Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_05-cv-00239/USCOURTS-cand-5_05-cv-00239-9/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 890
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: 15:1692 Fair Debt Collection Act

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1 Ronald Wilcox, #176601 

2 2160 The Alameda, Suite F 

3 San Jose, CA 95126 

4 Tel: (408) 296-0400 

5 Fax: (408) 296-0486 

6 Attorney for Plaintiffs 

7 

8 

9 

10 

 TREVINO and RIOS, 

11 

Plaintiffs, 

12 

.v 

13 

s 

14 ACB AMERICAN, INC et al., 

Defendant. 

15 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT 

COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT 

OF CALIFORNIA - SAN JOSE 

No. C05-00239 JF (HRL) 

[PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER 

______________________________________ 16 

17 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 

18 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of confidential, 

19 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 

20 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation would be warranted. Accordingly, the parties 

21 hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The 

22 parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or 

23 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords extends only to the limited information or 

24 items that are entitled under the applicable legal principles to treatment as confidential. The parties 

25 further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 10, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order creates 

26 no entitlement to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 

27 procedures that must be followed and reflects the standards that will be applied when a party seeks 

28 permission from the court to file material under seal. 

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1 2. DEFINITIONS 

2 2.1 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, 

3 employees, consultants, retained experts, and outside counsel (and their support staff). 

4 2.2 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 

5 medium or manner generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 

6 transcripts, or tangible things) that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery 

7 in this matter. 

8 2.3 “Confidential” Information or Items: information (regardless of how generated, 

9 stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under standards developed under 

10 F.R.Civ.P. 26(c). 

11 2.4 “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” Information or Items: 

12 extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items” whose disclosure to another Party or non13 party would create a substantial risk of serious injury that could not be avoided by less restrictive 

14 means. 

15 2.5 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 

16 Producing Party. 

17 2.6 Producing Party: a Party or non-party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 

18 Material in this action. 

19 2.7. Designating Party: a Party or non-party that designates information or items 

20 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential 

21 — Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 

22 2.8 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 

23 “Confidential” or as “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 

24 2.9. Outside Counsel: attorneys who are not employees of a Party but who are 

25 retained to represent or advise a Party in this action. 

26 2.10 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party. 

27 2.11 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel and House Counsel (as well as 

28 their support staffs). 

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1 2.12 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 

2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness 

3 or as a consultant in this action and who is not a past or a current employee of a Party or of a 

4 competitor of a Party’s and who, at the time of retention, is not anticipated to become an employee of 

5 a Party or a competitor of a Party’s. This definition includes a professional jury or trial consultant 

6 retained in connection with this litigation. 

7 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 

8 services (e.g., photocopying; videotaping; translating; preparing exhibits or demonstrations; 

9 organizing, storing, retrieving data in any form or medium; etc.) and their employees and 

10 subcontractors. 

11 

12 3. SCOPE 

13 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as 

14 defined above), but also any information copied or extracted therefrom, as well as all copies, 

15 excerpts, summaries, or compilations thereof, plus testimony, conversations, or presentations by 

16 parties or counsel to or in court or in other settings that might reveal Protected Material. 

17 

18 4. DURATION 

19 Even after the termination of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order 

20 shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise 

21 directs. 

22 

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 to 

26 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. A 

27 Designating Party must take care to designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, 

28 items, or oral or written communications t hat qualify – so that other portions of the material, 

3 

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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 expenses 

6 and burdens on other parties), expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 

7 If it comes to a Party’s or a non-party’s attention that information or items that it 

8 designated for protection do not qualify for protection at all, or do not qualify for the level of 

9 protection initially asserted, that Party or non-party must promptly notify all other parties that it is 

10 withdrawing the mistaken designation. 

11 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order 

12 (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a), below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, material 

13 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is 

14 disclosed or produced. 

15 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 

16 (a) for information in documentary form (apart from transcripts of depositions 

17 or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” 

18 or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” at the top of each page that 

19 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for 

20 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 

21 appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, for each portion, the level of protection being 

22 asserted (either “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 

23 ONLY”). 

24 A Party or non-party that makes original documents or materials available for 

25 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 

26 material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of 

27 the material made available for inspection shall be deemed “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 

28 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 

4 

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1 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, 

2 qualify for protection under this Order, then, before producing the specified documents, t he 

3 Producing Party must affix the appropriate legend (“CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 

4 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”) at the top of each page that contains Protected 

5 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 

6 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 

7 markings in the margins) and must specify, for each portion, the level of protection being asserted 

8 (either “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”). 

9 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, 

10 that the Party or non-party offering or sponsoring the testimony identify on the record, before the 

11 close of the deposition, hearing, or other proceeding, all protected testimony, and further specify any 

12 portions of the testimony that qualify as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 

13 ONLY.” When it is impractical to identify separately each portion of testimony that is entitled to 

14 protection, and when it appears that substantial portions of the testimony may qualify for protection, 

15 the Party or non-party that sponsors, offers, or gives the testimony may invoke on the record (before 

16 the deposition or proceeding is concluded) a right to have up to 20 days to identify the specific 

17 portions of the testimony as to which protection is sought and to specify the level of protection being 

18 asserted (“CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”). 

19 Only those portions of the testimony that are appropriately designated for protection within the 20 

20 days shall be covered by the provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order. 

21 Transcript pages containing Protected Material must be separately bound by 

22 the court reporter, who must affix to the top of each such page the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

23 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY,” as instructed by the Party or non24 party offering or sponsoring the witness or presenting the testimony. 

25 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary, and for 

26 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the 

27 container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or 

28 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” If only portions of the information 

5 

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1 or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 

2 portions, specifying whether they qualify as “Confidential” or as “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ 

3 Eyes Only.” 

4 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 

5 designate qualified information or items as “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes 

6 Only” does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this 

7 Order for such material. If material is appropriately designated as “Confidential” or “Highly 

8 Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” after the material was initially produced, the Receiving Party, 

9 on timely notification of the designation, must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is 

10 treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 

11 

12 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 

13 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s 

14 confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable substantial unfairness, unnecessary 

15 economic burdens, or a later significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its 

16 right to challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the 

17 original designation is disclosed. 

18 6.2 Meet and Confer. A Party that elects to initiate a challenge to a Designating 

19 Party’s confidentiality designation must do so in good faith and must begin the process by conferring 

20 directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication are not sufficient) with counsel for 

21 the Designating Party. In conferring, the challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that 

22 the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to 

23 review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is 

24 offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A challenging Party may proceed to the next 

25 stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first. 

26 

27 6.3 Judicial Intervention. A Party that elects to press a challenge to a confidentiality 

28 designation after considering the justification offered by the Designating Party may file and serve a 

6 

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1 motion under Civil Local Rule 7 (and in compliance with Civil Local Rule 79-5, if applicable) that 

2 identifies the challenged material and sets forth in detail the basis for the challenge. Each such motion 

3 must be accompanied by a competent declarat ion that affirms that the movant has complied with the 

4 meet and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph and that sets forth with specificity 

5 the justification for the confidentiality designation that was given by the Designating Party in the meet 

6 and confer dialogue. 

7 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 

8 Party. Until the court rules on the challenge, all parties shall continue to afford the material in 

9 question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation. 

10 

11 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 

12 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed 

13 or produced by another Party or by a non-party in connection with this case only for prosecuting, 

14 defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to 

15 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has 

16 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 11, below (FINAL 

17 DISPOSITION). 

18 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location 

19 and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 

20 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 

21 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose 

22 any information or item designated CONFIDENTIAL only to: 

23 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of record in this action, as well as 

24 employees of said Counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this 

25 litigation and who have signed the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” that is attached 

26 hereto as Exhibit A; 

27 (b) the officers, direct ors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 

28 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed 

7 

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1 the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” (Exhibit A); 

2 (c) experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 

3 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Agreement to Be 

4 Bound by Protective Order” (Exhibit A); 

5 (d) the Court and its personnel; 

6 (e) court reporters, their staffs, and professional vendors to whom disclosure is 

7 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Agreement to Be Bound by 

8 Protective Order” (Exhibit A); 

9 (f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is 

10 reasonably necessary and who have signed the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” 

11 (Exhibit A). Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 

12 Protected Material must be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 

13 anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order. 

14 (g) the author of the document or the original source of the information. 

15 7.3 Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 

16 Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the 

17 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated “HIGHLY 

18 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only to: 

19 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of record in this action, as well as 

20 employees of said Counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this 

21 litigation and who have signed the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” that is attached 

22 hereto as Exhibit A; 

23 [(b) – Optional – as deemed appropriate in case-specific circumstances: 

24 House Counsel of a Receiving Party (1) who has no involvement in competitive decision-making or in 

25 patent prosecutions involving _________________ [specify subject matter areas], (2) to whom 

26 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, and (3) who has signed the “Agreement to Be 

27 Bound by Protective Order” (Exhibit A); 

28 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) (1) to whom disclosure is reasonably 

8 

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1 necessary for this litigation, (2) who have signed the “Agreement to Be Bound by Protective Order” 

2 (Exhibit A), [Optional: and (3) as to whom the procedures set forth in paragraph 7.4, below, have 

3 been followed]; 

4 (d) the Court and its personnel; 

5 (e) court reporters, their staffs, and professional vendors to whom disclosure is 

6 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Agreement to Be Bound by 

7 Protective Order” (Exhibit A); and 

8 (f) t he author of the document or the original source of the information. 

 9 

10 

11 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 

12 LITIGATION. 

13 If a Receiving Party is served with a subpoena or an order issued in other litigation 

14 that would compel disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as 

16 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY,” the 

17 Receiving Party must so notify the Designating Party, in writing (by fax, if possible) immediately and 

18 in no event more than three court days after receiving the subpoena or order. Such notification must 

19 include a copy of the subpoena or court order. 

20 The Receiving Party also must immediately inform in writing the Party who caused the 

21 subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all the material covered by the 

22 subpoena or order is the subject of this Protective Order. In addition, the Receiving Party must 

23 deliver a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order promptly to the Party in the other action that 

24 caused the subpoena or order to issue. 

25 The purpose of imposing these duties is to alert the interested parties to the existence 

26 of this Protective Order and to afford the Designating Party in this case an opportunity to try to 

10 

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1 protect its confidentiality interests in the court from which the subpoena or order issued. The 

2 Designating Party shall bear the burdens and the expenses of seeking protection in that court of its 

3 confidential material – and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or 

4 encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 

5 

6 9. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 

7 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 

8 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, 

9 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 

10 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the 

11 person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) 

12 request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that 

13 is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 

14 

15 10. FILING PROTECTED MATERIAL. Without written permission from the Designating 

16 Party or a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file 

17 in the public record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 

18 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. 

19 

20 11. FINAL DISPOSITION. Unless otherwise ordered or agreed in writing by the Producing 

21 Party, within sixty days after the final termination of this action, each Receiving Party must return all 

22 Protected Material to the Producing Party. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” 

23 includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other form of reproducing or capturing 

24 any of the Protected Material. With permission in writing from the Designating Party, the Receiving 

25 Party may destroy some or all of the Protected Material instead of returning it. Whether the 

26 Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to 

27 the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the sixty day 

28 deadline that identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned 

11 

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1 or destroyed and that affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 

2 compilations, summaries or other forms of reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 

3 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, 

4 motion papers, transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence or attorney work product, even if such 

5 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected 

6 Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION), above. 

7 

8 12. MISCELLANEOUS 

9 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person 

10 to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 

11 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective 

12 Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 

13 information or item on any ground not addressed in this St ipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 

14 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by 

15 this Protective Order. 

16 

17 

18 DATED: ________________________ _____________________________________ ___ 19 United States District Magistrate Judge Lloyd 

20 

21 

22 

23 

12 

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1 

EXHIBIT A 

2 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 

3 

4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print 

5 or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand 

6 the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Northern 

7 District of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the

8 number and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all 

9 the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 

10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise 

11 that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated 

12 Protective 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 Northern 

14 District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even 

15 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 number] 

18 as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related 

19 to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 

20 

21 Date: _________________________________ 

22 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 

23 Printed name: ______________________________ 

[printed name] 

24 

Signature: __________________________________ 

25 [signature] 

26 

27 

28 

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