EGJ v. County of Riverside

          Hon. John F. Walter, District Judge

          PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS

          HON. SHERI PYM U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE

         Complaint Filed: 03/17/2016 Trial PURSUANT TO THE STIPULATION OF THE PARTIES (“Stipulation for Entry of Protective Order re Confidential Documents”), and pursuant to the Court’s inherent and statutory authority, including but not limited to the Court’s authority under the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the United States District Court, C.D. California Local Rules; after due consideration of all of the relevant pleadings, papers, and records in this action; and upon such other evidence or argument as was presented to the Court; Good Cause appearing therefor, and in furtherance of the interests of justice, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

         1. SCOPE OF PROTECTION.

         The protections conferred by the parties’ Stipulation and this Order cover not only Protected Material/Confidential Documents (as defined below), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. However, the protections conferred by the parties’ Stipulation and this Order do not cover the following information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party.

         Except to the extent specified herein (if any), any use of Protected Material at trial shall not be governed by this Order, but may be governed by a separate agreement or order. The Definitions section of the parties' associated Stipulation (§ 2) is incorporated by reference herein.

         Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the Orders of the trial judge: this Stipulation and its associated Protective Order do(es) not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

         A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS.

         Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting or defending this litigation would be warranted. Accordingly, the parties have stipulated to and petitioned the court to enter the following Order.

         The parties have acknowledged that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords extends only to the specified information or items that are entitled to treatment as confidential.

         The parties further acknowledge, as set forth below, that this Order creates no entitlement to file confidential information under seal, except to the extent specified herein; Central District Local Rules 79-5.1 and 79-5.2 set(s) forth the procedures that must be followed and reflects the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal.

         Nothing in this Order shall be construed so as to require or mandate that any Party disclose or produce privileged information or records that could be designated as Confidential Documents/Protected Material hereunder.

         2. DURATION OF PROTECTION.

         Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs.

         Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; or (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.

         3. DESIGNATION OF PROTECTED MATERIAL/CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS.

         3.1. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

         Each Party or non-party that designates information or items for protection under the parties’ Stipulation and this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. A Designating Party must take care to designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify - so that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.

         Mass, indiscriminate, or routine designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified, or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber or inhibit the case development process, or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), expose the Designating Party to sanctions.

         If it comes to a Party’s or a non-party’s attention that information or items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection at all, or do not qualify for the level of protection initially asserted, that Party or non-party must promptly notify all other parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.

         3.2. Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.

         Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

         (a) for information in documentary form (apart from transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings, and regardless of whether produced in hardcopy or electronic form), that the Producing Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, for each portion that it is “CONFIDENTIAL.” The placement of such “CONFIDENTIAL” stamp on such page(s) shall not obstruct the substance of the page’s (or pages’) text or content.

         A Party or non-party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the Receiving Party has indicated which material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the Receiving Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

         (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that the Party or non-party offering or sponsoring the testimony identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other proceeding, all protected testimony, and further specify any portions of the testimony that qualify as “CONFIDENTIAL.” When it is impractical to identify separately each portion of testimony that is entitled to protection, and when it appears that substantial portions of the testimony may qualify for protection, the Producing Party may invoke on the record (before the deposition or proceeding is concluded) a right to have up to twenty (20) days to identify the specific portions of the testimony as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Only those portions of the testimony that are appropriately designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” for protection within the 20 days shall be covered by the provisions of the parties’ Stipulation and this Protective Order.

         The court reporter must affix to each such page the legend “CONFIDENTIAL, ” as instructed by the Producing Party.

         (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary, and forany other tangible items (including but not limited to information produced on disc or electronic data storage device), that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only portions of the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portions, specifying the material as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 3.3. Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected (preferably, though not necessarily, within 30 days of production or disclosure of such material), an inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items as “CONFIDENTIAL” does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under the parties’ Stipulation and this Order for such material. If material is appropriately ...