Chunma USA, Inc. v. West American Insurance Company ( 2019 )

1 || ROBERT A. REES, Cal. Bar No. 94295 REES LAW FIRM P.C. 2 || 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2000 Los Angeles, California 90067 3 || Telephone: 310.277.7071 Facsimile: 310.277.7067 4 || E mail robertreeslaw@att.net Attorneys for Plaintiffs, 5 || CHUNMA USA, INC. AND JAE JUNG 6 || FRANK FALZETTA, Cal. Bar No. 125146 SCOTT SVESLOSKY, Cal. Bar No. 217660 7 || BRENDA A. BISSETT, Cal. Bar No. 116642 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP 8 || 333 South Hope Street, 43°¢ Floor Los Angeles, California 90071-1422 9 || Telephone: 213.620.1780 Facsimile: 213.620.1398 10 |} E mail {falzetta@sheppardmullin com ssveslosky@s eppardmullin.com 11 bbissett@sheppardmullin.com 12 || Attorneys for Defendants, WEST AMERICAN INSURANCE 13 || COMPANY; OHIO SECURITY INSURANCE COMPANY; and 14 || LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE 15 COMPANY 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 17 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 18 CHUNMA USA, INC. AND JAE 19 JUNG Case No. 2:19-cv-03521 MRW 20 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER V. WEST AMERICAN INSURANCE (MRW VERSION 4/19) ~ || INSURANCE CONPANY Check if submitted without 23 LOTR ANY ING AL NSGRANCE material modifications to MRW form 24 25 Defendant. 26 27 28 SMRH:4833-4119-6959.2 -|- 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 4 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 5 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 6 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 7 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 8 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 9 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 10 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 11 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 12 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to 13 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 14 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 15 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 16 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 17 Plaintiffs Chunma USA, Inc. and Jae Jung (collectively “Plaintiffs”) have 18 sued Defendants claiming that they breached two insurance policies and acted in bad 19 faith when they refused to defend Plaintiffs in an underlying lawsuit brought by 20 Michael Kors (the “Underlying Action”). Specifically, in the Underlying Action, 21 Michael Kors alleged that Plaintiffs sold women’s accessories, including purses, 22 with designs confusingly similar to Michael Kors’ common law trademarks and 23 trade dress. Michael Kors also alleged that Plaintiffs’ infringing merchandise 24 imitated its famous trade dress, that Plaintiffs “passed off” certain imitation 25 handbags as Michael Kors handbags, and that Plaintiffs diluted the value of Kors’ 26 trade dress . Michael Kors asserted claims for trademark and trade dress 27 infringement, trade dress dilution and unfair competition. 1 Plaintiffs tendered their defense of the Underlying Action under two general 2 liability insurance policies that West American Insurance Company (“West 3 American”) and Ohio Security Insurance Company (“Ohio Security”) issued to 4 Chunma USA, Inc. (“Chunma”) – West American Policy No. BKW (15) 56 13 42 5 82 for the period 10/20/14 to 10/20/15 and Ohio Security Policy No. BKS (16) 56 6 13 42 82 for the period 10/20/15 to 10/20/16 (collectively “the Policies”). On June 7 7, 2016, Defendants denied Plaintiffs’ defense tender on the grounds that the 8 Policies issued to Chunma do not cover the damages that Michael Kors sought in the 9 Underlying Action. 10 On February 15, 2019, Plaintiffs filed a complaint in the Superior Court of 11 California for the County of Los Angeles, entitled Chunma USA, Inc. et al. v. West 12 American Insurance Co., et. al., Case No. 19STCV05330. The Complaint alleges 13 two causes of action against Defendants – (1) Breach of Contract and (2) Breach of 14 the Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing. Defendants removed this matter to 15 this Court on April 29, 2019. 16 In this case, Plaintiffs allege as damages (1) the fees and costs incurred 17 defending the Underlying Action, (2) interest on loans used to finance the defense of 18 the Underlying Action, (3) the value of Plaintiffs’ good faith settlement with 19 Michael Kors including but not limited to release of claims against Michael Kors 20 surrendered as a part of a settlement, and the value of goods destroyed in connection 21 with the settlement, and (4) non-economic loss for severe emotional trauma. In 22 discovery, Defendants have sought the settlement agreement between Plaintiffs and 23 Michael Kors and all related correspondence. The settlement agreement, however, 24 contains a confidentiality provision limiting its disclosure. As a result, Plaintiffs 25 cannot produce the settlement agreement and related correspondence until a 26 protective order is in place, which limits disclosure of such materials to just the 27 parties in this case. 1 Plaintiffs, similarly, have sought discovery from Defendants, including 2 Defendants’ underwriting file for Chunma USA. Defendants contend that the 3 underwriting file contains documents that are confidential, proprietary and/or trade 4 secrets, and that disclosure of the documents without a protective order would cause 5 serious competitive and financial harm to Defendants. 6 Defendants underwriting file is disclosed only to Defendants’ employees and 7 its affiliates. If Defendants’ competitors obtain those documents and emulate the 8 systems that Defendants have put in place with regard to underwriting insureds, it 9 could put Defendants at a competitive disadvantage. 10 California law recognizes that proprietary, confidential, business-sensitive 11 information and personal medical and financial information merit protection. These 12 interests overcome the right of public access to such information and support the 13 issuance of an order requiring the sealing of proprietary, confidential, business- 14 sensitive information that any party files in connection with the trial of, or any 15 motion to be filed in, this action. If such information is not filed under seal, there 16 exists a substantial probability that the parties’ interests will be prejudiced, and no 17 means less restrictive than sealing will be sufficient to protect those interests. 18 In order to ensure the required protection for confidential settlement 19 communications, and proprietary, confidential, and business-sensitive information 20 that has been or may be requested during discovery, the Parties stipulate and agree 21 that this protective order should issue, and that its terms shall provide, among other 22 things, the following: 23 2. DEFINITIONS 24 2.1 Action: this pending federal law suit. 25 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 26 designation of information or items under this Order. 27 1 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 2 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 3 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 4 the Good Cause Statement. 5 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 6 their support staff). 7 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 8 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 9 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 10 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 11 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 12 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 13 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 14 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 15 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 16 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 17 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 18 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 19 counsel. 20 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 21 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 22 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 23 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 24 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 25 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 26 27 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. 14 15 3. SCOPE 16 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 17 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 18 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 19 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 20 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 21 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the 22 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 23 24 4. DURATION 25 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 26 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 27 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 1 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 2 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 3 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing "good cause" 4 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from "compelling reasons" 5 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, for 6 any such information or exhibit, the terms of this protective order do not extend 7 beyond the commencement of the trial. 8 With respect to any other information designated as confidential, even after 9 final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 10 Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a 11 court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be deemed to be the later of (1) 12 dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and 13 (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, 14 rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for 15 filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 16 17 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 19 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 20 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 21 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 22 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 23 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 24 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 25 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 26 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 27 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 1 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 2 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 3 Party to sanctions. 4 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 5 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 6 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 7 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 8 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 9 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 10 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 11 produced. 12 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 13 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 14 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that 15 the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 16 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 17 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 18 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 19 markings in the margins). 20 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 21 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 22 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 23 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be 24 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 25 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 26 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 27 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 1 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 2 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 3 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 4 markings in the margins). 5 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 6 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 7 protected testimony. 8 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 9 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 10 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 11 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 12 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 13 portion(s). 14 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 15 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 16 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 17 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 18 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 19 Order. 20 21 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 22 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 23 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 24 Scheduling Order. 25 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 26 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 27 et seq. 1 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 2 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 3 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 4 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 5 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will 6 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 7 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 8 challenge. 9 10 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 12 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 13 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 14 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 15 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 16 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 17 DISPOSITION). 18 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 19 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 20 authorized under this Order. 21 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 22 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 23 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 24 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 25 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 26 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 27 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 2 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 3 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 4 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 6 (d) the Court and its personnel; 7 (e) court reporters and their staff; 8 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 9 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 10 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 11 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 12 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 13 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 14 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 15 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 16 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 18 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 19 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 20 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 21 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 22 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 23 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 24 25 26 27 1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 2 IN OTHER LITIGATION 3 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 4 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 5 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 7 will include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 9 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 10 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include 11 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 13 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 14 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 15 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this 16 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 17 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 18 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking 19 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 20 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 21 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 22 23 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 24 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 25 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 26 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 27 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 1 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 2 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 3 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 4 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 5 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 6 confidential information, then the Party will: 7 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 8 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 9 agreement with a Non-Party; 10 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 11 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 12 specific description of the information requested; and 13 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 14 Non-Party, if requested. 15 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 16 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 17 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 18 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will 19 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 20 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 21 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense 22 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 23 24 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 26 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 27 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 1 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 2 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 3 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 4 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 5 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 6 7 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 8 PROTECTED MATERIAL 9 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 10 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 11 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 12 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 13 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 14 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 15 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 16 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 17 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 18 protective order submitted to the court. 19 20 12. MISCELLANEOUS 21 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 22 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 23 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 24 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 25 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 26 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 27 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 1 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 2 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 3 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 4 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 5 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 6 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 7 8 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 9 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 10 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 11 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 12 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 13 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 14 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 15 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 16 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 17 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 18 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 19 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 20 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 21 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 22 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 23 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 24 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 25 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 26 Section 4 (DURATION). 27 1 || 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 2 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 3 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 4 5 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 6 7 || DATED: August 12, 2019 /s/Robert Rees Robert Rees 8 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 9 10 DATED: August 12, 2019 /s/ Scott Sveslosky 11 Scott Sveslosky Attorneys for Defendants 13 14 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 15 □□ 17 || DATED: August 16, 2019 HON. MICHAEL R. WILNER 18 United States Magistrate Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 SMRH:4833-4119-6959.2 -16- EXHIBIT A 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of Chunma 8 USA, Inc. et. al. v. West American Insurance Corp. et al., Case No. 2:19-cv-03521 9 MRW. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 10 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 11 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 12 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject 13 to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance 14 with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 19 name] of _______________________________________ [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 signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 Signature: __________________________________