United States District Court, C.D. California
WATERWORKS AQUATICS, et al. Plaintiffs,
v.
ANDREW BROWN; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, et al. Defendants.
RICHARD E. ZUCKERMAN Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney
General
HENRY
C. DARMSTADTER RYAN S. WATSON NICOLA T. HANNA United States
Attorney Central District of California Of Counsel Attorneys
for the United States of America
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Autumn
D. Spaeth United States Magistrate Judge
Discovery
in this action may involve production of confidential,
proprietary or private information for which special
protection from public disclosure and from use for any
purpose other than prosecuting this litigation maybe
warranted. This Order does not confer blanket protections on
all disclosures or responses to discovery and the protection
it affords from public disclosure and use extend only to the
limited information or items that are entitled to
confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
As set forth in Paragraph No. 17, below, this Protective
Order does not entitle the parties to file confidential
information under seal. Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the
procedures that must be followed and the standards that will
be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to
file material under seal.
The
parties, having agreed that good cause exists to protect the
confidential nature of certain information that may be
contained in documents, interrogatory responses, responses to
requests for admission, or deposition testimony, agree to the
following Protective Order:
1. This
Protective Order shall apply to any agents, attorneys,
experts consultants, employees, parent companies,
subsidiaries, officers, directors and employees of the
parties, including but not limited to employees of the
attorneys' firms and personnel of an office, board,
division, or bureau of the Department of Justice
(“Department”), clerical personnel and
supervisory personnel of the Department, officers and
employees of the Internal Revenue Service, and officers and
employees of another federal agency working under the
direction and control of the Department of Justice.
2. The
restrictions and limitations contained in this Protective
Order shall apply to documents (including all copies,
excerpts and summaries thereof) produced, and deposition
testimony provided by any party to this stipulated protective
order as well as in response to the third party subpoenas
served or to be served on the Third Party, and their current
and past employees, in connection with the above referenced
suit, (collectively “Discovery Material”).
3. A
party may designate material as confidential only when the
material falls within the protections of Rule 26(c) of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Unless otherwise stated in
this Protective Order, a declaration setting forth the
party's good faith basis for designating the information
as confidential must be sent to all of the parties prior to,
or contemporaneously with, the production or disclosure of
that information. Any dispute regarding the confidential
nature of particular material shall not serve as the basis
for refusing to produce that particular material. Plaintiffs
have designated as confidential pursuant to this Protective
Order: (a.) the financial terms of the settlement of Orange
County Superior Court case number 30-2017-00934038-CU-MC-CJC,
entitled Andrew Brown v. Waterworks Aquatics, et.
al. entered into on or about April 16, 2019, (b.) the
amounts of Plaintiffs' revenues, (c.) the amounts of
Plaintiffs' profits, (d.) Plaintiffs' profit margins,
(e.) the amounts of distributions by Plaintiffs to their
shareholders and members, (f.) the amounts of balances and/or
payments on any of Plaintiffs' loans, (g.) the amounts of
compensation paid and to be paid to any of Plaintiffs'
executives and employees, (h.) the number of customers
Plaintiffs' have, (i.) the number of families Plaintiffs
have as customers, (j.) the number of swim lessons given by
Plaintiffs, and (k.) the value / valuation of Plaintiffs and
the ownership interests therein.
4. All
copies, duplicates, extracts, summaries, or descriptions
(hereinafter referred to collectively as "copies")
of documents or information designated as confidential
under this Order, or any portion thereof, must be
immediately affixed with the words: "CONFIDENTIAL:
Subject to Protective Order in Waterworks Aquatics, et
al. v. Andrew Brown, et al., Case No.
8:19-cv-01318-JLS-ADS.”
5.
Electronically Stored Information (“ESI”) may be
designated as confidential. The physically produced storage
device containing confidential ESI must be immediately
affixed with the words: "CONFIDENTIAL: Subject to
Protective Order Waterworks Aquatics, et al. v. Andrew
Brown, et al., Case No. 8:19-cv-01318-JLS-ADS.”
6. If a
document marked confidential is introduced during a
deposition, the portion of the deposition regarding the
confidential document may be designated confidential, if such
designation is made on the record at the time of the
deposition or, if the party claiming confidentiality is not
present at the deposition, by written notice within twenty
days after receipt of the deposition transcript. The portions
of the transcript designated as confidential shall be affixed
with the words: "CONFIDENTIAL: Subject to Protective
Order in Waterworks Aquatics, et al. v. Andrew Brown, et
al., Case No. 8:19-cv-01318-JLS-ADS.”
7.
Except as otherwise provided in this Protective Order,
information or documents designated as confidential by a
party under this Protective Order shall not be used or
disclosed by the remaining parties or their counsel or any
persons identified in Protective Order for any purposes
whatsoever other than preparing for and conducting the
litigation in this lawsuit (including any appeals).
8. The
parties and counsel for the parties shall not disclose or
permit the disclosure of any documents or information
designated as confidential under this Protective Order to any
other person or entity, except that disclosures may be made
in the following circumstances:
(i) Disclosure may be made to employees of counsel for the
parties, or to employees of the parties to properly
accomplish any purpose or activity described in 26 U.S.C.
ยงยง 6103(h) or (k) and the regulations thereunder,
which is appropriate in handling this case. Any such employee
to whom counsel for the parties makes a disclosure must be
advised of, and become subject to, the provisions ...