Tri Tool, Inc. v. Hales ( 2022 )


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  • 1 BUCHALTER A Professional Corporation 2 DYLAN W. WISEMAN (SBN: 173669) PHILIP CHAN (SBN: 263907) 3 500 Capitol Mall, Suite 1900 Sacramento, CA 95814 4 Telephone: 916.945.5170 Email: dwiseman@buchalter.com 5 pchan@buchalter.com 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff TRI TOOL, INC. 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 11 12 TRI TOOL, INC., a Nevada corporation, Case No. 2:22-CV-01515-DAD-KJN 13 Plaintiff, 14 vs. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 15 THAD HALES, an individual; 16 MIKE BRACIKOWSKI, an individual; ENERPAC TOOL GROUP CORP., a Wisconsin 17 corporation; and DOES 1- 30, inclusive, 18 Defendants. 19 20 This Stipulation and Order (“Stipulation and Order”) is made by and among Plaintiff TRI 21 TOOL, INC. (“Plaintiff”), on the one hand, and Defendants THAD HALES, MIKE 22 BRACIKOWSKI, and ENERPAC TOOL GROUP CORP. (collectively, “Defendants”), on the 23 other hand. This Stipulation refers to Plaintiff and Defendants individually as “Party,” and refers 24 to Plaintiff and Defendants collectively as “the Parties”. The Parties, through their counsel of 25 record, hereby stipulate as follows: 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 disclosure 4 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, 5 the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective 6 Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 7 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 8 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under 9 the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, 10 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 11 seal; Civil Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that 12 will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 13 2. DEFINITIONS 14 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 15 information or items under this Order. 16 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 17 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of 18 Civil Procedure 26(c). 19 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well 20 as their support staff). 21 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 22 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 23 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 24 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium 25 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 26 transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to 27 discovery in this matter. 28 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to 1 the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a 2 consultant in this action. 3 2.7 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information or 4 Items: extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items,” disclosure of which to another Party 5 or Non-Party would create a substantial risk of serious harm that could not be avoided by less 6 restrictive means. 7 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. House 8 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 9 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 10 entity not named as a Party to this action. 11 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this action 12 but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action on 13 behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party. 14 2.11 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 15 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 16 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 17 Material in this action. 18 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services 19 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, 20 storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 21 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL,” or as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 23 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 24 Producing Party. 25 3. SCOPE 26 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 27 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) 28 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 1 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 2 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following 3 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a 4 Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a 5 result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public 6 record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to 7 the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained 8 the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any 9 use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. 10 4. DURATION 11 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 12 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order 13 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims 14 and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the 15 completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, 16 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to 17 applicable law. 18 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 20 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to 21 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 22 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or 23 oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents, 24 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 25 the ambit of this Order. 26 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 27 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 28 1 unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses 2 and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 3 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 4 protection do not qualify for protection at all or do not qualify for the level of protection initially 5 asserted, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the 6 mistaken designation. 7 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order 8 (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, 9 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 10 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 11 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 12 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 13 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing 14 Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 15 EYES ONLY” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the 16 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 17 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, for 18 each portion, the level of protection being asserted.. 19 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection 20 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material 21 it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the 22 material made available for inspection shall be deemed “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 23 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 24 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, 25 qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the 26 Producing Party must affix the appropriate legend (“CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 27 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”) to each page that contains Protected Material. 28 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party 1 also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 2 margins) and must specify, for each portion, the level of protection being asserted. 3 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, 4 that the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or 5 other proceeding, all protected testimony. When it is impractical to identify separately each 6 portion of the testimony that is entitled to protection and it appears that substantial portions of the 7 testimony may qualify for protection, the Designating Party may invoke on the record (before the 8 deposition, hearing, or other proceeding is concluded) a right to have up to 21 days to identify the 9 specific portions of the testimony as to which protection is sought and to specify the level of 10 protection being asserted. Only those portions of the testimony that are appropriately designated 11 for protection within the 21 days shall be covered by the provisions of this Stipulated Protective 12 Order. Alternatively, a Designating Party may specify, at the deposition or up to 21 days 13 afterwards if that period is properly invoked, that the entire transcript shall be treated as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY. 15 Parties shall give the other parties notice if they reasonably expect a deposition, hearing or 16 other proceeding to include Protected Material so that the other parties can ensure that only 17 authorized individuals who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 18 (Exhibit A) are present at those proceedings. The use of a document as an exhibit at a deposition 19 shall not in any way affect its designation as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL 20 – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Transcripts containing Protected Material shall have an obvious 21 legend on the title page that the transcript contains Protected Material, and the title page shall be 22 followed by a list of all pages (including line numbers as appropriate) that have been designated as 23 Protected Material and the level of protection being asserted by the Designating Party. The 24 Designating Party shall inform the court reporter of these requirements. Any transcript that is 25 prepared before the expiration of a 21-day period for designation shall be treated during that period 26 as if it had been designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” in its 27 entirety unless otherwise agreed. After the expiration of that period, the transcript shall be treated 28 only as actually designated. 1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 2 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the 3 container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” 4 or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” in its entirety unless otherwise 5 agreed. If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, the Producing 6 Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s) and specify the level of 7 protection being asserted. 8 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 9 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 10 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 11 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated 12 in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 13 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 14 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 15 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality 16 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic 17 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to 18 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 19 original designation is disclosed. 20 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 21 by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each 22 challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written notice must 23 recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph 24 of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must 25 begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication 26 are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging 27 Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper and 28 must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the 1 circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen 2 designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it 3 has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that the Designating Party is 4 unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely manner. 5 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 6 intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality under 7 Civil Local Rule 230 (and in compliance with Civil Local Rule 141, if applicable) within 21 days 8 of the initial notice of challenge or within 14 days of the parties agreeing that the meet and confer 9 process will not resolve their dispute, whichever is earlier. Each such motion must be 10 accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet 11 and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by the Designating Party to 12 make such a motion including the required declaration within 21 days (or 14 days, if applicable) 13 shall automatically waive the confidentiality designation for each challenged designation. In 14 addition, the Challenging Party may file a motion challenging a confidentiality designation at any 15 time if there is good cause for doing so, including a challenge to the designation of a deposition 16 transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to this provision must be 17 accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet 18 and confer requirements imposed by the preceding paragraph. A ruling on the propriety of the 19 designation shall not be determinative of whether information is entitled to lawful protection as 20 confidential information and/or a trade secret at trial. 21 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 22 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose 23 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to 24 sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing to 25 file a motion to retain confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the 26 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s 27 designation until the court rules on the challenge. 28 1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed 3 or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for 4 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be 5 disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. 6 When the litigation has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of 7 section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 8 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and 9 in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 10 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 11 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may 12 disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 13 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as 14 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the 15 information for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 16 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A; 17 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 18 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have 19 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 20 (c) Experts (as defined in this Stipulation and Order) of the Receiving Party to 21 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the 22 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 23 (d) the court and its personnel; 24 (e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock 25 jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and 26 who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 28 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 1 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of 2 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be 3 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 4 under this Stipulation and Order. 5 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 6 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 7 Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information 8 or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, 9 a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL 10 – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only to: 11 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as 12 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the 13 information for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 14 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A; 15 (b) Experts of the Receiving Party (1) to whom disclosure is reasonably 16 necessary for this litigation, (2) who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 17 Bound” (Exhibit A), and (3) as to whom the procedures set forth in paragraph 7.4(a), below, have 18 been followed]; 19 (c) the court and its personnel; 20 (d) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, and 21 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have 22 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); and 23 (e) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 24 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 25 7.4 Procedures for Approving or Objecting to Disclosure of “HIGHLY 26 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information or Items to Experts. 27 (a) Unless otherwise ordered by the court or agreed to in writing by the 28 Designating Party, a Party that seeks to disclose to an Expert (as defined in this Order) any 1 information or item that has been designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 2 EYES ONLY” pursuant to paragraph 7.3(b) first must make a written request to the Designating 3 Party that (1) identifies the general categories of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 4 EYES ONLY” information that the Receiving Party seeks permission to disclose to the Expert, (2) 5 sets forth the full name of the Expert and the city and state of his or her primary residence, (3) 6 attaches a copy of the Expert’s current resume, (4) identifies the Expert’s current employer(s), (5) 7 identifies each person or entity from whom the Expert has received compensation or funding for 8 work in his or her areas of expertise or to whom the expert has provided professional services, 9 including in connection with a litigation, at any time during the preceding five years,9 and (6) 10 identifies (by name and number of the case, filing date, and location of court) any litigation in 11 connection with which the Expert has offered expert testimony, including through a declaration, 12 report, or testimony at a deposition or trial, during the preceding five years.10 13 (b) A Party that makes a request and provides the information specified in the 14 preceding respective paragraphs may disclose the subject Protected Material to the Expert unless, 15 within 14 days of delivering the request, the Party receives a written objection from the 16 Designating Party. Any such objection must set forth in detail the grounds on which it is based. 17 (c) A Party that receives a timely written objection must meet and confer with 18 the Designating Party (through direct voice to voice dialogue) to try to resolve the matter by 19 agreement within seven days of the written objection. If no agreement is reached, the Party seeking 20 to make the disclosure to the Expert may file a motion as provided in Civil Local Rule 230 (and in 21 compliance with Civil Local Rule 141, if applicable) seeking permission from the court to do so. 22 Any such motion must describe the circumstances with specificity, set forth in detail the reasons 23 why the disclosure to the Expert is reasonably necessary, assess the risk of harm that the disclosure 24 would entail, and suggest any additional means that could be used to reduce that risk. In addition, 25 any such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration describing the parties’ efforts to 26 resolve the matter by agreement (i.e., the extent and the content of the meet and confer 27 discussions) and setting forth the reasons advanced by the Designating Party for its refusal to 28 approve the disclosure. 1 In any such proceeding, the Party opposing disclosure to the Expert shall bear the burden 2 of proving that the risk of harm that the disclosure would entail (under the safeguards proposed) 3 outweighs the Receiving Party’s need to disclose the Protected Material to its Expert. 4 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 5 LITIGATION 6 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 7 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or 8 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY that Party must: 9 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 10 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 11 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 12 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 13 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulation and 14 Order; and 15 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 16 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 17 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 18 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as 19 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” before a 20 determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has 21 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and 22 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these 23 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to 24 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 25 26 27 28 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- 4 Party in this action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 5 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this 6 litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 7 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 8 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 9 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement 10 with the 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 12 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a 13 Non-Party; 14 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulation and 15 Order in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of 16 the information requested; and 17 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 18 Non-Party. 19 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court 20 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 21 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non- 22 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its 23 possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 24 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the 25 burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 26 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 28 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulation and Order, 1 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the 2 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 3 Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were 4 made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 6 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED 7 MATERIAL 8 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 9 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 10 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This 11 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery 12 order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of 13 Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 14 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product 15 protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the Stipulation and Order submitted to 16 the court. 17 12. MISCELLANEOUS 18 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Stipulation and Order abridges the right of 19 any person to seek its modification by the court in the future. 20 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Stipulation 21 and Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing 22 any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulation and Order. Similarly, no 23 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 24 by this Stipulation and Order. 25 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the Designating Party 26 or a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in 27 the public record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 28 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed 1 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at 2 issue. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141, a sealing order will issue only upon a request 3 establishing that the Protected Material at issue is privileged, protectable as a trade secret, or 4 otherwise entitled to protection under the law. If a Receiving Party's request to file Protected 5 Material under seal pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141 is denied by the court, then the Receiving 6 Party may file the information in the public record pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141 unless 7 otherwise instructed by the court. 8 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 9 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, each 10 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such 11 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 12 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 13 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must 14 submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 15 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all 16 the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has 17 not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 18 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 19 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 20 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work 21 product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 22 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to 23 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 24 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 25 Dated: November 17, 2022 BUCHALTER, A Professional Corporation 26 By:/s/DYLAN WISEMAN 27 Dylan W. Wiseman Attorneys for Plaintiff 28 TRI TOOL, INC. 1 Dated: October __, 2022 JACKSON LEWIS P.C. 2 3 By: /s/ 4 James P. Carter Jonathan P. Schmidt 5 Attorneys for Defendant 6 ENERPAC TOOL GROUP CORP. 7 8 Dated: October __, 2022 THAD HALES 9 10 By: 11 Defendant THAD HALES 12 Dated: October __, 2022 MIKE BRACIKOWSKI 13 14 By: 15 Defendant MIKE BRACIKOWSKI 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 The court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order, of which all parties but 3|| defendant Hales signed. (See ECF No. 17). Defendant Hales was ordered to respond but failed 4|| to do so.! (See ECF No. 18.) Based on the representations by counsel in the motion for 5 protective order, as well as in the complaint and the stipulation, the court finds the applicable 6 local rule satisfied. See L.R. 141.1. The court APPROVES the above protective order and orders 4 it effective subject to the following clarification. The Local Rules state that once an action is closed, “unless otherwise ordered, the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R. 141.1(f); see also, e.g., MD Helicopters, 7 Inc. v. Aerometals, Inc., 2017 WL 495778 (E.D. Cal., Feb. 03, 2017) (noting that courts in the 10 district generally do not agree to retain jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, the court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the 12|| case is closed. Further, plaintiff’s request for attorneys’ fees is DENIED at this time, but defendant Hales is cautioned that further failures to communicate or cooperate with opposing 14|| counsel may result in sanctions including attorneys’ fees. 15|| Dated: December 21, 2022 —Frebl Alarm 17 KENDALL J. NE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18} wit.isis 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 ' On December 14, 2022, Defendant Hales filed a document titled “Second Request for Summons.” (ECF No. 21.) However, Defendant’s Second Request for Summons is unresponsive 28|| to the motion for protective order. 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 Tri Tool, Inc. v. Thad Hales, et al., 7 with Case Number 2:22-CV-01515-DAD-KJN. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all 8 the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 9 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 10 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this 11 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 12 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. 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 21 Date: ______________________________________ 22 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28

Document Info

Docket Number: 2:22-cv-01515

Filed Date: 12/21/2022

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 6/20/2024