1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 WESTERN DIVISION 11 FARAMARZ NAEIM, No. CV 2:19-CV-06126 DDP (AFMx) 12 Plaintiff, [PROPOSED] STIPULATED

PROTECTIVE

13 v. ORDER1 14 ROBERT L. WILKIE, in his Official Capacity, Secretary, Department of 15 Veterans Affairs; and DOES 1 through 10. 16 Defendants. 17 18 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 19 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary 20 or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 21 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, 22 the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 23 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 24 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 25 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 26 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 27 1 1 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 This action is likely to involve private personal information of Plaintiff and third- 3 party employees of Defendant, as well as third-party patients, for which special 4 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of 5 this action is warranted. Such confidential materials and information consist of, among 6 other things, medical records, medical and personnel records, third-party personnel and 7 employment files, third-party employee personal identifying information, medical 8 records, and information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 9 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court 10 rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, 11 to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, 12 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 13 adequately protect against inadvertent disclosure of privileged information or otherwise 14 protected from disclosure, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary 15 uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their 16 handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for 17 such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 18 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 19 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non- 20 public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of 21 this case. 22 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 23 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 24 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 25 seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 26 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 27 material under seal. 1 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good 2 cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County of 3 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 4 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 5 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), 6 and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary 7 support and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a 8 party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery 9 Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the submission of competent evidence 10 by declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as 11 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 12 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 13 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 14 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos 15 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type 16 of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal in 17 connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must articulate 18 compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested 19 sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 20 under seal must be provided by declaration. 21 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its 22 entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 23 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only the 24 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. 25 Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should include 26 an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 27 2. DEFINITIONS 1 et al., No. CV-19-06126-DDP-AFM. 2 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 3 information or items under this Order. 4 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how 5 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 6 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 7 Statement. 8 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 9 support staff). 10 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 11 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 12 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 13 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among 14 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated 15 in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 16 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 17 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 18 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 19 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 20 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 21 counsel. 22 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 23 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 24 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 25 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 26 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has 27 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 1 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 2 support staffs). 3 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 4 Discovery Material in this Action. 5 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 6 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 7 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 8 their employees and subcontractors. 9 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 10 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 11 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 12 from a Producing Party. 13 3. SCOPE 14 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 15 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 16 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 17 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 18 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 19 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial 20 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 21 4. DURATION 22 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 23 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as 24 an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of 25 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 26 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See 27 Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 1 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective 2 order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 3 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 5 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 6 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 7 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 8 only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that 9 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for 10 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this 11 Order. 12 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that 13 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 14 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 15 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 16 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 17 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 18 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 19 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 20 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 21 ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order 22 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 25 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 26 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 27 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 1 clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 2 margins). 3 To the extent any documents are produced in native electronic format, such 4 documents will not have a physical legend. Any documents produced in native 5 electronic format that are designated “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be prepended with 6 “CONFIDENTIAL” and the Bates number or Bates range in the filename. In the event 7 the Receiving Party prints any native electronic document or file designated 8 “CONFIDENTIAL,” it shall be the responsibility of the Receiving Party to affix the 9 appropriate “CONFIDENTIAL” legend and Bates stamp to the printed document or file 10 before disclosing to persons authorized under Section 7.2. 11 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 12 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 13 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 14 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 15 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 16 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 17 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 18 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 19 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 20 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., 21 by making appropriate markings in the margins). 22 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies the 23 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 24 protected testimony. 25 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 26 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior 27 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 1 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 2 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 3 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 4 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 5 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 6 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 7 Order. 8 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 9 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 10 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling 11 Order. 12 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 13 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 14 6.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint 15 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 16 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 17 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., 18 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 19 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 20 the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in 21 question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s 22 designation until 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 that is 25 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 26 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 27 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 1 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 2 DISPOSITION). 3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 4 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 5 authorized under this Order. 6 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 7 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 8 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 9 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 10 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 11 disclose the information for this Action; 12 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 13 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 14 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 15 is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 16 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 Professional Vendors to 20 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian 23 or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 24 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action 25 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests 26 that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will not be 27 permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 1 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 2 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 3 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 4 Order; and 5 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 6 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 7 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 8 IN OTHER LITIGATION 9 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 10 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 11 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 12 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 13 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 14 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue 15 in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 16 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated 17 Protective Order; and 18 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 19 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating Party 20 timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall 21 not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a 22 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has 23 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the 24 burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and 25 nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 26 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 27 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 1 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party 2 in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by 3 Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 4 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a 5 Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 6 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a 7 Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 8 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, 9 then the Party shall: 10 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 11 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a 12 Non-Party; 13 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 14 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 15 description of the information requested; and 16 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 17 Party, if requested. 18 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days 19 of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce 20 the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non- 21 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any 22 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 23 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 24 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 25 court of its Protected Material. 26 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 1 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 2 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 3 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 4 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 5 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 6 that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 7 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 8 PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 11.1 Non-Waiver of Privilege. The parties agree that they do not intend to 10 disclose information subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege, attorney work 11 product protection, protection from production or disclosure under the Health Insurance 12 and Portability Act (“HIPAA”) (including “Protected Health Information” as that term is 13 defined in 45 C.F.R. § 160.103) or the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, or 14 any other privilege, immunity or protection from production or disclosure (“Privileged 15 Information”). Nevertheless, if a Producing Party discloses Privileged Information, such 16 disclosure (as distinct from use) shall be deemed inadvertent without need of further 17 showing under Federal Rule of Evidence 502(b) and shall not constitute or be deemed a 18 waiver or forfeiture of the privilege or protection from discovery in this case or in any 19 other federal or state proceeding by that party (the “Disclosing Party”). This Section 20 shall be interpreted to provide the maximum protection allowed by Federal Rule of 21 Evidence 502(d). 22 11.2 Notice of Production of Privileged Information. If a Party or non-Party 23 discovers that it has produced Privileged Information, it shall promptly notify the 24 Receiving Party of the production in writing and may demand that the Receiving Party 25 return or destroy the Privileged Information. In the event that a Receiving Party receives 26 information that it believes is subject to a good faith claim of privilege by the 27 Designating Party, the Receiving Party shall immediately refrain from examining the 1 Party possesses potentially Privileged Information. The Designating Party shall have 2 seven (7) days to assert privilege over the identified information. If the Designating 3 Party does not assert a claim of privilege within the 7-day period, the information in 4 question shall be deemed non-privileged. 5 11.3 Recall of Privileged Information. If the Designating Party has notified the 6 Receiving Party that it is claiming privilege over previously produced documents, or has 7 confirmed it is claiming privilege over a production called to its attention by the 8 Receiving Party, the Receiving Party shall within seven (7) days of receiving such 9 notification or confirmation: (1) destroy, delete, or return to the Designating Party all 10 copies or versions of the produced Privileged Information requested to be returned or 11 destroyed; (2) delete from its work product or other materials any quoted or paraphrased 12 portions of the produced Privileged Information; (3) ensure that produced Privileged 13 Information is not disclosed in any manner to any Party or non-Party; and (4) confirm by 14 way of letter to the Designating Party that all copies or versions of the produced 15 Privileged Information have been destroyed, deleted, or returned. 16 Within fourteen (14) days of the notification that such Privileged Information has 17 been destroyed, deleted, or returned (“Clawed-Back Information”), the Disclosing Party 18 shall produce a privilege log with respect to the Clawed-Back Information. Within 19 fourteen (14) days after receiving the Disclosing Party’s privilege log with respect to 20 such Clawed-Back Information, a receiving party may notify the Disclosing Party in 21 writing an objection to a claim of privilege or protection from disclosure with respect to 22 the Clawed-Back Information by initiating the dispute resolution process under Local 23 Rule 37-1 et seq. 24 12. MISCELLANEOUS 25 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 26 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 27 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 1 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 2 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground 3 to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 4 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 5 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 6 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 7 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is 8 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 9 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 10 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 11 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days 12 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 13 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 14 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 15 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 16 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 17 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 18 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by 19 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 20 and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 21 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 22 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 23 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 24 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney 25 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain 26 Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected 27 Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 1 VIOLATION 2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 3 || without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 4 | ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 5 DATED: October 26, 2020 6 | PIETZ & SHAHIARI, LLP /s/ Cyrus E. Shahriari 8 || MORGAN E. PIETZ 9 CYRUS E. SHAHRIARI Attorneys for Plaintiff 10 11 DATED: October 26, 2020 12 13 NICOLA T. HANNA United States Attorney 14 || DAVID M. HARRIS 15 Assistant United States Attorney Chief, Civil Division 16 | JOANNE S. OSINOFF 17 Assistant United States Attorney Chief, General Civil Section 18 19 | 2 Matthew J. Smock

MATTHEW J. SMOCK

20 || MARIAM KALOUSTIAN 1 || Assistant United States Attorneys 22 || Attorneys for Defendant ROBERT L. WILKIE, 73 || Secretary of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 24 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 25

DATED: 10/26/2020

26 4 (Ly Me f&—-~ HON. ALEXANDER F. MacKINNON 28 || United States Magistrate Judge 16

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 that I have read in its 5 entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United 6 States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of 7 ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the number and initials assigned to it 8 by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 9 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 10 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise 11 that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 12 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 13 provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 15 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, 16 even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby 17 appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 18 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this 20 action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 Date: ______________________________________ 22 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 23 Printed name: _______________________________ 24 Signature: __________________________________ 25 26 27