D. B. v. City of Stockton ( 2022 )

1 Sanjay S. Schmidt (SBN 247475) LAW OFFICE OF SANJAY S. SCHMIDT 2 1388 Sutter Street, Suite 810 San Francisco, CA 94109 3 T: (415) 563-8583 4 F: (415) 223-9717 e-mail: ss@sanjayschmidtlaw.com 5 T. Kennedy Helm, IV (SBN 282319) 6 HELM LAW OFFICE, PC 644 40th Street, Suite 305 7 Oakland, California 94609 8 T: (510) 350-7517 F: (510) 350-7359 9 email: kennedy@helmlawoffice.com, 10 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 14 D.B., a minor, by and through his guardian ad ) No. 2:21-cv-02154 TLN DB 15 litem, Elisa Mulvihill, individually and as co- ) successor in interest to Decedent ) STIPULATION AND PROTECTIVE 16 ANTWAUNE P. BURRISE, SR.; K.B., a ) ORDER FOR CONFIDENTIAL 17 m Bri en ao nr n, ab y F uan lld e rt ,h ir no du ig vh id h ui as l lg yu aa nrd di a an s ca od - litem, ) ) ) D INO FC OU RM ME AN TT IS O, N M ATERIALS, AND 18 s Au Ncc Te Wsso Ar U in N i En t Pe .r e Bs Ut t Ro RD Ie Sc Ee ,d Sen Rt . ; ILIA ) ) 19 B inU inR tR erI eS sE t t, oin Dd eiv ci ed du ea nl tl y A a Nn Td Was A c Uo- Nsu Ec c Pe .s sor ) ) 20 BURRISE, SR.; ATHENA BURRISE, ) ) 21 individually and as co-successor in interest to ) Decedent ANTWAUNE P. BURRISE, SR.; ) 22 ANTWAUNE BURRISE, JR., individually ) and as co-successor in interest to Decedent ) 23 ANTWAUNE P. BURRISE, SR.; ) RAYJAMES BURRISE, individually and as ) 24 co-successor in interest to Decedent ) ) 25 ANTWAUNE P. BURRISE, SR.; A.B., a ) minor, by and through her guardian ad litem, ) 26 Tiana Franks, individually and as co- ) successor in interest to Decedent ) 27 ANTWAUNE P. BURRISE, SR.; and, ) ) 1 STEPHANIE HATTEN, individually, ) ) 2 Plaintiffs, ) ) 3 vs. ) ) 4 CITY OF STOCKTON, a public entity; City ) ) of Stockton Police Department Chief of 5 ) Police ERIC JONES; City of Stockton Police ) 6 Department Officers DAVID WELLS, ) individually, BLAKE EPPERSON, ) 7 individually, and JOHN GRIFFIN, ) individually; and, DOES 1-50, jointly and ) 8 severally, ) ) 9 ) Defendants. ) 10 ) ) 11 12 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 13 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of 14 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 15 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 16 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following 17 Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 18 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from 19 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to 20 confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as 21 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file 22 confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be 23 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to 24 file material under seal. 25 2. DEFINITIONS 26 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 27 information or items under this Order. 1 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 2 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule 3 of Civil Procedure 26(c). It encompasses information where public disclosure is likely to result 4 in particularized harm, or where public disclosure would violate privacy interests recognized by 5 law. Examples of confidential information include, but are not limited to, the following: 6 a. personnel records of any peace officer; 7 b. medical records; 8 c. social security numbers and similar sensitive identifying information (unless 9 redacted by order or by agreement of all parties). 10 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well 11 as their support staff). 12 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 13 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium 15 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, 16 testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or 17 responses to discovery in this matter. 18 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the 19 litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a 20 consultant in this action. 21 2.7 House Counsel: attorneys (and their support staff) who are employees of a party to 22 this action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 23 counsel. 24 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 25 entity not named as a Party to this action. 26 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys (and their support staff) who are not employees 27 of a party to this action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have 1 appeared in this action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has 2 appeared on behalf of that party. 3 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 4 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 5 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 6 Material in this action. 7 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services 8 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and 9 organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and 10 subcontractors. 11 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 13 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 14 Producing Party. 15 3. SCOPE 16 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 17 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied from Protected Material; (2) all copies, 18 excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material that reveal the source of the 19 Protected Material or that reveal specific information, i.e., the raw data gleaned from protected 20 documents, entitled to confidentiality under this stipulated order; and (3) any testimony, 21 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 22 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following 23 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a 24 Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as 25 a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the 26 public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party 27 prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who 1 obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating 2 Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 3 4. DURATION 4 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by 5 this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court 6 order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all 7 claims and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after 8 the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this 9 action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time 10 pursuant to applicable law. 11 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 12 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 13 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to 14 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 15 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, 16 or oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, 17 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 18 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are 19 prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an 20 improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to 21 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating Party to 22 sanctions. 23 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated 24 for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other 25 Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation. 26 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order or as 27 otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 1 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 2 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 3 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 4 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing 5 Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only 6 a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 7 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 8 margins). A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for 9 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 10 which material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 11 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 12 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and 13 produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for 14 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing 15 Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If 16 only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party 17 also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 18 margins). 19 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that 20 the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other 21 proceeding, all protected testimony, if it is practicable to do so; otherwise, it must be so 22 designated during the “review and sign” period under Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Civil 23 Procedure, unless the parties agree to extend the time for designation. 24 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 25 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the 26 container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend 27 1 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, 2 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 3 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 4 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 5 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 6 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is 7 treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 8 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 9 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 10 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality 11 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 12 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to 13 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 14 original designation is disclosed. 15 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 16 by providing emailed notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for 17 each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the notice must 18 recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific 19 paragraph of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good 20 faith and must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice-to-voice dialogue; other forms 21 of communication are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of transmission of the notice. In 22 conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality 23 designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the 24 designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, 25 to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next 26 stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or 27 1 establishes that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in 2 a timely manner. 3 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 4 intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality within 5 28 days of the initial notice of challenge or within 14 days after the parties agree that the meet 6 and confer process will not resolve their dispute, whichever is later (or by such later date as the 7 parties may agree to in writing). Each such motion must be accompanied by a competent 8 declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet and confer requirements 9 imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by the Designating Party to file such a motion 10 including the required declaration by these deadlines shall automatically waive the 11 confidentiality designation for each challenged designation. In addition, the Challenging Party 12 may file a motion challenging a confidentiality designation at any time if there is good cause for 13 doing so, including a challenge to the designation of a deposition transcript or any portions 14 thereof. Any such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the 15 movant has complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed by the preceding 16 paragraph. 17 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 18 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose 19 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to 20 sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing 21 timely to file a motion to retain confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to 22 afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 23 Party’s designation until the court rules on the challenge. 24 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 26 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 27 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only 1 to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation 2 has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below 3 (FINAL DISPOSITION). 4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a 5 secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 6 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by 7 the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 8 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 9 (a) Experts (as defined in this Order), as well as other consultants, including legal 10 consultants, of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation 11 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (b) the court and its personnel; 13 (c) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 14 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who 15 have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 16 (d) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably 17 necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 18 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of 19 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be 20 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 21 under this Stipulated Protective Order or as agreed by the Designating Party; or 22 (e) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or 23 other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 2 LITIGATION 3 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 4 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that 5 Party must: 6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a 7 copy of the subpoena or court order; 8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the 9 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this 10 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 11 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 12 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 13 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS 14 LITIGATION 15 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this 16 action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in 17 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. 18 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking 19 additional protections. 20 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non- 21 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with 22 the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 23 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of the 24 information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 25 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in this 26 litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the 27 information requested; and 1 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party. 2 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within 14 3 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce 4 the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party 5 timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its 6 possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 7 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the 8 burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 9 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 11 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective 12 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the 13 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 14 Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were 15 made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 16 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 17 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED 18 MATERIAL 19 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 20 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 21 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This 22 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery 23 order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of 24 Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 25 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product 26 protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order 27 submitted to the court. 1 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to 3 seek its modification by the court in the future. 4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order 5 no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 6 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, 7 no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material 8 covered by this Protective Order. 9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the Designating Party, a 10 court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, or a change in the status of 11 designated material after the procedures for challenging a designation in Section 6, above, have 12 been employed, a Party may not file in the public record in this action any Protected Material. A 13 Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141. 14 Protected Material may be filed under seal only pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing 15 of the specific Protected Material at issue. 16 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 17 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, upon 18 written notification served by Producing or Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 19 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 20 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and 21 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected 22 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the 23 Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day 24 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 25 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 26 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 27 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival 1 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 2 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, videos, photographs, and other objective evidence 3 – as well as reports – reflecting, directly concerning, or arising out of the incident giving rise to 4 the litigation, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, 5 even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 6 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 7 (DURATION). 8 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 9 Respectfully Submitted, 10 11 Dated: May 23, 2022 LAW OFFICE OF SANJAY S. SCHMIDT 12 -and- 13 HELM LAW OFFICE, PC 14 /s/ T. Kennedy Helm, IV By: T. KENNEDY HELM, IV 15 Attorneys for Plaintiff 16 17 Dated: May 23, 2022 HERUM\CRABTREE\SUNTAG 18 /s/ Dana Suntag* By: DANA SUNTAG 19 Attorneys for Defendants 20 *Mr. Suntag provided his consent that this document be filed by CM/ECF. 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, ________________________________________________ [print or type full name], 4 of ____________________________________________________ [print or type full address], 5 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated 6 Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of 7 California in the case of D.B., et al. v. City of Stockton, et al., No. 2:21-cv-02154-TLN-DB. 8 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective 9 Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions 10 and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any 11 manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 12 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 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. I hereby 16 appoint __________________________________________________ [print or type full name] 17 of __________________________________________________________________________ 18 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in 19 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated 20 Protective Order. 21 Date: ______________________________________ 22 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 23 24 Printed name: _______________________________ 25 26 Signature: _________________________________ 27 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 9 governed by Local Rule 141. In brief, Local Rule 141 provides that documents may only be 10 sealed by a written order of the court after a specific request to seal has been made. L.R. 141(a). 11 However, a mere request to seal is not enough under the local rules. In particular, Local Rule 12 141(b) requires that “[t]he ‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory or other 13 authority for sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be 14 permitted access to the 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 1 6. The parties may not modify the terms of this Protective Order without the court’s 2 approval. If the parties agree to a potential modification, they shall submit a stipulation and 3 proposed order for the court’s consideration. 4 7. Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(f), the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement 5 of the terms of this Protective Order after the action is terminated. 6 8. Any provision in the parties’ stipulation that is in conflict with anything in this order is 7 hereby DISAPPROVED. 8 DATED: May 26, 2022 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27