Aquatics v. Brown

          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. §§ 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 ...