Eide v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc. ( 2023 )

1 Jason S. Roberts, Esq. (SBN: 221978) RESNICK & LOUIS, P.C. 2 800 N. Haven Ave., Ste. 430 3 Ontario, CA 92618 Telephone/Facsimile: (909) 457-7402 4 Email: jsroberts@rlattorneys.com 5 Attorneys for Defendant 6 TRANS UNION, LLC 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 THOMAS EIDE, No. 2:22-cv-01820 KJM DB 13 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 14 vs. ORDER 15 EXPERIAN INFORMATION 16 SOLUTIONS, INC.; TRANS UNION, LLC; and EL DORADO COUNTY; 17 Defendants. 18 19 1. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 20 FOR GOOD CAUSE, IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Plaintiff 21 Thomas Eide (“Plaintiff”), Defendants Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (“Experian”), 22 Trans Union, LLC (“Trans Union”), and El Dorado County (“EDC”) by and through their 23 24 respective attorneys of record, as follows: 25 WHEREAS, documents and information have been and may be sought, produced 26 or exhibited by and among the parties to this action relating to trade secrets, confidential 27 research, development, technology or other proprietary information belonging to the 28 defendants, and/or personal income, credit and other confidential information of Plaintiff. 1 THEREFORE, an Order of this Court protecting such confidential information 2 shall be and hereby is made by this Court on the following terms. 3 2. PROTECTIVE ORDER 4 1. This Order shall govern the use, handling and disclosure of all documents, 5 testimony or information produced or given in this action which are designated to be 6 subject to this Order in accordance with the terms hereof. 7 2. Any party or non-party producing or filing documents or other materials in 8 this action (the “Producing Party”) may designate such materials and the information 9 contained therein subject to this Order by typing or stamping on the front of the document, 10 or on the portion(s) of the document for which confidential treatment is designated, 11 “Confidential.” 12 3. If a Producing Party believes in good faith that, despite the provisions of this 13 Protective Order, there is a substantial risk of identifiable harm to the Producing Party if 14 particular documents it designates as “Confidential” are disclosed to all other parties or 15 non-parties to this action, the Producing Party may designate those particular documents 16 17 as “Confidential—Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 18 4. Designations may be made at any time. To avoid potential waiver of 19 protection hereunder, the designating party should designate information at the time of 20 production or disclosure, including on the record during the taking of any testimony. 21 Deposition testimony will be deemed provisionally protected for a period of 30 days after 22 the transcript is released to the parties by the court reporter, although the parties may agree 23 at any time to different timelines of provisional protection of information as Confidential 24 as part of one or more specific depositions. To retain any designations beyond the 25 provisional period, a designating party must designate specific pages and lines of 26 deposition testimony before the provisional period has expired. Such designations must be 27 made in writing so that all counsel and court reporters may append the designation to all 28 copies of the transcripts. 1 5. To the extent any motions, briefs, pleadings, deposition transcripts, or other 2 papers to be filed with the Court incorporate documents or information subject to this 3 Order, the party filing such papers shall designate such materials, or portions thereof, as 4 “Confidential,” or “Confidential—Attorneys’ Eyes Only” and shall file them with the clerk 5 under seal; provided, however, that a copy of such filing having the confidential 6 information deleted therefrom may be made part of the public record. 7 6. No document will be sealed, nor shall a redacted document be filed, without 8 the prior approval of the court. If a document for which sealing or redaction is sought 9 relates to the record on a motion to be decided by Judge Mueller, the request to seal or 10 redact should be directed to her and not the assigned Magistrate Judge. Any party filing 11 any document under seal must comply with the requirements of Civil Local Rules, 12 including Local Rules 141 (sealing) and 140 (redaction). Protective orders covering the 13 discovery phase of litigation shall not govern the filing of sealed or redacted documents on 14 the public docket. The court will only consider requests to seal or redact filed by the 15 proponent of sealing or redaction. If a party plans to make a filing that includes material 16 17 an opposing party has identified as confidential and potentially subject to sealing, the filing 18 party shall provide the opposing party with sufficient notice in advance of filing to allow 19 for the seeking of an order of sealing or redaction from the court. 20 7. All documents, transcripts, or other materials subject to this Order, and all 21 information derived therefrom (including, but not limited to, all testimony given in a 22 deposition, declaration or otherwise, that refers, reflects or otherwise discusses any 23 information designated “Confidential” or “Confidential—Attorneys’ Eyes Only” 24 hereunder), shall not be used, directly or indirectly, by any person , including the other 25 Defendants, for any business, commercial or competitive purposes or for any purpose 26 whatsoever other than solely for the preparation for and trial of this action in accordance 27 with the provisions of this Order. 28 1 8. Except with the prior written consent of the individual or entity designating 2 a document or portions of a document as “Confidential,” or pursuant to prior Order after 3 notice, any document, transcript or pleading given “Confidential” treatment under this 4 Order, and any information contained in or derived from any such materials (including but 5 not limited to, all deposition testimony that refers to, reflects or otherwise discusses any 6 information designated “Confidential” hereunder) may not be disclosed other than in 7 accordance with this Order and may not be disclosed to any person other than: (a) the Court 8 and its officers; (b) parties to this litigation, party board members and claims adjusters; 9 (c) counsel for the parties, whether retained outside counsel or in-house counsel and 10 employees of counsel assigned to assist such counsel in the preparation of this litigation; 11 (d) fact witnesses subject to a proffer to the Court or a stipulation of the parties that such 12 witnesses need to know such information; (e) present or former employees of the 13 Producing Party in connection with their depositions in this action (provided that no former 14 employees shall be shown documents prepared after the date of his or her departure), and 15 (f) experts specifically retained as consultants or expert witnesses in connection with this 16 17 litigation. 18 9. Except with the prior written consent of the individual or entity designating 19 a document or portions of a document as “Confidential—Attorneys’ Eyes Only,” or 20 pursuant to prior Order after notice, any document, transcript or pleading given 21 “Confidential—Attorneys’ Eyes Only” treatment under this Order, and any information 22 contained in or derived from any such materials (including but not limited to, all deposition 23 testimony that refers to, reflects or otherwise discusses any information designated 24 “Confidential—Attorneys’ Eyes Only” hereunder) may not be disclosed other than in 25 accordance with this Order and may not be disclosed to any person other than: (a) a party’s 26 retained outside counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of said outside 27 counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation 28 and who have signed the “Declaration of Compliance” that is attached hereto as Exhibit 1 A; (b) experts specifically retained as consultants or expert witnesses in connection with 2 this litigation who have signed the “Declaration of Compliance” (Exhibit A); (c) the Court 3 and its personnel; (d) court reporters, their staffs, and professional vendors to whom 4 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Declaration 5 of Compliance” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A; and (e) the author of the document or 6 the original source of the information. 7 10. Documents produced pursuant to this Order shall not be made available to 8 any person designated in Subparagraph 8(f) or 9(b) unless he or she shall have first read 9 this Order, agreed to be bound by its terms, and signed the attached “Declaration of 10 Compliance” (Exhibit A). 11 11. All persons receiving any or all documents produced pursuant to this Order 12 shall be advised of their confidential nature. All persons to whom confidential information 13 and/or documents are disclosed are hereby enjoined from disclosing same to any person 14 except as provided herein, and are further enjoined from using same except in the 15 preparation for and trial of the above-captioned action between the named parties thereto. 16 17 No person receiving or reviewing such confidential documents, information or transcript 18 shall disseminate or disclose them to any person other than those described above in 19 Paragraph 8 and Paragraph 9 and for the purposes specified, and in no event shall such 20 person make any other use of such document or transcript. 21 12. Nothing in this Order shall prevent a party from using at trial any information 22 or materials designated “Confidential” or “Confidential—Attorneys’ Eyes Only”. 23 13. This Order has been agreed to by the parties to facilitate discovery and the 24 production of relevant evidence in this action. Neither the entry of this Order, nor the 25 designation of any information, document, or the like as “Confidential,” or “Confidential— 26 Attorneys’ Eyes Only,” nor the failure to make such designation, shall constitute evidence 27 with respect to any issue in this action. 28 1 14. Within sixty (60) days after the final termination of this litigation, all 2 documents, transcripts, or other materials afforded confidential treatment pursuant to this 3 Order, including any extracts, summaries or compilations taken therefrom, but excluding 4 any materials which in the good faith judgment of counsel are work product materials, shall 5 be returned to the Producing Party or destroyed. 6 15. In the event that any party to this litigation disagrees at any point in these 7 proceedings with any designation made under this Protective Order, the parties shall first 8 try to resolve such dispute in good faith on an informal basis in accordance with Civil Local 9 Rules. If the dispute cannot be resolved, the party objecting to the designation may seek 10 appropriate relief from this Court. During the pendency of any challenge to the designation 11 of a document or information, the designated document or information shall continue to be 12 treated as “Confidential” or “Confidential—Attorneys’ Eyes Only” subject to the 13 provisions of this Protective Order. 14 16. Nothing herein shall affect or restrict the rights of any party with respect to 15 its own documents or to the information obtained or developed independently of 16 17 documents, transcripts and materials afforded confidential treatment pursuant to this Order. 18 17. The Court retains the right to allow disclosure of any subject covered by this 19 stipulation or to modify this stipulation at any time in the interest of justice. 20 18. Neither the taking of, nor the failure to take, any action to enforce the 21 provisions of this Order, nor the failure to object to any designation, will constitute a 22 waiver of any party’s claim or defense in this action or any other action or proceeding, 23 including but not limited to a claim or defense that any designated information is or is not 24 confidential, is or is not entitled to particular protection, or embodies or does not embody 25 information protectable by law. 26 19. If, at any time, a party or non-party discovers that it produced or disclosed 27 protected information without designation, it may promptly notify the Receiving Party and 28 identify with particularity the information to be designated and the level of designation (the 1 claw-back notification). The Receiving Party may then request substitute production of 2 the newly-designated information. Within 30 days of receiving the claw-back notification, 3 the Receiving Party must (1) certify to the Designating Party it has appropriately marked 4 or, if substitute production has been requested, destroyed all unmarked copies that it 5 received, made, and/or distributed; and (2) if it was practicably unable to mark or destroy 6 any information because disclosures occurred while the Receiving Party was under no duty 7 of confidentiality under the terms of this Order regarding that information, the Receiving 8 Party must reasonably provide as much information as practicable to aid the Designating 9 Party in protecting the information, consistently with the Receiving Party’s attorney-client, 10 work-product, and/or trial-preparation privileges. 11 20. If, at any time, a party discovers that it produced information that it 12 reasonably believes is subject to protection under the attorney/client, work-product, or 13 trial-preparation privileges, then it must promptly notify each Receiving Party of the 14 claim for protection, the basis for it, amend its privilege log accordingly, and comply 15 with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(A). Whenever possible, the producing 16 17 party must produce substitute information that redacts the information subject to the 18 claimed protection. The Receiving Party must thereupon comply with Federal Rule of 19 Civil Procedure 26(b)(3) as to the information subject to the claimed protection. 20 21 IT IS SO STIPULATED THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 22 Respectfully submitted, 23 Date: May 5, 2023 RESNICK & LOUIS, P.C. 24 /s/Jason S. Roberts 25 Jason S. Roberts (SBN 221978) 26 Counsel for Defendant TRANS UNION, LLC 27 28 1 2 Date: May 5, 2023 GALE, ANGELO, JOHNSON, & PATRICK, P.C. 3 4 /s/Joe Angelo Joe Angelo (as authorized on 5-5-23) 5 Counsel for Plaintiff THOMAS EIDE 6 7 Date: May 5, 2023 JONES DAY 8 /s/Amy Lopez Amy Lopez (as authorized on 5-5-23) 9 Counsel for Defendant EXPERIAN INFORMATION SOLUTIONS, INC.\ 10 11 Date: May 5, 2023 CAULFIELD LAW FIRM 12 /s/Andrew Caulfield 13 Andrew T. Caulfield (as authorized on 5-5-23) 14 Counsel for Defendant EL DORADO COUNTY 15 16 ORDER 17 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties’ stipulation is granted. 18 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT: 19 1. Requests to seal documents shall be made by motion before the same judge who will 20 decide the matter related to that request to seal. 21 2. The designation of documents (including transcripts of testimony) as confidential 22 pursuant to this order does not automatically entitle the parties to file such a document with the 23 court under seal. Parties are advised that any request to seal documents in this district is 24 25 governed by Local Rule 141. In brief, Local Rule 141 provides that documents may only be 26 sealed by a written order of the court after a specific request to seal has been made. L.R. 141(a). 27 However, a mere request to seal is not enough under the local rules. In particular, Local Rule 28 141(b) requires that “[t]he ‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory or other 1 authority for sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be 2 permitted access to the document, and all relevant information.” L.R. 141(b). 3 3. A request to seal material must normally meet the high threshold of showing that 4 “compelling reasons” support secrecy; however, where the material is, at most, “tangentially 5 related” to the merits of a case, the request to seal may be granted on a showing of “good cause.” 6 Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096-1102 (9th Cir. 2016); 7 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-80 (9th Cir. 2006). 8 4. Nothing in this order shall limit the testimony of parties or non-parties, or the use of 9 certain documents, at any court hearing or trial – such determinations will only be made by the 10 court at the hearing or trial, or upon an appropriate motion. 11 5. With respect to motions regarding any disputes concerning this protective order which 12 the parties cannot informally resolve, the parties shall follow the procedures outlined in Local 13 Rule 251. Absent a showing of good cause, the court will not hear discovery disputes on an ex 14 parte basis or on shortened time. 15 6. The parties may not modify the terms of this Protective Order without the court’s 16 17 approval. If the parties agree to a potential modification, they shall submit a stipulation and 18 proposed order for the court’s consideration. 19 7. Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(f), the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement 20 of the terms of this Protective Order after the action is terminated. 21 8. Any provision in the parties’ stipulation that is in conflict with anything in this order is 22 hereby DISAPPROVED. 23 DATED: May 5, 2023 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 24 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 25 26 27 28 1 EXHIBIT A 2 3 DECLARATION OF COMPLIANCE 4 I, ___________________________________, declare as follows: 5 1. My address is __________________________________________. 6 2. My present employer is ___________________________________. 7 3. My present occupation or job description is _____________________. 4. I have received a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order entered in this action on 8 _______________, 20___. 9 5. I have carefully read and understand the provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order. 10 6. I will comply with all provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order. 11 7. I will hold in confidence and will not disclose to anyone not qualified under the Stipulated Protective Order, any information, documents or other materials 12 produced subject to this Stipulated Protective Order. 13 8. I will use such information, documents or other materials produced subject to this Stipulated Protective Order only for the purposes of this present action. 14 9. Upon termination of this action, or upon request, I will return and deliver all 15 information, documents or other materials produced subject to this Stipulated Protective Order, and all documents or things which I have prepared relating to the 16 information, documents or other materials that are subject to the Stipulated Protective Order, to my counsel in this action, or to counsel for the party by whom 17 I am employed or retained or from whom I received the documents. 18 10. I hereby submit to the jurisdiction of this Court for the purposes of enforcing the Stipulated Protective Order in this action 19 11. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the 20 foregoing is true and correct. 21 Executed this ____ day of _____________, 20__, at __________________. 22 23 ________________________________ QUALIFIED PERSON 24 25 26 27 28