Barnhart v. California Physicians' Service ( 2022 )

1 John D. Winer, Esq., SBN: 091078 Matthew Vandall, Esq., SBN: 196962 2 Michael S. Reeder, Esq., SBN: 282193 WINER, BURRITT & SCOTT, LLP 3 1901 Harrison Street, Suite 1100 Oakland, California 94612 4 Email: matthew@wmlawyers.com michael@wmlawyers.com 5 Tel: (510) 433-1000 Fax: (510) 433-1001 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff 7 TORI BARNHART 8 9 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 TORI BARNHART, an individual; No. 2:21-cv-1384 KJM DB 13 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER FOR 14 STANDARD LITIGATION AND ORDER v. 15 CALIFORNIA PHYSICIANS’ SERVICE 16 d/b/a BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA; and DOES 1-25, inclusive, 17 Defendants. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of 3 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 5 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated 6 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on 7 all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure 8 and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 9 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 10 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 11 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 141.5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 12 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 13 material under seal. 14 2. DEFINITIONS 15 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 16 information or items under this Order. 17 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 18 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule 19 of Civil Procedure 26(c), including, but not limited to: as (1) trade secrets or other proprietary 20 information of the Parties; (2) documents from personnel files; (3) medical or financial records; 21 (4) marketing, financial, and business plans of a Party this is not otherwise publicly available. 22 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as 23 well as their support staff). 24 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that 25 it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 26 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 27 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, 28 testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or 1 responses to discovery in this matter. 2 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to 3 the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a 4 consultant in this action. 5 2.7 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information or 6 Items: extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items,” disclosure of which to another 7 Party or Non-Party would create a substantial risk of serious harm that could not be avoided by 8 less restrictive means. 9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action (and their support 10 staffs). House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 11 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 12 entity not named as a Party to this action. 13 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this 14 action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action 15 on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, 16 (and their support staffs). 17 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 18 consultants, retained experts, House Counsel (and their support staffs), and Outside Counsel of 19 Record (and their support staffs). 20 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 21 Material in this action. 22 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services 23 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and 24 organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and 25 subcontractors. 26 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 28 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 1 Producing Party. 2 3. SCOPE 3 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 4 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) 5 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 6 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 7 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following 8 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a 9 Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as 10 a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the 11 public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party 12 prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who 13 obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating 14 Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 15 4. DURATION 16 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by 17 this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court 18 order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all 19 claims and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after 20 the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, 21 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to 22 applicable law. 23 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party 25 or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care 26 to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. 27 The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, 28 items, or oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, 1 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 2 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 3 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 4 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 5 unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary 6 expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 7 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated 8 for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other 9 Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 10 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order 11 (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, 12 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 13 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 14 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 15 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 16 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing 17 Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” OR “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 18 EYES ONLY” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the 19 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 20 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 21 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection 22 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 23 material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all 24 of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 25 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 26 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 27 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 28 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 1 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” legend to each page that contains Protected 2 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 3 Producing 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 deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that the 6 Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other 7 proceeding, all protected testimony. When it is impractical to identify separately each portion of 8 testimony that is entitled to protection and it appears that substantial portions of the testimony 9 may qualify for protection, the Designating Party may invoke on the record (before the 10 deposition, hearing, or other proceeding is concluded) a right to have up to 21 days to identify the 11 specific portions of the testimony as to which protection is sought. Alternatively, a Designating 12 Party may specify, at the deposition or up to 21 days afterwards, that the entire transcript shall be 13 treated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 14 Parties shall give the other parties notice if they reasonably expect a deposition, hearing or 15 other proceeding to include Protected Material so that the other parties can ensure that only 16 authorized individuals who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 17 (Exhibit A) are present at those proceedings. The use of a document as an exhibit at a deposition 18 shall not in any way affect its designation as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 19 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 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” or 23 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of 24 the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall 25 identify the protected portion(s). 26 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 27 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 28 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 1 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is 2 treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 3 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 4 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 5 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality 6 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 7 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to 8 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 9 original designation is disclosed. 10 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution 11 process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis 12 for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written 13 notice must recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this 14 specific paragraph of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in 15 good faith and must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice-to-voice dialogue; other 16 forms of communication are not sufficient) within 21 days of the date of service of notice. In 17 conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality 18 designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the 19 designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, 20 to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next 21 stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or 22 establishes that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in 23 a timely manner. 24 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 25 intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality within 21 26 days of the initial notice of challenge or within 14 days of the parties agreeing that the meet and 27 confer process will not resolve their dispute, whichever is later. Each such motion must be 28 accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet 1 and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by the Designating Party to 2 make such a motion including the required declaration within 21 days (or 14 days, if applicable) 3 shall automatically waive the confidentiality designation for each challenged designation. In 4 addition, the Challenging Party may file a motion challenging a confidentiality designation at any 5 time if there is good cause for doing so, including a challenge to the designation of a deposition 6 transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to this provision must be 7 accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet 8 and confer requirements imposed by the preceding paragraph. 9 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 10 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose 11 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to 12 sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing to 13 file a motion to retain confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the 14 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s 15 designation until the court rules on the challenge. 16 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 18 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 19 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to 20 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has 21 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 22 DISPOSITION). 23 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and 24 in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 25 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered 26 by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 27 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 28 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as employees 1 of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information 2 for this litigation; 3 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving 4 Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation; 5 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is 6 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 7 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 8 (d) the court and its personnel; 9 (e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 10 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have 11 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably 13 necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), 14 unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 15 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be separately 16 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this 17 Stipulated Protective Order. 18 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or 19 other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.7.2 Disclosure of “HIGHLY 20 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 21 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may 22 disclose any information or item designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 23 EYES” only to House Counsel or Counsel of Record. 24 25 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 26 OTHER LITIGATION 27 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 28 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or 1 “HIGHLY CONFIDENITAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” that Party must: 2 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a 3 copy of the subpoena or court order; 4 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the 5 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this 6 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 7 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 8 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 9 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 10 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as 11 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” before a 12 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained 13 the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of 14 seeking protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these provisions 15 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a 16 lawful directive from another court. 17 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 18 IN THIS LITIGATION 19 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this 20 action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 21 EYES ONLY.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is 22 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should 23 be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 24 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non- 25 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with 26 the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 27 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of 28 the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in this 2 litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the 3 information requested; and 4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party. 5 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within 14 6 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the 7 Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely 8 seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession 9 or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 10 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the 11 burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 12 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 14 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective 15 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the 16 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 17 Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were 18 made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 19 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 20 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 21 PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 23 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 24 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This 25 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery 26 order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of 27 Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 28 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product 1 protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order 2 submitted to the court. 3 12. MISCELLANEOUS 4 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to 5 seek its modification by the court in the future. 6 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective 7 Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 8 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 9 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 10 by this Protective Order. 11 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the Designating Party 12 or a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in 13 the public record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 14 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141.1. Protected Material may only be 15 filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material 16 at issue. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141.1, a sealing order will issue only upon a request 17 establishing that the Protected Material at issue is privileged, protectable as a trade secret, or 18 otherwise entitled to protection under the law. If a Receiving Party's request to file Protected 19 Material under seal pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141.1 is denied by the court, then the Receiving 20 Party may file the information in the public record pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141.1 unless 21 otherwise instructed by the court. 22 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 23 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, each 24 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such 25 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 26 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 27 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must 28 submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 1 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all 2 the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has 3 not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 4 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 5 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 6 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work 7 product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 8 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to 9 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 10 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 11 12 DATED: January 11, 2022 WINER, BURRITT & SCOTT, LLP 13 /s/ Matthew P. Vandall 14 _________________________________ Matthew P. Vandall 15 Attorneys for Plaintiff TORI BARNHART 16 17 DATED: January 10, 2022 MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP 18 /s/ Sharon Bauman 19 _________________________________ 20 Sharon Bauman Attorneys for Defendant 21 CALIFORNIA PHYSICIANS’ SERVICE DBA BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT: 4 1. Requests to seal documents shall be made by motion before the same judge who will 5 decide the matter related to that request to seal. 6 2. The designation of documents (including transcripts of testimony) as confidential 7 pursuant to this order does not automatically entitle the parties to file such a document with the 8 court under seal. Parties are advised that any request to seal documents in this district is governed 9 by Local Rule 141. In brief, Local Rule 141 provides that documents may only be sealed by a 10 written order of the court after a specific request to seal has been made. L.R. 141(a). However, a 11 mere request to seal is not enough under the local rules. In particular, Local Rule 141(b) requires 12 that “[t]he ‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory or other authority for sealing, 13 the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be permitted access to the 14 document, and all relevant information.” L.R. 141(b). 15 3. A request to seal material must normally meet the high threshold of showing that 16 “compelling reasons” support secrecy; however, where the material is, at most, “tangentially 17 related” to the merits of a case, the request to seal may be granted on a showing of “good cause.” 18 Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096-1102 (9th Cir. 2016); 19 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-80 (9th Cir. 2006). 20 4. Nothing in this order shall limit the testimony of parties or non-parties, or the use of 21 certain documents, at any court hearing or trial – such determinations will only be made by the 22 court at the hearing or trial, or upon an appropriate motion. 23 5. With respect to motions regarding any disputes concerning this protective order which 24 the parties cannot informally resolve, the parties shall follow the procedures outlined in Local 25 Rule 251. Absent a showing of good cause, the court will not hear discovery disputes on an ex 26 parte basis or on shortened time. 27 6. The parties may not modify the terms of this Protective Order without the court’s 28 approval. If the parties agree to a potential modification, they shall submit a stipulation and 1 proposed order for the court’s consideration. 2 7. Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(f), the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement 3 of the terms of this Protective Order after the action is terminated. 4 8. Any provision in the parties’ stipulation that is in conflict with anything in this order is 5 hereby DISAPPROVED. 6 DATED: January 14, 2022 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 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 under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 5 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for 6 the Eastern District of California on _________ [date] in the case of TORI BARNHART v. 7 CALIFORNIA PHYSICIANS’ SERVICE d/b/a BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA, et al., Case 8 No. 2:21-cv-01384-KJM-DB. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 9 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 10 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will 11 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective 12 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 14 Northern 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 address and telephone 18 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any 19 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 20 Date: ______________________________________ City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 21 22 Printed name: _______________________________ 23 Signature: __________________________________ 24 25 26 27 28