Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_20-cv-02485/USCOURTS-caed-2_20-cv-02485-1/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Deana Farley
Plaintiff
Lincoln Benefit Life Company
Defendant

Document Text:

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

CASE NO. 2:20-CV-02485-KJM DB

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FAEGRE DRINKER 

BIDDLE & REATH LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

NICHOLAS & TOMASEVIC, LLP 

Craig M. Nicholas (SBN 178444) 

cnicholas@nicholaslaw.org

Alex Tomasevic (SBN 245598) 

atomasevic@nicholaslaw

225 Broadway, 19th Floor 

San Diego, California 92101 

Telephone: 619-325-0492 

WINTERS & ASSOCIATES

Jack B. Winters, Jr. (SBN 82998)

jackbwinters@earthlink.net

Georg M. Capielo (SBN 245491)

gcapielo@einsurelaw.com

Sarah Ball (SBN 292337)

sball@einsurelaw.com

8489 La Mesa Boulevard

La Mesa, California 91942

Telephone: 619-234-9000

Attorneys for Plaintiff 

DEANA FARLEY

FAEGRE DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP

Tarifa B. Laddon (SBN 240419)

tarifa.laddon@faegredrinker.com

1800 Century Park East, Suite 1500

Los Angeles, California 90067

Telephone: 310-203-4000

Katherine Villanueva (pro hac vice)

kate.villanueva@faegredrinker.com

One Logan Square, Suite 2000

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Telephone: 215-988-2700

Kristen Reilly (pro hac vice)

kristen.reilly@faegredrinker.com

1500 K Street, N.W., Suite 1100

Washington, DC 20005

Telephone: 202-230-5000

Attorneys for Defendant

LINCOLN BENEFIT LIFE COMPANY

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

DEANA FARLEY, Individually, and on 

Behalf of the Class, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

LINCOLN BENEFIT LIFE COMPANY, a 

Nebraska Corporation.

Defendant.

No. 2:20-cv-2485 KJM DB

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

GOVERNING THE PRODUCTION AND 

EXCHANGE OF CONFIDENTIAL 

INFORMATION

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FAEGRE DRINKER 

BIDDLE & REATH LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

Disclosure and discovery in the above-captioned action are likely to involve production of 

confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 

and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, 

the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective 

Order (“Order”). The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 

disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 

use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under 

the applicable legal principles. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, 

that this Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal or with redactions; 

Civil Local Rules 140 (redaction) and 141 (sealing) sets forth the procedures that must be followed 

and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file redacted 

material or material under seal.

1.1. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

In the course of litigating and taking discovery in the action, the Parties, or Non-Parties in 

connection with the action, may need to produce competitively sensitive, confidential, and 

proprietary business information and/or private personal, medical, or financial information, 

including the following categories:

(a) commercially sensitive and proprietary internal, financial or actuarial 

material;

(b) non-public personal identifying information (including, addresses, social 

security numbers and dates of birth), and health and financial information relating to the policy or 

policies at issue in this action, the disclosure of which would potentially violate state and federal 

privacy laws, including but not limited to the California Insurance Information and Privacy 

Protection Act, Cal. Ins. Code § 791, et seq., the California Financial Information Protection Act, 

Cal. Fin. Code § 4050, et seq., and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. 6801, et seq.

(c) documents that reveal confidential financial information about a party’s 

business or commercial information about a party’s business that is not available to 

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FAEGRE DRINKER 

BIDDLE & REATH LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

the public or its competitors, which if disclosed could place the party at a competitive 

disadvantage; and

(d) commercially sensitive and proprietary, confidential information that constitutes, 

discusses or reflects trade secrets entitled to protection under various laws and 

regulations, including but not limited to California’s Uniform Trade Secret Act.

Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of 

disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are 

entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the Parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 

such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 

litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 

matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical 

reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in 

a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 

record of this case.

2. DEFINITIONS

2.1 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 

information or items under this Order.

2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how it is 

generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of 

Civil Procedure 26(c) and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement.

2.3 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their support 

staff).

2.4 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 

produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 

2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of the 

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

testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or 

responses to discovery in this matter.

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

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BIDDLE & REATH LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

2.6 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to 

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

consultant in this action.

2.7 House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this action and attorneys 

on behalf of Allstate Life Insurance Company (“Allstate”)1, as Allstate administers certain Lincoln 

Benefit Life Company policies. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any 

other outside counsel.

2.8 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 

entity not named as a Party to this action.

2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party to this action 

but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action on behalf 

of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party.

2.10 Party: Any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 

consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).

2.11 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 

Material in this action.

2.12 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support services 

(e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, 

storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.

2.13 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 

“CONFIDENTIAL.” 

2.14 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 

Producing Party.

3. SCOPE

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

(as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all 

1 On November 1, 2021, Allstate was acquired by Everlake US Holdings Company. Allstate is 

therefore now known as Everlake Life Insurance Company. 

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BIDDLE & REATH LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 

conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 

However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following 

information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving 

Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of 

publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record 

through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the 

disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the 

information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. 

Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This 

Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

4. DURATION

Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this 

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

otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and 

defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion 

and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the 

time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.

5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 

Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to 

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

Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or 

oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents, 

items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 

the ambit of this Order. If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that 

it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify 

all other Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.

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BIDDLE & REATH LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

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

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

Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 

designated before the material is disclosed or produced.

Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 

excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party 

affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion 

or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 

identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection 

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

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

material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting 

Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 

determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 

before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” 

legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on 

a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 

(e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

(b) for testimony given in depositions, the information disclosed therein, and the 

transcripts thereof shall presumptively be treated as CONFIDENTIAL and subject to this Order 

during the deposition and for a period of thirty (30) days after a transcript of said deposition is 

received by Counsel for each Party. At or before the end of such thirty-day period, the deposition 

shall be classified appropriately by notifying all of the Parties in writing of the specific pages and 

lines of the transcript which should be treated as CONFIDENTIAL thereafter.

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

tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or 

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BIDDLE & REATH LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a 

portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent 

practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).

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

designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 

right 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.

6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 

confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality 

designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic burdens, 

or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to challenge a 

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

designation is disclosed.

6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 

by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each 

challenge. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must begin the 

process by conferring within 14 days of the date of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging 

Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper and 

must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the 

circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen 

designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it 

has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that the Designating Party is 

unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely manner.

6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 

intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality within 21 

days of the initial notice of challenge or within 14 days of the parties agreeing that the meet and 

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BIDDLE & REATH LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

confer process will not resolve their dispute, whichever is earlier. Each such motion must be 

accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the meet and 

confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. 

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

Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary 

expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 

Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion to retain 

confidentiality as described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the 

level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the court rules 

on the challenge.

7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 

DISPOSITION).

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

a secure and safe manner and that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this 

Order. 

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

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

information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

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

of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information 

for this litigation;

(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving 

Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation;

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(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is 

reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement 

to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

(d) the court and its personnel;

(e) court reporters and their staff;

(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom 

disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 

Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

(g) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the action to whom 

disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness sign the 

“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); and (2) they will not be permitted to 

keep any CONFIDENTIAL Information unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or 

ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 

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

anyone except as permitted under this Order.

(h) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or 

other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.

(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed 

upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions;

(j) any other person agreed to by the Parties.

8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER 

LITIGATION 

If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 

disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party 

must: 

(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a 

copy of the subpoena or court order; 

(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the 

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ATTORNEYS AT LAW

LOS ANGELES

other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this 

Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Order; and 

(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 

Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.

If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena 

or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” 

before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has 

obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and 

expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these 

provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to 

disobey a lawful directive from another court.

9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS 

LITIGATION

(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in 

this action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in 

connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing 

in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 

protections. 

(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a NonParty’s CONFIDENTIAL information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement 

with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s CONFIDENTIAL information, then the Party 

shall: 

(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or 

all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;

(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Order in this action, the 

relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information requested; 

and

(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if 

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requested. 

(c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within 14 

days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the 

Non-Party’s CONFIDENTIAL information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party 

timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its 

possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 

determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden 

and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 

10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Order, the Receiving Party 

must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use 

its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 

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

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

attached hereto as Exhibit A.

11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED 

MATERIAL

When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced 

material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, or if the Receiving Party receives 

documents or other forms of information from the Producing Party that, upon inspection or review, 

potentially appears, in any respect, to contain or constitute material subject to a claim of privilege,

the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 

26(b)(5)(B). Notwithstanding the above, the Receiving Party may object to claw back of the 

inadvertently produced material within 10 days of any notification or discovery, in which case the 

Parties will meet and confer in good faith as to the reasons for claw back and try to reach resolution 

(e.g. partial redaction). If the Parties cannot reach resolution, then the Producing Party will file a 

motion for relief with the Court. This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may 

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be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. 

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on 

the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege 

or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement into this Order and submit 

the revised version to the court.

12. MISCELLANEOUS

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

its modification by the court in the future.

12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Order no Party 

waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or 

item on any ground not addressed in this Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 

any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Order.

12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file any Protected Material with 

redactions or under seal must comply with Civil Local Rules 140 and 141. 

13. FINAL DISPOSITION

Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, each 

Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. 

As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 

summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether 

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

certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) 

by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material 

that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 

abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 

Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 

pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 

correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant 

and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies 

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ATTORNEYS AT LAW

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that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 

Section 4 (DURATION).

IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

ORDER

Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT:

1. Requests to seal documents shall be made by motion before the same judge who will 

decide the matter related to that request to seal.

2. The designation of documents (including transcripts of testimony) as confidential 

pursuant to this order does not automatically entitle the parties to file such a document with the 

court under seal. Parties are advised that any request to seal documents in this district is governed 

DATED: February 1, 2022 NICHOLAS & TOMASEVIC, LLP

By: /s/ Craig M. Nicholas

CRAIG M. NICHOLAS 

ALEX TOMASEVIC

DATED: February 1, 2022 WINTERS & ASSOCIATES

JACK B. WINTERS, JR. 

GEORG M. CAPIELO

SARAH BALL

Attorneys for Plaintiff 

DEANA FARLEY

DATED: February 1, 2022 FAEGRE DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP

By: /s/ Tarifa B. Laddon

TARIFA B. LADDON

KATHERINE VILLANUEVA (pro hac vice)

KRISTEN REILLY (pro hac vice)

Attorneys for Defendant 

LINCOLN BENEFIT LIFE COMPANY

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 

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by Local Rule 141. In brief, Local Rule 141 provides that documents may only be sealed by a 

written order of the court after a specific request to seal has been made. L.R. 141(a). However, a 

mere request to seal is not enough under the local rules. In particular, Local Rule 141(b) requires 

that “[t]he ‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory or other authority for sealing, 

the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be permitted access to the 

document, and all relevant information.” L.R. 141(b).

3. A request to seal material must normally meet the high threshold of showing that 

“compelling reasons” support secrecy; however, where the material is, at most, “tangentially 

related” to the merits of a case, the request to seal may be granted on a showing of “good cause.” 

Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096-1102 (9th Cir. 2016); 

Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-80 (9th Cir. 2006).

4. Nothing in this order shall limit the testimony of parties or non-parties, or the use of 

certain documents, at any court hearing or trial – such determinations will only be made by the 

court at the hearing or trial, or upon an appropriate motion.

5. With respect to motions regarding any disputes concerning this protective order which 

the parties cannot informally resolve, the parties shall follow the procedures outlined in Local 

Rule 251. Absent a showing of good cause, the court will not hear discovery disputes on an ex 

parte basis or on shortened time.

6. The parties may not modify the terms of this Protective Order without the court’s 

approval. If the parties agree to a potential modification, they shall submit a stipulation and 

proposed order for the court’s consideration.

7. Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(f), the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement 

of the terms of this Protective Order after the action is terminated.

8. Any provision in the parties’ stipulation that is in conflict with anything in this order is 

hereby DISAPPROVED.

DATED: February 3, 2022 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES 

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

I, ___________________________ [print or type full name], of 

__________________________________________________ [print or type full address], declare 

under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective 

Order (“Order”) that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of 

California on [date] in the case of Farley v. Lincoln Benefit Life Co., Case No. 2:20-cv-02485-

KJM (DBx) (E.D. Cal.). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Order, and 

I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and 

punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 

any information or item that is subject to this Order to any person or entity except in strict 

compliance with the provisions of this Order.

I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the

Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Order, even if such 

enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.

I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 

_______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] 

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

related to enforcement of this Order.

Date: ______________________________________

City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

Printed name: _______________________________

Signature: __________________________________

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