Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_08-cv-00500/USCOURTS-casd-3_08-cv-00500-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 790
Nature of Suit: Other Labor Litigation
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-Petition for Removal

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ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

 08-CV-0500 JM RBB

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

CHRISTOPHER CLARK, JAMES RENICK, 

and VICTOR WHITAKER, individuals, 

Plaintiffs,

v.

CHASE HOME FINANCE, LLC, a Delaware 

LLC doing business in California; CHASE 

MANHATTAN MORTGAGE 

CORPORATION, a New Jersey corporation 

doing business in California; and DOES 1-25, 

Defendants.

Case No. 08-CV-0500 JM RBB 

ORDER GRANTING JOINT 

MOTION FOR STIPULATED 

PROTECTIVE ORDER RE USE OF 

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AS 

MODIFIED BY THE COURT [DOC. 

NO. 52]

The Court recognizes that at least some of the documents and information (“materials”) 

being sought through discovery in the above-captioned action are, for competitive reasons, 

normally kept confidential by the parties. The parties have agreed to be bound by the terms of 

this Protective Order (“Order”) in this action. 

The materials to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation between the parties 

may contain trade secret or other confidential research, technical, cost, price, marketing or other 

commercial information, as is contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(7). The 

purpose of this Order is to protect the confidentiality of such materials as much as practical 

during the litigation. THEREFORE: 

Case 3:08-cv-00500-JM-RBB Document 53 Filed 01/28/09 Page 1 of 11
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DEFINITIONS

1. The term “Confidential Information” shall mean and include information 

contained or disclosed in any materials, including documents, portions of documents, answers to 

interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, trial testimony, deposition testimony, and 

transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, including data, summaries, and compilations 

derived therefrom that is deemed to be Confidential Information by any party to which it belongs. 

2. The term “materials” shall include, but shall not be limited to: documents; 

correspondence; memoranda; bulletins; blueprints; specifications; customer lists or other material 

that identify customers or potential customers; price lists or schedules or other matter identifying 

pricing; minutes; telegrams; letters; statements; cancelled checks; contracts; invoices; drafts; 

books of account; worksheets; notes of conversations; desk diaries; appointment books; expense 

accounts; recordings; photographs; motion pictures; compilations from which information can be 

obtained and translated into reasonably usable form through detection devices; sketches; 

drawings; notes (including laboratory notebooks and records); reports; instructions; disclosures; 

other writings; models and prototypes and other physical objects. 

3. The term “counsel” shall mean outside counsel of record, and other attorneys, 

paralegals, secretaries, and other support staff employed in the law firms identified below: 

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP 

United Employees Law Group, P.C. 

“Counsel” shall also include in-house attorneys for Defendants Chase Home Finance, 

LLC (on behalf of itself and as successor in interest to Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation). 

GENERAL RULES

4. Each party to this litigation that produces or discloses any materials, answers to 

interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, trial testimony, deposition testimony, and 

transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, or information that the producing party believes 

should be subject to this Protective Order may designate the same as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 

Designation as “CONFIDENTIAL”: Any party may designate information as 

“CONFIDENTIAL” only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its counsel, the unrestricted 

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

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disclosure of such information could be potentially prejudicial to the business or operations of 

such party. 

5. In the event the producing party elects to produce materials for inspection, no 

marking need be made by the producing party in advance of the initial inspection. For purposes 

of the initial inspection, all materials produced shall be considered as “CONFIDENTIAL” and 

shall be treated as such pursuant to the terms of this Order. Thereafter, upon selection of 

specified materials for copying by the inspecting party, the producing party shall, within a 

reasonable time prior to producing those materials to the inspecting party, mark the copies of 

those materials that contain Confidential Information with the appropriate confidentiality 

marking. 

6. Whenever a deposition taken on behalf of any party involves a disclosure of 

Confidential Information of any party: 

a. said deposition or portions thereof shall be designated as containing 

Confidential Information subject to the provisions of this Order; 

such designation shall be made on the record whenever possible, 

but a party may designate portions of depositions as containing 

Confidential Information after transcription of the proceedings; a 

party shall have until fifteen (15) days after receipt of the deposition 

transcript to inform the other party or parties to the action of the 

portions of the transcript designated “CONFIDENTIAL;”

b. the disclosing party shall have the right to exclude from attendance 

at said deposition, during such time as the Confidential Information 

is to be disclosed, any person other than the deponent, counsel 

(including their staff and associates), the court reporter, and the 

person(s) agreed upon pursuant to paragraph 9 below; and 

c. the originals of said deposition transcripts and all copies thereof 

shall bear the legend “CONFIDENTIAL,” as appropriate, and the 

original or any copy ultimately presented to a court for filing shall 

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not be filed unless it can be accomplished under seal, identified as 

being subject to this Order, and protected from being opened except 

by order of this Court. 

7. All Confidential Information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” shall not be 

disclosed by the receiving party to anyone other than those persons designated herein and shall be 

handled in the manner set forth below and, in any event, shall not be used for any purpose other 

than in connection with this litigation, unless and until such designation is removed either by 

agreement of the parties, or by order of the Court. 

8. The right of any independent expert to receive any Confidential Information shall 

be subject to the independent expert signing the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, in advance of 

providing any Confidential Information of the producing party to the expert.

9. Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL” shall be viewed only by the receiving 

party, counsel (as defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, by independent experts (pursuant 

to the terms of paragraph 8), and by the additional individuals listed below, provided each such 

individual has read this Order in advance of disclosure and has agreed in writing to be bound by 

its terms: 

a. Executives who are required to participate in policy decisions with 

reference to this action; 

b Principals, officers, employees, agents or representatives of the 

parties with whom Counsel for the parties find it necessary to 

consult, in the discretion of such counsel, in preparation for trial of 

this action; 

c Stenographic and clerical employees associated with the individuals 

identified above; 

d. Witnesses in connection with this litigation; and 

e. Any mediator hired by the parties to assist in resolving this case. 

No person shall make any disclosure of Confidential Information to any person falling within 

categories (b) or (d) of this paragraph without first obtaining from any such person a signed 

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statement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit “A.” Either party may request of the other a 

copy (if any) of said signed statement(s) to counsel. Either party may request of the other a copy 

(if any) of said signed statement(s) to counsel. The other party must promptly comply with such 

a request by providing copies of the signed statement(s) by telecopier or other appropriate means, 

and in no event beyond five (5) business days of such a request. If a party objects to the 

disclosure of information to a particular person, the Stipulating Party objecting to such disclosure 

shall have five days to seek a protective order from the Court barring such disclosure and no such 

disclosure shall be made until further order of the Court. 

10. With respect to material designated “CONFIDENTIAL,” any person indicated on 

the face of the document to be its originator, author or a recipient of a copy thereof, may be 

shown the same. 

11. All information which has been designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” by the 

producing or disclosing party, and any and all reproductions thereof, shall be retained in the 

custody of the counsel for the receiving party identified in paragraph 3, except that independent 

experts authorized to view such information under the terms of this Order may retain custody of 

copies such as are necessary for their participation in this litigation. 

12. Before any materials produced in discovery, answers to interrogatories, responses 

to requests for admissions, deposition transcripts, or other documents which are designated as 

Confidential Information are filed with the Court for any purpose, the party seeking to file such 

material shall seek permission of the Court to file said material under seal. 

No items will be filed under seal without a prior application to, and order from, the judge 

presiding over the hearing or trial. Only when the judge presiding over the hearing or trial 

permits filing an item or items under seal may confidential material filed with the Court be filed 

in a sealed envelope or other container marked on the outside with the caption of this action and 

the following statement: 

 “CONFIDENTIAL – SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER” 

If any person fails to file protected documents or information under seal, any party to this lawsuit 

may request that the Court place the filing under seal. 

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 Whenever the Court grants a party permission to file an item under seal, a duplicate 

disclosing all nonconfidential information shall be filed and made part of the public record. The 

item may be redacted to eliminate confidential material from the public document. The public 

document shall be titled to show that it corresponds to an item filed under seal, e.g., “Redacted 

Copy of Sealed Declaration of John Smith in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment.” The 

sealed and redacted documents shall be filed simultaneously. 

13. At any stage of these proceedings, any party may object to a designation of the 

materials as Confidential Information. The party objecting to confidentiality shall notify, in 

writing, counsel for the designating party of the objected-to materials and the grounds for the 

objection. If the dispute is not resolved consensually between the parties within seven (7) 

business days of receipt of such a notice of objections, the objecting party may move the Court 

for a ruling on the objection. The materials at issue shall be treated as Confidential Information, 

as designated by the designating party, until the Court has ruled on the objection or the matter has 

been otherwise resolved. 

14. All Confidential Information shall be held in confidence by those inspecting or 

receiving it, and shall be used only for purposes of this action. Counsel for each party, and each 

person receiving Confidential Information shall take reasonable precautions to prevent the 

unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such information. If Confidential Information is 

disclosed to any person other than a person authorized by this Order, the party responsible for the 

unauthorized disclosure must immediately bring all pertinent facts relating to the unauthorized 

disclosure to the attention of the other parties and, without prejudice to any rights and remedies of 

the other parties, make every effort to prevent further disclosure by the party and by the person(s) 

receiving the unauthorized disclosure. 

15. No party shall be responsible to another party for disclosure of Confidential 

Information under this Order if the information in question is not labeled or otherwise identified 

as such in accordance with this Order. 

16. If a party, through inadvertence, produces any Confidential Information without 

labeling or marking or otherwise designating it as such in accordance with this Order, the 

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- 7 - ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

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designating party may give written notice to the receiving party that the document or thing 

produced is deemed Confidential Information, and that the document or thing produced should be 

treated as such in accordance with that designation under this Order. The receiving party must 

treat the materials as confidential, once the designating party so notifies the receiving party. If 

the receiving party has disclosed the materials before receiving the designation, the receiving 

party must notify the designating party in writing of each such disclosure. Counsel for the parties 

shall agree on a mutually acceptable manner of labeling or marking the inadvertently produced 

materials as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL –SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE 

ORDER.” 

17. Nothing herein shall prejudice the right of any party to object to the production of 

any discovery material on the grounds that the material is protected as privileged or as attorney 

work product. 

18. Nothing in this Order shall bar counsel from rendering advice to their clients with 

respect to this litigation and, in the course thereof, relying upon any information designated as 

Confidential Information, provided that the contents of the information shall not be disclosed. 

19. This Order shall be without prejudice to the right of any party to oppose 

production of any information for lack of relevance or any other ground other than the mere 

presence of Confidential Information. The existence of this Order shall not be used by either 

party as a basis for discovery that is otherwise improper under the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure.

20. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent disclosure of Confidential 

Information if such disclosure is required by law or by order of the Court. 

21. Upon final termination of this action, including any and all appeals, counsel for 

each party shall, upon request of the producing party, return all Confidential Information to the 

party that produced the information, including any copies, excerpts, and summaries thereof, or 

shall destroy same at the option of the receiving party, and shall purge all such information from 

all machine-readable media on which it resides. Notwithstanding the foregoing, counsel for each 

party may retain all pleadings, briefs, memoranda, motions, and other documents filed with the 

Case 3:08-cv-00500-JM-RBB Document 53 Filed 01/28/09 Page 7 of 11
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- 8 - ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR

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Court that refer to or incorporate Confidential Information, and will continue to be bound by this 

Order with respect to all such retained information. Further, attorney work product materials that 

contain Confidential Information need not be destroyed, but, if they are not destroyed, the person 

in possession of the attorney work product will continue to be bound by this Order with respect to 

all such retained information. 

22. The restrictions and obligations set forth herein shall not apply to any information 

that: (a) the parties agree should not be designated Confidential Information; (b) the parties agree, 

or the Court rules, is already public knowledge; (c) the parties agree, or the Court rules, has 

become public knowledge other than as a result of disclosure by the receiving party, its 

employees, or its agents in violation of this Order; or (d) has come or shall come into the 

receiving party’s legitimate knowledge independently of the production by the designating party. 

Prior knowledge must be established by pre-production documentation. 

23. The restrictions and obligations herein shall not be deemed to prohibit discussions 

of any Confidential Information with anyone if that person already has or obtains legitimate 

possession thereof. 

24. Transmission by facsimile is acceptable for all notification purposes herein. 

25. This Order may be modified by agreement of the parties, subject to approval by 

the Court. 

26. The Court may modify the terms and conditions of this Order for good cause, or in 

the interest of justice, or on its own order at any time in these proceedings. The parties prefer that 

the Court provide them with notice of the Court’s intent to modify the Order and the content of 

those modifications, prior to entry of such an order. 

///

///

///

///

///

///

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- 9 - ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR

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 27. The parties agree to enter into this Stipulation pending an Order hereon by the 

Court and to abide by all terms of this Stipulation as to any Confidential Information produced 

prior to the Court entering its Order hereon, irrespective of whether the Court has issued, or ever 

issues, a signed Order. 

Dated: January 14, 2009 ANDREW R. LIVINGSTON

ERIN M. CONNELL 

ORRICK, HERRINGTON & SUTCLIFFE LLP 

BY: s/Erin M. Connell 

Erin M. Connell 

Attorneys for Defendants 

E-mail: econnell@orrick.com 

Dated: January 14, 2009 GREGORY A. DOUGLAS 

 UNITED EMPLOYEES LAW GROUP, P.C. 

BY: s/Gregory A. Douglas 

Gregory A. Douglas 

Attorneys for Plaintiffs 

E-mail: gdouglas@hainesfirm.com 

IT IS SO ORDERED this 28th day of January, 2009. 

The Honorable Ruben B. Brooks 

Magistrate Judge, United States District Court 

Th H bl R b B B k

Case 3:08-cv-00500-JM-RBB Document 53 Filed 01/28/09 Page 9 of 11
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ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

 08-CV-0500 JM RBB

EXHIBIT A 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

CHRISTOPHER CLARK, JAMES RENICK, 

and VICTOR WHITAKER, individuals, 

Plaintiffs,

v.

CHASE HOME FINANCE, LLC, a Delaware 

LLC doing business in California; CHASE 

MANHATTAN MORTGAGE 

CORPORATION, a New Jersey corporation 

doing business in California; and DOES 1-25, 

Defendants.

Case No. 08-CV-0500 JM RBB 

AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY 

PROTECTIVE ORDER 

I, __________________________________ , declare and say that: 

1. I am employed as ______________________________________________ by 

______________________________________________________________________.

2. I have read the Protective Order entered in Christopher Clark, James Renick, and 

Victor Whitaker v. Chase Home Finance, LLC, and Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation,

Case No. 08-CV-0500 JM RBB, and have received a copy of the Protective Order. 

3. I promise that I will use any and all “Confidential” or “Confidential – For Counsel 

Only” information, as defined in the Protective Order, given to me only in a manner authorized 

by the Protective Order, and only to assist counsel in the litigation of this matter. 

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- 2 - ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR

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4. I promise that I will not disclose or discuss such “Confidential” or “Confidential – 

For Counsel Only” information with anyone other than the persons described in paragraphs 3, 8 

and 9 of the Protective Order. 

5. I acknowledge that, by signing this agreement, I am subjecting myself to the 

jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California with respect 

to enforcement of the Protective Order. 

6. I understand that any disclosure or use of “Confidential” or “Confidential – For 

Counsel Only” information in any manner contrary to the provisions of the Protective Order may 

subject me to sanctions for contempt of court. 

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. 

Date:_______________________________

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