is a strong 8 presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and 9 records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause 10 must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 11 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. 12 Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony 13 Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated 14 protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good 15 cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 16 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party 17 seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or 18 Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission 19 of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought to 20 21 be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 22 protectable—constitute good cause. 23 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 24 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, 25 and the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to 26 be protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th 27 Cir. 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to 28 be filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate 1 compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the 2 requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application 3 to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 4 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise 5 protectable in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions 6 can be redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for 7 public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise 8 protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks 9 to file documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of 10 why redaction is not feasible. 11 4. DEFINITIONS 12 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 13 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 14 designation of information or items under this Order. 15 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information 16 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that 17 qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as 18 specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 19 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well 20 21 as their support staff). 22 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates 23 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery 24 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 25 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, 26 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or 27 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible 28 things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 1 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a 2 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its 3 counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 4 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this 5 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any 6 other outside counsel. 7 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, 8 association or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 9 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 10 Party to this Action but are retained to represent a Party to this Action and 11 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law 12 firm that has appeared on behalf of that Party, and includes support staff. 13 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 14 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of 15 Record (and their support staffs). 16 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 17 Discovery Material in this Action. 18 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 19 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing 20 21 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any 22 form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 23 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 24 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 25 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 26 Material from a Producing Party. 27 28 1 5. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 6 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of 8 the trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the 9 use of Protected Material at trial. 10 6. DURATION 11 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 12 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or 13 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively 14 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling 15 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to 16 the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 17 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 18 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents 19 are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not 20 21 extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 22 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 24 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information 25 or items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such 26 designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. 27 The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of 28 material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so 1 that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for 2 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit 3 of this Order. 4 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. 5 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made 6 for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development 7 process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 8 expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 9 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items 10 that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating 11 Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the 12 inapplicable designation. 13 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 14 provided in this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of 15 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be 16 clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 17 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 18 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 19 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 20 21 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 22 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page 23 that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page 24 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 25 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 26 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 27 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting 28 Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. 1 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made 2 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the 3 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, 4 the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, 5 qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 6 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to 7 each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on 8 a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify 9 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 10 (b) for testimony given in a deposition or pretrial proceeding, that 11 the Designating Party identify all Protected Material on the record and before 12 the close of the deposition or proceeding. 13 (c) for information produced in some form other than 14 documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix 15 in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the 16 information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or 17 portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the 18 extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 19 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 20 21 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, 22 standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under 23 this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the 24 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is 25 treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 26 27 28 1 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 2 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 3 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 4 Scheduling Order. 5 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 6 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 7 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 8 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 9 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be 10 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 11 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens 12 on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 13 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all 14 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection 15 to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court 16 rules on the challenge. 17 18 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that 20 is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection 21 with this Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this 22 Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of 23 persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has 24 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 25 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 26 27 28 1 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party 2 at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the 3 persons authorized under this Order. 4 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 5 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating 6 Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 8 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 9 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is 10 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 11 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House 12 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary 13 for this Action; 14 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 15 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 16 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (d) the court and its personnel; 18 (e) court reporters and their staff; 19 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 20 21 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 22 Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 23 Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the 25 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew 26 the information; 27 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, 28 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the 1 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A 2 hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 3 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 4 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. 5 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 6 Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not 7 be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 8 Order; and 9 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting 10 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 11 discussions. 12 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 13 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 14 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other 15 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this 16 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 18 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena 20 21 or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered 22 by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification 23 shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 24 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 25 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If 26 the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 27 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 28 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which 1 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating 2 Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense 3 of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in 4 these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 5 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 6 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 7

BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

8 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced 9 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 10 11 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is 12 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 13 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking 14 additional protections. 15 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery 16 request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, 17 and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the 18 Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 19 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 20 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 21 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 22 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 23 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 24 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 25 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 26 Non-Party, if requested. 27 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 28 1 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 2 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information 3 responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective 4 order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession 5 or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party 6 before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the 7 Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court 8 of its Protected Material. 9 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 10 MATERIAL

11 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 12 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not 13 authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must 14 immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 15 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 16 Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized 17 disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such 18 person or persons to return, shred, or otherwise destroy the inadvertently 19 disclosed Protected Material and execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement 20 21 to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 22 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR

OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

23

24 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 25 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 26 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in 27 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to 28 modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that 1 provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal 2 Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on 3 the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the 4 attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may 5 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the 6 court. 7 14. MISCELLANEOUS 8 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of 9 a Party to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 10 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 11 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object 12 to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not 13 addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any 14 right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 15 by this Protective Order. 16 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 17 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected 18 Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the 19 sealing of the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected 20 21 Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file 22 the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 23 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 24 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, 25 within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving 26 Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such 27 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all 28 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing 1 |] or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is 2 returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification 3 the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 4 || Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, > || where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 6 ll and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of 8 the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to ° retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and 0 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such

4 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to

5 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 16 16. VIOLATION UW Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 18 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 19 Sanctions. 20 Based on the foregoing stipulated matters and for good cause shown, IT 22 || IS SO ORDERED. 23 je de 24 || DATED: June 17, 2025 Lie a 95 HN D. EARLY United States Magistrate Judge 26 27 28 15