United States District Court, C.D. California
STANDING PROTECTIVE ORDER FOR CASES ASSIGNED TO JUDGE
JOHN A. KRONSTADT (MODIFIED)
HONORABLE PAUL L. ABRAMS, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
1.
PURPOSE AND LIMITS OF THIS ORDER
Discovery
in this action is likely to involve confidential,
proprietary, or private information requiring special
protection from public disclosure and from use for any
purpose other than this litigation. Thus, the Court enters
this Protective Order. This Order does not confer blanket
protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery, and
the protection it gives from public disclosure and use
extends only to the specific material entitled to
confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
This Order does not automatically authorize the filing under
seal of material designated under this Order. Instead, the
parties must comply with Local Rule 79-5.1 and this
Court's Order Re Pilot Program for Under Seal Documents
(See Exhibit F) if they seek to file anything under
seal. This Order does not govern the use at trial of material
designated under this Order.
2.
DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
2.1
Over-Designation Prohibited. Any party or non-party who
designates information or items for protection under this
Order as "CONFIDENTIAL, " or "HIGHLY
CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEY EYES ONLY" (a
"designator") must only designate specific material
that qualifies under the appropriate standards. To the extent
practicable, only those parts of documents, items, or oral or
written communications that require protection shall be
designated. Designations with a higher confidentiality level
when a lower level would suffice are prohibited. Mass,
indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.
Unjustified designations expose the designator to sanctions,
including the Court's striking all confidentiality
designations made by that designator. Designation under this
Order is allowed only if the designation is necessary to
protect material that, if disclosed to persons not authorized
to view it, would cause competitive or other recognized harm.
Material may not be designated if it has been made public, or
if designation is otherwise unnecessary to protect a secrecy
interest. If a designator learns 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 designator must promptly
notify all parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken
designation.
2.2
Manner and Timing of Designations. Designation under this
Order requires the designator to affix the applicable legend
("CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY
CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEY EYES ONLY, ") to each page that
contains protected material. For testimony given in
deposition or other proceeding, the designator shall specify
all protected testimony and the level of protection being
asserted. It may make that designation during the deposition
or proceeding, or may invoke, on the record or by written
notice to all parties on or before the next business day, a
right to have up to 21 days from the deposition or proceeding
to make its designation.
2.2.1 A
party or non-party that makes original documents or materials
available for inspection need not designate them for
protection until after the inspecting party has identified
which material it would like copied and produced. During the
inspection and before the designation, all material shall be
treated as HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEY EYES ONLY. After the
inspecting party has identified the documents it wants copied
and produced, the producing party must designate the
documents, or portions thereof, that qualify for protection
under this Order.
2.2.2
Parties shall give advance notice if they expect a deposition
or other proceeding to include designated material so that
the other parties can ensure that only authorized individuals
are present at those proceedings when such material is
disclosed or used. The use of a document as an exhibit at a
deposition shall not in any way affect its designation.
Transcripts containing designated material shall have a
legend on the title page noting the presence of designated
material, and the title page shall be followed by a list of
all pages (including line numbers as appropriate) that have
been designated, and the level of protection being asserted.
The designator shall inform the court reporter of these
requirements. Any transcript that is prepared before the
expiration of the 21-day period for designation shall be
treated during that period as if it had been designated
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- ATTORNEY EYES ONLY unless otherwise
agreed. After the expiration of the 21-day period, the
transcript shall be treated only as actually designated.
2.3
Inadvertent Failures to Designate. An inadvertent failure to
designate does not, standing alone, waive protection under
this Order. Upon timely assertion or correction of a
designation, all recipients must make reasonable efforts to
ensure that the material is treated according to this Order.
3.
CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
All
challenges to confidentiality designations shall proceed
under Local Rule 37-1 through Local Rule 37-4.
4.
ACCESS TO DESIGNATED MATERIAL
4.1
Basic Principles. A receiving party may use designated
material only for this litigation. Designated material may be
disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
conditions described in this Order.
4.2
Disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL Material Without Further Approval.
Unless
otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the
designator, a receiving party may disclose any material
designated CONFIDENTIAL only to:
4.2.1
The receiving party's outside counsel of record in this
action and employees of outside counsel of record to whom
disclosure is reasonably necessary;
4.2.2
The officers, directors, and employees of the receiving party
to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, and who have
signed the Agreement to Be Bound (Exhibit E-1);
4.2.3
Experts retained by the receiving party's outside counsel
of record to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, and who
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