Doriann Slattery v. Athena Cosmetics Inc. ( 2024 )

1 pjf@farneselaw.com HAMPTON LLP 2 FARNESE P.C. A Limited Liability Partnership 700 Flower St., Suite 1000 Los Including Professional Corporations 3 Angeles, CA 90017 SASCHA HENRY, Cal Bar No. 191914 4 (310) 356-4668 shenry@sheppardmullin.com KHIRIN A. BUNKER, Cal Bar No. 329314 5 Ruben Honik (pro hac vice) kbunker@sheppardmullin.com 6 ruben@honiklaw.com 333 South Hope Street, 43rd Floor David J. Stanoch (pro hac vice) Los Angeles, California 90071-1422 7 david@honiklaw.com Telephone: 213.620.1780 8 HONIK LLC Facsimile: 213.620.1398 9 1515 Market St., Suite 1100 Philadelphia, PA 19102 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & 10 (267) 435-1300 HAMPTON LLP 11 A Limited Liability Partnership Counsel for Plaintiff and the Including Professional Corporations 12 Proposed Classes ROBERT J. GUITE, Cal. Bar No. 244590 13 rguite@sheppardmullin.com Four Embarcadero Center, 17th Floor 14 San Francisco, California 94111-4109 15 Telephone: 415.434.9100 Facsimile: 415.434.3947 16 17 Attorneys for Athena Cosmetics, Inc. 18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 19 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 20 WESTERN DIVISION 21 22 DORIANN SLATTERY, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, 23 24 Plaintiff, Case No. 2:23-cv-10078-HDV-AJR 25 v. [PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 26 ATHENA COSMETICS, INC., 27 28 Defendant. 1 1. GENERAL 2 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve 3 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special 4 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting 5 this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and 6 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties 7 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or 8 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 9 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 10 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as 11 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle 12 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 13 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 14 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 15 1.2 Good Cause Statement. This action is likely to involve trade secrets and 16 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 17 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 18 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 19 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, 20 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential 21 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial 22 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), 23 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged 24 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case 25 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to 26 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, 27 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 28 1 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 2 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 3 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 4 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 5 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 6 EYES ONLY” for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 7 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there 8 is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 9 2. DEFINITIONS 10 2.1 Action: the instant litigation entitled Doriann Slattery v. Athena 11 Cosmetics, Inc. pending in the District Court for the Central District of California, 12 Case No. 2:23-cv-10078-HDV-AJR. 13 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 14 of information or items under this Order. 15 2.3.1 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 16 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 17 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 18 Cause Statement. 19 2.3.2 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 20 Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is generated, stored or 21 maintained) or tangible things that the Designating Party deems especially sensitive 22 or trade secret material which falls within one or more of the following categories: (a) 23 confidential research and product information; (b) financial information; (c) 24 marketing materials, analytics, and metrics; (d) product formulations and/or 25 manufacturing information; or (e) medical information concerning any individual. 26 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 27 support staff). 28 1 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 2 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 3 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 4 ONLY” 5 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 6 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 7 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 8 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 9 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 10 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 11 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 12 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 13 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 14 counsel. 15 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 16 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 17 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 18 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 19 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 20 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff. 21 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 22 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 23 support staffs). 24 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 25 Discovery Material in this Action. 26 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 27 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 28 1 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 2 and their employees and subcontractors. 3 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 4 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 5 EYES ONLY.” 6 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 7 from a Producing Party. 8 3. SCOPE 9 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 10 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 11 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 12 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 13 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 14 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 15 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 16 4. DURATION 17 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced 18 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this 19 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members 20 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific 21 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the 22 trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 23 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 24 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 25 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend 26 beyond the commencement of the trial for any court-filed information that is 27 introduced. 28 1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 3 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 4 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 5 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 6 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that 7 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications 8 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 9 this Order. 10 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 11 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 12 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 13 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 14 to sanctions. 15 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 16 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 17 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 18 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 19 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 20 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 21 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 22 produced. 23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 25 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 26 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 28 ONLY” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains 1 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for 2 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 3 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 4 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 5 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 6 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 7 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 8 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 9 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 10 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 11 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 12 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions 13 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 14 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 15 margins). 16 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 17 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition. 18 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 19 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 20 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 21 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 22 ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the 23 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 24 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 25 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 26 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 27 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 28 1 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 2 Order. 3 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 4 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 5 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 6 Scheduling Order. 7 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 8 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly 9 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3. 10 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 11 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 12 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 13 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 14 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 15 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled 16 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 17 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 19 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 20 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 21 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 22 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 23 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 24 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 25 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 26 authorized under this Order. 27 7.2.1 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 28 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 1 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 2 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 3 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 4 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 5 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 6 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 7 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 8 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 9 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 11 (d) the Court and its personnel; 12 (e) court reporters and their staff; 13 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 14 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 15 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 16 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 17 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 18 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 19 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 20 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 21 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 22 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 23 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 24 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 25 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 26 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 27 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 28 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 1 7.2.2 Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 2 ONLY” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in 3 writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or 4 item designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only 5 to: 6 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 7 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 8 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 9 (b) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 10 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 11 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (c) the Court and its personnel; 13 (d) court reporters and their staff; 14 (e) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 15 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 16 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (f) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 18 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 19 (g) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 20 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary and: (1) the deposing party 21 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will 22 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 23 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 24 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed 25 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 26 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 27 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 28 1 (h) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 2 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 3 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 4 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 5 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 6 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 8 ONLY” that Party must: 9 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 10 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 11 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 12 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 13 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 14 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 16 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 17 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 18 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 19 as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 20 ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, 21 unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating 22 Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its 23 confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 24 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 25 directive from another court. 26 27 28 1 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 4 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 5 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Such information produced by 6 Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 7 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 8 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 10 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 11 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 12 information, then the Party shall: 13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 14 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 15 with a Non-Party; 16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 17 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 18 specific description of the information requested; and 19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 20 Party, if requested. 21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14 22 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 23 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 24 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce 25 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 26 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court 27 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 28 protection in this Court of its Protected Material. 1 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 3 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 4 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 5 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 6 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 7 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 8 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 9 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 10 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 11 PROTECTED MATERIAL 12 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 13 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 14 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 15 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 16 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 17 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 18 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 19 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 20 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 21 to the Court. 22 12. MISCELLANEOUS 23 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 24 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 25 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 26 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 27 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 28 1 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 2 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 3 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 4 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 5 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 6 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under 7 seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, 8 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 9 otherwise instructed by the Court. 10 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 11 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by 12 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the 13 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected 14 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other 15 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected 16 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 17 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 18 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 19 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms 20 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 21 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 22 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 23 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 24 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, 25 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 26 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 27 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 28 1 || 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER 2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 3 || measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 4 || sanctions. 5 6 || IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 7 8 DATED: August 14, 2024 9 19 || S/Peter J. Farnese_ Attorneys for Plaintiff(s) 11 12 13 || DATED: August 13, 2024 14 /s Sascha Henry 15 || Sascha Henry 16 || Attorneys for Athena Cosmetics, Inc. 17 18 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 20 || parEp:. 8/16/24 \e UL. 21 HON. ANJOEL RICHLIN 39 United States Magistrate Judge 23 24 25 26 27 28 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 8 case of ___________ [insert case name and number]. I agree to comply with and 9 to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 11 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 12 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 13 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 18 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28