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

10 JOSHUA JOHNSON, NO: 2:22-cv-06718-RSWL-MAA

11 Plaintiff, 12 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE vs. ORDER 13

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.,

14

15 Defendant.

16

17 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 18 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 19 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 20 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation maybe 21 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 22 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 23 Stipulated Protective Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or 24 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 25 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 26 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as 27 set forth in Section 13.3 below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle 28 1 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 2 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 3 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 4 5 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 6 This action is likely to involve personal medical and financial information, 7 commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which special 8 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 9 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials 10 and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial 11 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other 12 confidential research, development, or commercial information (including 13 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise 14 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise 15 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, 16 or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the 17 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to 18 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure 19 that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 20 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 21 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 22 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 23 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 24 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public 25 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this 26 case. 27 28 3. DEFINITIONS 1 3.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit, Johnson v. Chase, NO: 2:22-cv- 2 06718-RSWL-MAA (C.D. Cal.). 3 3.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation 4 of information or items under this Order. 5 3.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of 6 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify 7 for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as 8 specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 9 3.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and In-House Counsel (as well as 10 their support staff). 11 3.5 Designating Party: A Party or Nonparty that designates information or 12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 3.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless 15 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained 16 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible 17 things), that is produced or generated in disclosures or responses to 18 discovery in this matter. 19 3.7 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 20 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its 21 counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 22 3.8 In-House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this 23 Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record 24 or any other outside counsel. 25 3.9 Nonparty: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 26 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 27 3.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a 28 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this 1 Action and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are 2 affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, 3 and includes support staff. 4 3.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 5 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of 6 Record (and their support staffs). 7 3.12 Producing Party: A Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or 8 Discovery Material in this Action. 9 3.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation 10 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing 11 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in 12 any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 13 3.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 14 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 15 3.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 16 Material from a Producing Party. 17 18 4. SCOPE 19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 20 Protected Material, but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected 21 Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; 22 and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel 23 that might reveal Protected Material. 24 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 25 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 26 27 5. DURATION 28 1 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 2 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Stipulated Protective Order becomes 3 public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including 4 the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to 5 proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana 6 v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) 7 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery 8 from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court 9 record). Accordingly, the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order do not extend 10 beyond the commencement of the trial. 11 12 6. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 6.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 14 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for 15 protection under this Stipulated Protective Order must take care to limit 16 any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 17 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 18 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or 19 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the 20 material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is 21 not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this 22 Stipulated Protective Order. 23 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 24 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been 25 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case 26 development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens 27 on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 28 1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items 2 that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that 3 Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 4 withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 5 6.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. 6 Except as otherwise provided in this Stipulated Protective Order 7 (see, e.g., 6.2(a)), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or 8 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Stipulated 9 Protective Order must be clearly so designated before the material is 10 disclosed or produced. 11 Designation in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order 12 requires the following: 13 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 14 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other 15 pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a 16 minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 17 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains 18 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on 19 a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must 20 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 21 appropriate markings in the margins). 22 A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents 23 available for inspection need not designate them for protection 24 until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it 25 would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 26 before the designation, all of the material made available for 27 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the 28 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and 1 produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 2 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Stipulated 3 Protective Order. Then, before producing the specified 4 documents, the Producing Party must affix the 5 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected 6 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 7 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 8 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 9 markings in the margins). 10 (b) For testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 11 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, 12 before the close of the deposition all protected testimony. 13 (c) For information produced in nondocumentary form, and for any 14 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a 15 prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in 16 which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” 17 If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 18 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall 19 identify the protected portion(s). 20 6.3 Inadvertent Failure to Designate. 21 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified 22 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating 23 Party’s right to secure protection under this Stipulated Protective Order 24 for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the 25 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the 26 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Stipulated 27 Protective Order. 28 1 7. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 2 7.1 Timing of Challenges. 3 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of 4 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 5 Scheduling Order. 6 7.2 Meet and Confer. 7 The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 8 process, which shall comply with Local Rule 37.1 et seq., and with 9 Section 4 of Judge Audero’s Procedures (“Mandatory Telephonic 10 Confident for Discovery Disputes”).1 11 7.3 Burden of Persuasion. 12 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall 13 be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for 14 an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses 15 and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to 16 sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the 17 confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 18 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under 19 the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 20 challenge. 21 22 8. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 8.1 Basic Principles. 24 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed 25 or produced by another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this 26 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this

27 1 Judge Audero’s Procedures are available at https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/honorable-maria-audero. 28 1 Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the 2 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this 3 Stipulated Protective Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 4 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 14 below. 5 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving 6 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is 7 limited to the persons authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order. 8 8.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. 9 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by 10 the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information 11 or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 12 (a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, 13 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to 14 whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for 15 this Action; 16 (b) The officers, directors, and employees (including In-House 17 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is 18 reasonably necessary for this Action; 19 (c) Experts of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably 20 necessary for this Action and who have signed the 21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (d) The Court and its personnel; 23 (e) Court reporters and their staff; 24 (f) Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 25 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably 26 necessary for this Action and who have signed the 27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 28 1 (g) The author or recipient of a document containing the information 2 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew 3 the information; 4 (h) During their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, 5 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary 6 provided: (i) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the 7 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 8 and (ii) the witness will not be permitted to keep any confidential 9 information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and 10 Agreement to Be Bound,” unless otherwise agreed by the 11 Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 12 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 13 Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 14 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under 15 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 16 (i) Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 17 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in 18 settlement discussions. 19 20 9. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 21 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 22 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 23 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 24 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 25 (a) Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 26 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 27 (b) Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 28 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered 1 by the subpoena or order is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order. 2 Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective 3 Order; and 4 (c) Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 5 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be 6 affected. 7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 8 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 9 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 10 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 11 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 12 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 13 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 14 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 15 16 10. A NONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 17 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 18 10.1 Application. 19 The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order are applicable to 20 information produced by a Nonparty in this Action and designated as 21 “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Nonparties in 22 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 23 provided by this Stipulated Protective Order. Nothing in these 24 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from seeking 25 additional protections. 26 10.2 Notification. 27 In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 28 to produce a Nonparty’s confidential information in its possession, and 1 the Party is subject to an agreement with the Nonparty not to produce 2 the Nonparty’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 3 (a) Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 4 Nonparty that some or all of the information requested is subject 5 to a confidentiality agreement with a Nonparty; 6 (b) Promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of the Stipulated 7 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), 8 and a reasonably specific description of the information 9 requested; and 10 (c) Make the information requested available for inspection by the 11 Nonparty, if requested. 12 10.3 Conditions of Production. 13 If the Nonparty fails to seek a protective order from this court 14 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, 15 the Receiving Party may produce the Nonparty’s confidential 16 information responsive to the discovery request. If the Nonparty timely 17 seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 18 information in its possession or control that is subject to the 19 confidentiality agreement with the Nonparty before a determination by 20 the Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Nonparty shall bear 21 the burden and expense of seeking protection in this Court of its 22 Protected Material. 23 24 11. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 26 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 27 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (1) notify in 28 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its best efforts 1 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) inform the person or 2 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this 3 Stipulated Protective Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 4 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” ( Exhibit A). 5 6 12. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 7 PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 9 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 10 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 11 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 12 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without 13 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar 14 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 15 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 16 parties may incorporate their agreement in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted 17 to the Court. 18 19 13. MISCELLANEOUS 20 13.1 Right to Further Relief. 21 Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order abridges the right of 22 any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 23 13.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. 24 By stipulating to the entry of this Stipulated Protective Order, no 25 Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing 26 or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 27 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to 28 1 object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 2 by this Stipulated Protective Order. 3 13.3 Filing Protected Material. 4 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must 5 comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be 6 filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 7 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected 8 Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party 9 may file the information in the public record unless otherwise 10 instructed by the Court. 11 12 14. FINAL DISPOSITION 13 After the final disposition of this Action, within sixty (60) days of a written 14 request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected 15 Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 16 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 17 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 18 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 19 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 20 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies 21 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 22 destroyed and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 23 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 24 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel is entitled to 25 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 26 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 27 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 28 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 1 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Stipulated Protective Order as 2 set forth in Section 5. 3 4 15. VIOLATION 5 Any violation of this Stipulated Protective Order may be punished by any and 6 all appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or 7 monetary sanctions. 8 9 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 10 11 DATED: April 17, 2023 12 /s/ L. David Russell 13

RUSSELL LAW, PC

14 Attorneys for Plaintiff 15

16 DATED: April 17, 2023 17 18 /s/ Robert Hyatt

DYKEMA GOSSETT LLP

19 Attorneys for Defendant 20

21 ATTESTATION

22 Pursuant to L.R. 5-4.3.4, all other signatories listed, and on whose behalf 23 the filing is submitted, concurred in the filing’s content and have authorized the 24 filing. 25

26 /s/ L. David Russell 27 RUSSELL LAW, PC

28 1

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

2 3 April 17, 2023

DATED:________________________

4 5 _____________________________________ 6 Maria A. Audero 7 United States Magistrate Judge 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ [address], 4 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 5 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the 6 Central District of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [case name and 7 number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 8 Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 9 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise 10 that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 11 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with 12 the provisions of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 14 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 15 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 16 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 17 name] of _______________________________________ [address and telephone 18 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action 19 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 20 21 Signature: ____________________________ 22 Printed Name: ____________________________ 23 Date: ____________________________ 24 City and State Where Sworn and Signed: ____________________________ 25 26 27 28