Aldredge v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ( 2021 )

1 McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP 2 Dana B. Denno, #227971 dana.denno@mccormickbarstow.com 3 7647 North Fresno Street Fresno, California 93720 4 Telephone: (559) 433-1300 Facsimile: (559) 433-2300 5 Attorneys for State Farm Mutual Automobile 6 Insurance Company 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, SACRAMENTO DIVISION 10 11 THOMAS D. ALDREDGE, Case No. 2:19-CV-01140-JAM-KJN 12 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 13 v. 14 STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE 15 INSURANCE COMPANY, 16 Defendant. 17 18 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 19 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of 20 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 21 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, 22 the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective 23 Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures 24 or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 25 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the 26 applicable legal principles. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 27 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it 1 has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not 2 be part of the public record of this case. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 3 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 4 information under seal; Eastern District Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be 5 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 6 material under seal. 7 2. DEFINITIONS 8 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 9 information or items under this Order. 10 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 11 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of 12 Civil Procedure 26(c) and that the Designating Party reasonably and in good faith believes have 13 been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be 14 part of the public record of this case. 15 In this action, Confidential Information or Items are likely to include information that is 16 “Trade secret,” as set forth in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, and research, development, or 17 commercial information that is of a competitively sensitive nature and that a reasonably prudent 18 business person in the applicable field would not release to or share with the public in the ordinary 19 course of business, and the release of which would likely cause proprietary, competitive, or 20 economic harm. This material and information includes, among other things, certain information in 21 State Farm’s claims adjusting manuals, underwriting manuals, procedural manuals, guidelines for 22 investigating and adjusting first party property claims, bulletins and other documents concerning 23 the handling of claims pursuant to the California Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations. 24 Umpqua Bank v. First Am. Title Ins. Co., No. CIV S-09-3208 WBS EF, 2011 WL 997212, at *8 25 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 17, 2011)(directing parties to submit proposed stipulated protective order based on 26 insurer’s assertion of claims manual as confidential and privileged); GBTI, Inc. v. Ins. Co. of State 27 of Pa., 2010 WL 2942631, at *4 (E.D. Cal. July 23, 2010)(underwriting and claims manuals to be 1 insurer “has a legitimate interest in protecting its trade secrets and other confidential proprietary 2 information.”); McCurdy v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 2007 WL 915177, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 23, 3 2007)(claims and procedural manuals, guidelines, bulletins, and memoranda to be produced in 4 accordance with the terms of a stipulated protective order.); Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ryan, 2013 5 WL 6001931, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 12, 2013)(ordering production of claims adjusting manual, 6 underwriting manual and investigations manual pursuant to a stipulated protective order.). 7 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well 8 as their support staff). 9 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 10 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 11 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium 12 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 13 transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to 14 discovery in this matter. 15 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to 16 the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a 17 consultant in this action. 18 2.7 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. House 19 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 20 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 21 entity not named as a Party to this action. 22 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this action 23 but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action on 24 behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party. 25 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 26 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 27 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 1 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services 2 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, 3 storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 4 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 5 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 6 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 7 Producing Party. 8 3. SCOPE 9 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 10 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all 11 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 12 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 13 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following 14 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving 15 Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of 16 publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record 17 through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the 18 disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the 19 information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use 20 of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 21 4. DURATION 22 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 23 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order 24 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and 25 defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion 26 and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the 27 time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 3 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to 4 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 5 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or 6 oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents, 7 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 8 the ambit of this Order. 9 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown 10 to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily 11 encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens 12 on other parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 13 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 14 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties 15 that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 16 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order 17 (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, 18 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 19 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 20 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 21 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but excluding 22 transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix the 23 legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or 24 portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 25 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 26 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection 27 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material 1 material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting 2 Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 3 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 4 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” 5 legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on 6 a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 7 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 8 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that the 9 Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other 10 proceeding, all protected testimony. When, at deposition, it is impractical to identify separately 11 each portion of testimony that is entitled to protection, and when it appears that substantial portions 12 of the testimony may qualify for protection, the Producing Party may invoke on the record (before 13 the deposition or proceeding is concluded) a right to have up to ten (10) days from receipt of an 14 unofficial transcript to identify the specific portions of the testimony as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Only 15 those portions of the testimony that are appropriately designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” for 16 protection within the 10 days shall be covered by the provisions of this Stipulation and Protective 17 Order. Transcript pages containing Protected Material must be separately bound by the court 18 reporter, who must affix to each such page the legend “CONFIDENTIAL”, as instructed by the 19 Producing Party. 20 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other 21 tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container 22 or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a 23 portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent 24 practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 25 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 26 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 27 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 1 in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 2 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 3 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 4 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality 5 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 6 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to 7 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 8 original designation is disclosed. 9 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 10 by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each 11 challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written notice must 12 recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph 13 of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must 14 begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication 15 are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging 16 Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper and 17 must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the 18 circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen 19 designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it 20 has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that the Designating Party is 21 unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely manner. 22 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 23 intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under Civil 24 Local Rule 230 (and in compliance with Civil Local Rule 141 and 141.1, if applicable) within 14 25 days of the parties agreeing that the meet and confer process will not resolve their dispute. Each 26 such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has 27 complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by the 1 impasse on the meet and confer shall automatically waive the confidentiality designation for each 2 challenged designation. In addition, the Challenging Party may file a motion challenging a 3 confidentiality designation at any time if there is good cause for doing so, including a challenge to 4 the designation of a deposition transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to 5 this provision must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has 6 complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed by the preceding paragraph. 7 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 8 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose 9 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. 10 Unless the Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion 11 to retain confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material in 12 question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until 13 the court rules on the challenge. 14 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 16 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 17 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to 18 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has 19 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 20 DISPOSITION). 21 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in 22 a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 23 7.2 Final Disposition. Nothing in this Protective Order disallows State Farm's from: 24 (a) complying with any state or federal law or regulation, including reporting of 25 information to a regulator or government entity as permitted and/or required by applicable state and 26 federal law; 27 (b) adding information discovered that is relevant to a claim to the relevant electronic 1 (c) disclosing evidence of a crime or fraud; retaining information necessary to meet 2 mandated retention requirements; or, 3 (d) retaining copies of Protected Information that may exists on back-up media or 4 other computer or archive storage not regularly accessed by business users in the ordinary course 5 Provided that should a copy of the Confidential Information be accessed it will not be used 6 for a purpose inconsistent with this Order. 7 7.3 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered 8 by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 9 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 10 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as employees of 11 said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for 12 this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is 13 attached hereto as Exhibit A; 14 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party 15 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the 16 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is 18 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement 19 to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 20 (d) the court and its personnel; 21 (e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 22 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have 23 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably 25 necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), 26 unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 27 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be separately 1 Stipulated Protective Order. 2 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other 3 person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 4 (h) law enforcement officers, and/or other government agencies, as permitted or required 5 by applicable state and federal law. 6 (i) a jury involved in litigation concerning the claims and any defenses to any claims in this 7 lawsuit. 8 (j) anyone as otherwise required by law. 9 (k) as authorized by the Parties’ specifically. 10 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 11 OTHER LITIGATION 12 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 13 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party 14 must: 15 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy 16 of the subpoena or court order; 17 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the 18 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this 19 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 21 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 22 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena 23 or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” 24 before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has 25 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and 26 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these 27 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to 1 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 2 IN THIS LITIGATION 3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this 4 action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in 5 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. 6 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 7 protections. 8 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non- 9 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the 10 Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 11 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of 12 the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 13 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in this 14 litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information 15 requested; and 16 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party. 17 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within 14 days 18 of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non- 19 Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks 20 a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control 21 that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the 22 court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of 23 seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 24 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 26 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, 27 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 1 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this 2 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to 3 Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 5 PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 7 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 8 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision 9 is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that 10 provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) 11 and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 12 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may 13 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 14 12. MISCELLANEOUS 15 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek 16 its modification by the court in the future. 17 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order 18 no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 19 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 20 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by 21 this Protective Order. 22 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the Designating Party or 23 a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in the 24 public record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected 25 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141 and 141.1. Protected Material may only be filed 26 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at 27 issue. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141, a sealing order will issue only upon the showing required 1 Civil Local Rule 141 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in 2 the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 3 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 4 Subject to paragraph 7.2 above, within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as 5 defined in paragraph 4, the Plaintiff must return all Protected Material to the State Farm Mutual 6 Automobile Insurance Company or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected 7 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing 8 or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, 9 the Plaintiff must submit a written certification to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance 10 Company by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the 11 Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Plaintiff has not retained 12 any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of 13 the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival 14 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 15 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant 16 and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 17 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set 18 forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 19 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 20 21 22 Dated: June 17, 2021 GAVRILOV & BROOKS 23 24 By: /s/_Ognian Gavrilov _________ Ognian Gavrilov 25 Attorneys for Thomas D. Aldredge 26 27 1 || Dated: June 17, 2021 McCORMICK, BARSTOW, SHEPPARD, 5 WAYTE & CARRUTH LLP 4 By: /s/ Dana B. Denno (as authorized on June 17, 2021 Dana B. Denno 5 Attorneys for State Farm Mutual Automobile 6 Insurance Company 7 ORDER 8 The court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order, and finds it comports with 9 || the relevant authorities and the court’s applicable local rule. See L.R. 141.1(c);! see also Phillips 10 || ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210 (9th Cir. 2002) (requiring a 11 || showing of good cause for protective orders). Therefore, the court APPROVES the protective 12 || order, subject to the following clarification. 13 The court’s Local Rules indicate that once this action is closed, “unless otherwise ordered, 14 || the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in 15 || that action.” L.R. 141.1(f); see also, e.g., MD Helicopters, Inc. v. Aerometals, Inc., 2017 WL 16 || 495778 (E.D. Cal., Feb. 03, 2017) (noting courts in the district generally do not agree to retain 17 jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Based on this 18 || rationale, the court will not retain Jurisdiction over disputes arising from this protective order once 19 || the case is closed. 20 || Dated: June 21, 2021 21 Ke Al Noreen 22 Y EENDALLJ.NE 23 |} aldr.1140 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 24 ||] AAA ' The court’s Local Rules instruct the parties, when requesting court approval of a protective order, to include: 25 (1) A description of the types of information eligible for protection under the order, with the description provided in general terms sufficient to reveal the nature of the information (e.g., 26 customer list, formula for soda, diary of a troubled child); (2) A showing of particularized need for protection as to each category of information proposed to 27 be covered by the order; and (3) A showing as to why the need for protection should be addressed by a court order, as opposed 98 to a private agreement between or among the parties. Local Rule 141.1(c). BARSTOW, WAYTE & «aa 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 __________________________________________________ [print or type full address], declare 5 under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective 6 Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California on 7 ____________[date] in the case of Thomas D. Aldredge v. State Farm Mutual Automobile 8 Insurance Company, Case No. 2:19-CV-01140-JAM-KJN . I agree to comply with and to be bound 9 by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to 10 so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 11 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 12 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions 13 of this Order. I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 14 Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 15 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 16 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 17 _____________________________________________________________ [print or type full 18 address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this 19 action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 20 Date: ______________________________________ 21 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 22 23 Printed name: _______________________________ 24 25 Signature: __________________________________ 26 27