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7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

THE OHIO HOUSE LLC,

11 Case No. 8:19-cv-01710-JVS-GJS Plaintiff, 12 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 13 ORDER1

CITY OF COSTA MESA,

14 Defendant. 15

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17 1. A. 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 may 21 be 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 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 24 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 25 26 27 1 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 2 under the applicable legal principles. 3 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 4 This action is likely to involve the disclosure of private business information 5 of plaintiff and the personal information of persons who occupied a dwelling owned 6 and operated by plaintiff. None of this information is available to the public. 7 Such confidential and proprietary information consists of, among other things, 8 records reflecting plaintiff's internal business operations and residents' information 9 that may implicate their privacy rights and potentially the rights of additional third 10 parties. 11 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 12 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 13 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 14 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 15 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 16 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 17 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 18 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 19 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 20 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 21 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 22 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 23 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 24 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 25 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 26 to file material under seal. 27 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 1 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 2 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 3 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, 4 Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders 5 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling 6 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with 7 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere 8 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 9 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the 10 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 11 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 14 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 15 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For 16 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 17 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 18 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 19 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 20 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 21 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 22 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. 23 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting 24 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, 25 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their 26 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 27 2. DEFINITIONS 1 related actions.] 2 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 3 designation of information or items under this Order. 4 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 5 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 6 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 7 the Good Cause Statement. 8 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 9 their 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 12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 13 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 14 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 15 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 16 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 17 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 18 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 19 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 20 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 21 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 22 counsel. 23 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 24 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 25 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 26 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 27 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 1 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 2 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 3 support staffs). 4 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 5 Discovery Material in this Action. 6 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 7 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 8 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 9 and their employees and subcontractors. 10 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 11 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 12 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 13 Material from a Producing Party. 3. SCOPE 14 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 15 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 16 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 17 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 18 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 19 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 20 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 21 4. DURATION 22 FINAL DISPOSITION of the action is defined as the conclusion of any 23 appellate proceedings, or, if no appeal is taken, when the time for filing of an appeal 24 has run. Except as set forth below, the terms of this protective order apply through 25 FINAL DISPOSITION of the action. The parties may stipulate that the they will be 26 contractually bound by the terms of this agreement beyond FINAL DISPOSITION, 27 1 proceedings in this case are complete. 2 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 3 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 4 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 5 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 6 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 7 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” 8 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 9 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, for 10 such materials, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the 11 commencement of the trial. 12 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 14 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 15 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 16 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 17 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 18 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 19 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 20 within the ambit of this Order. 21 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 22 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 23 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 24 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 25 Party to sanctions. 26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 27 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 1 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 2 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 3 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 4 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 5 produced. 6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 7 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 8 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 9 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 11 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 12 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 13 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 14 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 15 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 16 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 17 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 18 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 19 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 20 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 21 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 22 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 23 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 24 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 25 in the margins). 26 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 27 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 2 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 3 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 4 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 5 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 6 protected portion(s). 7 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 8 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 9 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 10 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 11 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 12 Order. 13 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 14 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 15 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 16 Scheduling Order. 17 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 18 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 19 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 20 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 21 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 22 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 23 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 24 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 25 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 26 challenge. 27 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 1 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 2 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 3 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 4 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 5 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 6 DISPOSITION). 7 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 8 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 9 authorized under this Order. 10 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 11 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 12 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 13 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 14 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 15 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 16 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 17 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 18 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 19 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 20 disclosure is reasonably 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 Professional 25 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 26 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 2 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 3 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will 4 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 6 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 7 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 8 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 9 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 10 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 11 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 12 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 13 IN OTHER LITIGATION 14 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 15 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 16 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 18 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 20 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 21 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 22 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 24 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 25 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 26 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 27 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 1 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 2 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 3 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 4 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 5 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 6 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 7 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 8 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 9 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 10 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 11 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 12 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 13 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 14 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 15 confidential information, then the Party shall: 16 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 17 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 18 agreement with a Non-Party; 19 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 20 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 21 specific description of the information requested; and 22 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 23 Non-Party, if requested. 24 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 25 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 26 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 27 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 1 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 2 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 3 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 4 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 6 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 7 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 8 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 9 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 10 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 11 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 12 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as 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 protection, 17 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 18 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 19 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 20 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 21 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 22 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 23 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 24 protective order submitted to the court. 25 12. MISCELLANEOUS 26 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 27 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 1 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 2 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 3 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 4 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 5 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 6 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 7 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 8 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 9 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 10 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 11 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 paragraph 4, within 60 14 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 15 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 16 this 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 are 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 1 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 2 Section 4 (DURATION). 3 14. VIOLATION 4 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 5 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 6 15. REGULATIONS GOVERNING DISCLOSURE OF SUBSTANCE USE 7 DISORDER RECORDS OR INFORMATION 8 Nothing in this Order shall be construed to alter the requirements governing 9 the disclosure of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) records or information that is 10 subject to 42 U.S.C. § 290dd, et seq., and 42 C.F.R. Part 2. 11 * * * 12 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 13 14 DATED: December 28, 2020 ________ 15 16 ___________/s/ _________________________

HON. GAIL J. STANDISH

17 United States Magistrate Judge 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 8 on [date: ] in the case of The Ohio House LLC v. City of Costa Mesa, Case 9 Case 8:19-cv-01710-JVS-GJS. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the 10 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that 11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 13 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 14 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 16 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 17 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27