County of Sacramento v. Everest National Ins. Co. ( 2020 )

1 JAMES R. TENERO (SBN 201023) MATTHEW K. TELFORD (SBN 310125) 2 SELMAN BREITMAN LLP 33 New Montgomery, Sixth Floor 3 San Francisco, CA 94105-4537 Telephone : 415.979.0400 4 Facsimile : 415.979.2099 Email : jtenero@selmanlaw.com 5 mtelford@selmanlaw.com 6 SHERYL W. LEICHENGER (SBN 161688) SELMAN BREITMAN LLP 7 11766 Wilshire Boulevard, Sixth Floor Los Angeles, CA 90025-6538 8 Telephone : 310.445.0822 Facsimile : 310.473.2525 9 Email : sleichenger@selmanlaw.com 10 Attorneys for Defendant EVEREST NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY 11 CRAIG E. FARMER (SBN 61086)) 12 DAWN D. CURTIS (SBN 227076) FARMER CURTIS, LLP 13 3620 American River Drive, Suite 218 Sacramento, CA 95864 14 Telephone : 916-679-6565 Facsimile : 916-679-6575 15 Email : cfarmer@farmercurtislaw.com dcurtis@farmercurtislaw.com 16 Attorneys for Plaintiff 17 COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO 18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 19 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 20 21 COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, No. 2:19-cv-00263 MCE DB 22 Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE ORDER 23 v. 24 EVEREST NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY, 25 Defendants. 26 27 1 In the interest of ensuring an efficient and prompt resolution of this action and of 2 protecting confidential information from improper disclosure, the undersigned hereby stipulate, 3 subject to approval and entry by the Court, to the following Protective Order issued pursuant to 4 Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c): 5 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 6 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of 7 privileged, confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from 8 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation would be 9 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 10 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer 11 blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 12 extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled under the applicable legal 13 principles to treatment as confidential. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14 11, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order creates no entitlement to file confidential 15 information under seal; Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 16 reflects the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file 17 material under seal. 18 2. DEFINITIONS 19 As used herein: 20 a. "Party" shall mean any party to this action, including all of its officers, 21 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and outside counsel 22 (and their support staff). 23 b. "This action" means the above-captioned action pending in this Court, 24 including any related discovery, pretrial, trial, post-trial, or appellate 25 proceedings. 26 c. "Disclosure" or "Discovery Material" shall mean any and all items or 27 information, regardless of the medium or manner generated, stored, or 1 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, or 2 tangible things) that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses 3 to discovery in this matter. 4 d. “Confidential Information" or "Confidential Items" shall mean 5 information (regardless of how generated, stored or maintained) or 6 tangible things that qualify for protection under standards developed 7 under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Section 26(c) and Federal Rule of 8 Evidence Section 502. 9 e. "Receiving Party" shall mean a party that receives disclosure or disclosure 10 material from the Producing Party. 11 f. "Producing Party" shall mean a Party, or a subpoenaed third party, that 12 designates information or items that it produces in discovery disclosures 13 or in response to subpoenas for documents in the above-entitled action. 14 g. "Protected Material" shall mean any Disclosure or Discovery Material 15 that is designated as “Confidential" and/or “Confidential/Privileged.” 16 h. "Outside Counsel" shall mean attorneys who are not employees of a Party 17 but who are retained to represent or advise either the County of 18 Sacramento or Everest National Insurance Company as well as their 19 support staffs. 20 i. "House Counsel" shall mean attorneys who are employees of either the 21 County of Sacramento or Everest National Insurance Company as well as 22 their support staffs. 23 j. "Expert" shall mean a person with specialized knowledge or experience 24 in a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by the County 25 of Sacramento or Everest National Insurance Company or its counsel to 26 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this action and who is not 27 a past or a current employee of the County of Sacramento or Everest 1 National Insurance Company or a competitor of the County of 2 Sacramento or Everest National Insurance Company and who, at the time 3 of retention, is not anticipated to become an employee of the County of 4 Sacramento or Everest National Insurance Company nor a competitor of 5 the County of Sacramento or Everest National Insurance Company. This 6 definition includes a professional jury or trial consultant retained in 7 connection with this litigation. 8 k. "Professional Vendors" shall mean persons or entities that provide 9 litigation support services (e.g., photocopying; videotaping; translating; 10 preparing exhibits or demonstrations; organizing, storing, retrieving data 11 in any form or medium; etc.) and their employees and subcontractors. 12 3. SCOPE 13 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 14 (as defined above), but also any information copied or extracted therefrom, as well as all copies, 15 excerpts, summaries, or compilations thereof, plus testimony, conversations, or presentations by 16 County of Sacramento or Everest National Insurance Company or its counsel to or in court or in 17 other settings that might reveal Protected Material. 18 4. DURATION 19 Even after the termination of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by 20 this Order shall remain in effect until the Producing Party agrees otherwise in writing or a Court 21 order otherwise directs. 22 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 a. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. The 24 Producing Party will designate information or items for protection under 25 this Order and will limit any such designation to specific material that 26 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Producing Party will 27 designate, for protection only, those parts of material, documents, items, 1 or oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of 2 the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection 3 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 4 b. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 5 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified, or that have been 6 made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber or retard 7 the case development process, or to impose unnecessary expenses and 8 burdens on other parties), expose the Producing Party to sanctions. 9 c. If it comes to the Producing Party's attention that information or items that 10 it designated for protection do not qualify for protection at all, or do not 11 qualify for the level of protection initially asserted, the Producing Party 12 must promptly notify the Receiving Parties that it is withdrawing the 13 mistaken designation. 14 d. Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 15 this Order or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, material that qualify for 16 protection under this Order must be clearly designated before the material 17 is disclosed, copied and produced. The Producing Party must determine 18 which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 19 Order. Before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party 20 must affix "CONFIDENTIAL" and/or 21 “CONFIDENTIAL/PRIVILEGED” on each page that contains Protected 22 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies 23 for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 24 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must 25 specify, for each portion, the level of protection being asserted 26 "CONFIDENTIAL" and/or “CONFIDENTIAL/PRIVILEGED.” 27 e. For information produced in some form other than documentary, and for 1 any other tangible items, the Producing Party must affix in a prominent 2 place on the exterior of the container or containers, in which the 3 information or item is stored the term "CONFIDENTIAL" and/or 4 “CONFIDENTIAL/PRIVILEGED.” If only portions of the information 5 or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 6 shall identify the protected portions, specifying whether they qualify as 7 “Confidential" and/or “CONFIDENTIAL/PRIVILEGED.” 8 f. Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 9 failure to designate qualified information or items as “Confidential” 10 and/or “CONFIDENTIAL/PRIVILEGED” does not, standing alone, 11 waive the Producing Party’s right to secure protection under this Order 12 for such material. If material is appropriately designated as 13 “Confidential” and/or “CONFIDENTIAL/PRIVILEGED” after the 14 material was initially produced, the Receiving Party, on timely 15 notification of the designation, must make reasonable efforts to assure that 16 the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 17 6. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 a. Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 19 disclosed or produced by the Disclosing Party in connection with this case 20 only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. 21 Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of 22 persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the 23 litigation has been terminated, the Receiving Party must comply with the 24 provisions of Section 12, below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 25 b. Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at 26 a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the 27 persons authorized under this Order. 1 7. DISCLOSURE OF “CONFIDENTIAL” INFORMATION OR ITEMS 2 a. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 3 Producing Party, the Receiving Party may only disclose any information 4 or item designated CONFIDENTIAL and/or 5 CONFIDENTIAL/PRIVILEGED to: 6 b. The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of record in this action, as well as 7 employees of said Counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose 8 the information for this; 9 c. The officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 10 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 11 litigation; 12 d. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 13 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed 14 the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” (Exhibit A); 15 e. The Court and its personnel; 16 f. Court reporters, their staffs, and professional vendors to whom the 17 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this; 18 g. During their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 19 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 20 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the 21 designating party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed deposition 22 testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must 23 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 24 anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order. 25 h. The author of the document or the original source of the information. 26 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 27 IN OTHER LITIGATION. 1 a. If a Receiving Party is served with a subpoena or an order issued in other 2 litigation that would compel disclosure of any information or items 3 designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” and/or 4 “CONFIDENTIAL/PRIVILEGED” the Receiving Party must so notify 5 the Designating Party, in writing (by fax, if possible) immediately and in 6 no event more than three court days after receiving the subpoena or order. 7 Such notification must include a copy of the subpoena or court order. 8 b. The Receiving Party also must immediately inform in writing the Party 9 who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some 10 or all the material covered by the subpoena or order is the subject of this 11 Protective Order. In addition, the Receiving Party must deliver a copy of 12 this Stipulated Protective Order promptly to the Party in the other action 13 that caused the subpoena or order to issue. 14 c. The purpose of imposing these duties is to alert the interested parties to 15 the existence of this Protective Order and to afford the Producing Party in 16 this case an opportunity to try to protect its confidentiality interests in the 17 court from which the subpoena or order issued. The Producing Party shall 18 bear the burdens and the expenses of seeking protection in that court of 19 its confidential material – and nothing in these provisions should be 20 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action 21 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 22 9. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 a. If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 24 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not 25 authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party 26 must immediately: 27 1. Notify in writing the Producing Party of the unauthorized 1 disclosures; 2 2. Use its best efforts to retrieve all copies of the Protected Material 3 3. Inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures 4 were made of all the terms of this Order; and 5 4. Request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment 6 and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 7 10. FILING PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 a. For Protected Materials that will be included in public records, the parties 9 will meet and confer in good faith regarding the use of the protected 10 documents. Additionally, the parties may stipulate to use of confidential 11 and/or privileged materials in public records, so long as the materials are 12 under seal. Should agreement not be reached, the Parties may avail 13 themselves of the process and procedure set forth in Local Rule 141. 14 11. FINAL DISPOSITION. 15 a. Unless otherwise ordered or agreed in writing by the Producing Party, 16 within sixty days after the final termination of this action, each Receiving 17 Party must destroy all copies of Protected Material made available by the 18 Producing Party. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” 19 includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other form 20 of reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. The Receiving 21 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party by the 22 sixty day deadline that identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the 23 Protected Material that was destroyed and that affirms that the Receiving 24 Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or 25 other forms of reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 26 12. MISCELLANEOUS 27 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 1 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 2 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 3 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to 4 object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground 5 not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party 6 waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the 7 material covered by this Protective Order. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 2 DATED: 02/13/2020 SELMAN BREITMAN LLP 3 4 /s/James R. Tenero 5 JAMES R. TENERO Attorney for Defendant 6 EVEREST NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY 7 DATED: 02/12/2020 FARMER CURTIS, LLP 8 /s/Craig E. Farmer 9 CRAIG E. FARMER 10 Attorneys for Plaintiff COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO 11 12 ORDER 13 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT: 15 1. Requests to seal documents shall be made by motion before the same judge who will 16 decide the matter related to that request to seal. 17 2. The designation of documents (including transcripts of testimony) as confidential 18 pursuant to this order does not automatically entitle the parties to file such a document with the 19 court under seal. Parties are advised that any request to seal documents in this district is 20 governed by Local Rule 141. In brief, Local Rule 141 provides that documents may only be 21 sealed by a written order of the court after a specific request to seal has been made. L.R. 141(a). 22 However, a mere request to seal is not enough under the local rules. In particular, Local Rule 23 141(b) requires that “[t]he ‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory or other 24 authority for sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be 25 permitted access to the document, and all relevant information.” L.R. 141(b). 26 3. A request to seal material must normally meet the high threshold of showing that 27 “compelling reasons” support secrecy; however, where the material is, at most, “tangentially 1 related” to the merits of a case, the request to seal may be granted on a showing of “good cause.” 2 Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096-1102 (9th Cir. 2016); 3 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-80 (9th Cir. 2006). 4 4. Nothing in this order shall limit the testimony of parties or non-parties, or the use of 5 certain documents, at any court hearing or trial – such determinations will only be made by the 6 court at the hearing or trial, or upon an appropriate motion. 7 5. With respect to motions regarding any disputes concerning this protective order which 8 the parties cannot informally resolve, the parties shall follow the procedures outlined in Local 9 Rule 251. Absent a showing of good cause, the court will not hear discovery disputes on an ex 10 parte basis or on shortened time. 11 6. The parties may not modify the terms of this Protective Order without the court’s 12 approval. If the parties agree to a potential modification, they shall submit a stipulation and 13 proposed order for the court’s consideration. 14 7. Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(f), the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement 15 of the terms of this Protective Order after the action is terminated. 16 8. Any provision in the parties’ stipulation that is in conflict with anything in this order is 17 hereby DISAPPROVED. 18 DATED: February 24, 2020 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I hereby certify my understanding that Confidential Information is being provided to me 4 pursuant to the terms and restrictions of the Stipulation and Protective Order Re: Confidential 5 Information filed on February 13, 2020, in County of Sacramento v. Everest National Insurance 6 Company, United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. . 2:19-cv- 7 00263 MCE DB and have been given a copy of that Order and read it. 8 I agree to be bound by the Order. I will not reveal the Confidential Information to 9 anyone, except as allowed by the Order. I will maintain all such Confidential Information, 10 including copies, notes, or other transcriptions made therefrom, in a secure manner to prevent 11 unauthorized access to it. No later than thirty (30) days after the conclusion of this action, I will 12 return the Confidential Information, including copies, notes, or other transcription made 13 therefrom, to the counsel who provided me with the Confidential Information. I hereby consent 14 to the jurisdiction of the Arbitrator for the purpose of enforcing the Order. 15 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct and that this 16 certificate is executed this ___ day of ____________________, 2020, at 17 ___________________, California. 18 By: __________________________ 19 Address:_______________________ 20 Phone: ________________________ 21 22 23 24 25 26 27