Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_24-cv-01150/USCOURTS-caed-1_24-cv-01150-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 850
Nature of Suit: Securities, Commodities, Exchange
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question: Securities Violation

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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 

ORDER

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

FRESNO DIVISION

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND 

EXCHANGE COMMISSION,

Plaintiff,

v.

ROBERT M. VANCE,

Defendant.

Case No. 1:24-CV-01150-BAM

[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

The Court hereby enters the following Protective Order governing the disclosure of 

confidential information by a producing party in this litigation.

1. DEFINITIONS

a. Action refers to the above-captioned litigation.

b. Discovery Material includes all items or information, regardless of the 

medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 

among other things, testimony adduced during any hearing, deposition 

transcripts and/or videotapes, any documents produced, answers to 

interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, affidavits, declarations, 

Case 1:24-cv-01150-BAM Document 9 Filed 12/26/24 Page 1 of 8
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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 

ORDER

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and all other information or material that are produced or generated in 

disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

c. Producing Party is a party or non-party to this Action that produces Discovery 

Material in this Action.

d. Receiving Party is a party to this Action that receives Discovery Material 

from a Producing Party in this Action.

2. SCOPE. 

a. Any Producing Party may designate as “Confidential” under the terms of this 

Order: 

i. Information concerning settlement discussions and mediation, 

including demands or offers, arising from a dispute between a party 

and a non-party;

ii. Discovery Materials containing personally identifying information of 

non-parties; 

iii. Records restricted or prohibited from disclosure by statute, rule, or 

law;

iv. Other sensitive material that the Producing Party contends contains 

confidential or proprietary information; and

v. Any information copied or extracted from the previously described 

materials, including all excerpts, summaries, or compilations of this 

information or testimony, and documentation of questioning, 

statements, conversations, or presentations that might reveal the 

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ORDER

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information contained within the underlying confidential Discovery 

Material.

b. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to limit any Producing Party’s use or 

disclosure, outside the context of this Action, of its own produced documents 

or information that are subject to this Order. 

c. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate 

agreement or order. 

3. MANNER OF CONFIDENTIAL DESIGNATION. A Producing Party shall affix a 

“CONFIDENTIAL” designation to any document containing confidential Discovery 

Material produced in this Action.

a. As to documentary information, the Producing Party must affix the legend 

“CONFDIENTIAL” to each page of the document that contains protected 

material.

b. For testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that 

the designating party identify on the record any protected testimony.

c. If it is not feasible to label confidential Discovery Material as 

CONFIDENTIAL, the Producing Party shall indicate via cover letter or 

otherwise at the time of production that the material being produced is 

CONFIDENTIAL.

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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 

ORDER

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4. QUALIFIED RECIPIENTS. 

a. For the purposes of this Protective Order, the only persons authorized to 

receive Discovery Material that a Producing Party has designated 

CONFIDENTIAL are the following categories of “Qualified Recipients”:

i. The parties to this Action;

ii. the SEC staff and Commissioners to whom disclosure is reasonably 

necessary for this litigation;

iii. Legal counsel representing the parties, and members of the paralegal, 

secretarial, or clerical staff who are employed by, retained by, or 

assisting such counsel; 

iv. Vendors who are retained by a party to this Action or their counsel to 

copy documents or electronic files, provide technical, litigation 

support, or mock trial services, or provide messenger or other 

administrative support services;

v. Any non-expert witness during any deposition or other proceeding in 

this Action, and counsel for that witness;

vi. Potential witnesses and their counsel, but only to the extent reasonably 

related to the anticipated subject matter of the potential witness’s 

deposition, trial, or hearing testimony for this Action;

vii. Consulting or testifying expert witnesses who will be providing 

professional opinions and assistance for this Action based upon a 

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ORDER

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review of the Discovery Material, and the staff and assistants 

employed by the consulting or testifying experts;

viii. Any mediator or arbitrator retained by the parties to assist with 

resolving and/or settling the claims of this Action and members of the 

arbitrator’s or mediator’s staff and assistants;

ix. Court reporters for depositions taken in this Action, including persons 

operating video recording equipment and persons preparing transcripts 

of testimony; and

x. The Court and its staff, any court reporter or typist recording or 

transcribing hearings and testimony, and jurors.

b. Discovery Material designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be held in 

confidence by each Qualified Recipient to whom it is disclosed, shall be used 

only for purposes of this action, and shall not be disclosed to any person who 

is not a Qualified Recipient. Each party, each Qualified Recipient, and all 

counsel representing any party, shall use their best efforts to maintain all 

information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” in such a manner as to prevent 

access by individuals who are not Qualified Recipients. 

5. LIMITATIONS ON USE. Confidential Discovery Material shall be used by the 

Receiving Party solely for the prosecution or defense of this Action and any appeals related 

to this Action, and not for any business, commercial, or competitive purpose. 

6. INADVERTENT FAILURES TO DESIGNATE. An inadvertent failure to designate 

qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Producing Party’s right 

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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 

ORDER

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to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 

designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is 

treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 

7. NON-WAIVER. The production of Discovery Material, whether inadvertent or 

otherwise, shall not constitute a waiver of any privilege or protection from discovery in this 

case or in any other federal or state proceeding. This Order shall be interpreted to provide 

the maximum protection allowed by Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d). Nothing contained 

herein is intended to or shall serve to limit a Party’s right to conduct a review of Discovery 

Materials for relevance, responsiveness and/or segregation of privileged and/or protected 

information before production.

8. CONSENT TO DISCLOSURE. Nothing herein prevents disclosure beyond the 

terms of this Protective Order if the party claiming confidentiality consents in writing to 

such disclosure. For example, a party seeking to publicly file in the docket of this Action a 

document deemed CONFIDENTIAL could solicit consent from the designating party.

9. SEC USES OF PROTECTED MATERIAL. Notwithstanding anything in this Order 

to the contrary, this Order does not:

a. apply to any documents, testimony, or other information produced to or 

received by the SEC during its pre-filing investigation, including documents 

previously marked as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL — FOIA 

EXEMPT,” unless (i) the SEC now designates the information as 

CONFIDENTIAL under this Order, or (ii) the original producing party now 

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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 

ORDER

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designates material they provided to the SEC in the pre-filing investigation as 

CONFIDENTIAL under this Order; 

b. limit or restrict the retention, use, or disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL 

information for any of the “Routine Uses of Information” identified in SEC 

Form 1662 (“Supplemental Information for Persons Requested to Supply 

Information Voluntarily or Directed to Supply Information Pursuant to a 

Commission Subpoena”), or as required for law enforcement activities or to 

otherwise regulate, administer, or enforce the federal securities laws; or 

c. limit or restrict the retention, use, or disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL 

information to the extent the SEC or its staff determines that such retention, 

use, or disclosure is required by the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 

552, et seq., or to fulfill the SEC’s recordkeeping, governmental reporting, or 

archival obligations.

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[PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 

ORDER

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Dated: December 20, 2024 

Respectfully submitted, 

DEFENDANT,

_____/s/Robert Vance__________________

Robert M. Vance, pro se

PO Box 415

Mi Wuk Village, CA 95346

Telephone: (209) 404-5498

Bobvance.vcm@gmail.com

ORDER

GOOD CAUSE APPEARING, the Court hereby approves this Stipulated 

Protective Order. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 26, 2024 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

PLAINTIFF U.S. SECURITIES 

AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION,

By: /s/ Ariella O. Guardi

Ariella Omholt Guardi 

Jedediah Forkner 

175 West Jackson Blvd.

Chicago, Illinois 60604

guardia@sec.gov

forknerj@sec.gov

Telephone: (312) 353-7390

Facsimile: (312) 353-7398

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