UTC Residential Owner, LLC v. Pacific Rim Mechanical Contractors, Inc.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
UTC RESIDENTIAL OWNER LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.
PACIFIC RIM MECHANICAL
CONTRACTORS, INC.,
Defendant.
Case No.: 25-cv-3099-AJB-SBC
ORDER GRANTING JOINT
MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE
ORDER AS MODIFIED BY THE
COURT [DKT. NO. 10]
The parties’ joint motion for protective order is GRANTED and the stipulated
terms, as set forth in the joint motion, (see Dkt. No. 10), and below are hereby adopted
and entered as an order of this Court.1
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 and privacy 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.
1 The Court has modified Paragraphs 11 and 12 in accordance with Magistrate Judge
Chu’s Civil Chambers Rules.
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The materials to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation between the
parties is 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 pursuing this litigation may be warranted. Therefore, the parties to this action agree
and stipulate as follows:
GOOD CAUSE
Good cause exists to justify the issuance of this Protective Order 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 to otherwise serve the ends of justice.
DEFINITIONS
1. 	The term “confidential information” will mean and include information
(regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) 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” will include, but is 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
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other physical objects.
3. 	The term “counsel” will mean outside counsel of record, and other attorneys,
paralegals, secretaries, and other support staff employed in the law firms identified below:
a. 	Jones Turner, P.C.
b. The Aguilera Law Group, APC
c. 	In house attorneys for Plaintiff UTC Residential Owner, LLC
d. In-house attorneys for Defendant Pacific Rim Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
e. 	In-house attorneys for any entity that insures either party herein with respect
to the claims asserted in this action
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”. A party may designate information as “CONFIDENTIAL” only
if, in the good faith belief of such party and its counsel, the unrestricted 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 	will 	be 	considered 	as
“CONFIDENTIAL,” and must be treated as such pursuant to the terms of this Order.
Thereafter, upon selection of specified materials for copying by the inspecting party or
upon actual production, the producing party must, 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. 	the deposition or portions of the deposition must be designated as
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containing confidential information subject to the provisions of this
Order; such designation must 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 will have until fourteen (14) days after receipt of the deposition
transcript to inform the other party or parties to the action of the
portions of the transcript to be designated “CONFIDENTIAL”.
b. 	the disclosing party will have the right to exclude from attendance at
the 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 8 below; and
c. 	the originals 	of 	the deposition 	transcripts 	and 	all 	copies 	of 	the
deposition must bear the legend “CONFIDENTIAL”, and the original
or any copy ultimately presented to a court for filing must 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” must not be
disclosed by the receiving party to anyone other than those persons designated within this
order and must be handled in the manner set forth below and, in any event, must 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. 	Information designated “CONFIDENTIAL” must be viewed only by counsel
(as defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, by independent experts (who have
reviewed and signed the model confidentiality agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A), by
court personnel, 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
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bound by its terms:
a) 	Executives who are required to participate in policy decisions with
reference to this action;
b) 	Technical personnel 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) 	Claims adjusting personnel of any insurer for either party to this action;
d) 	Stenographic and clerical employees associated with the individuals
identified above;
e) 	Any neutral or mediator engaged by the parties for purposes of
resolving this matter.
9. 	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 of
the document, may be shown the same.
10. 	All information which has been designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” by the
producing or disclosing party, and any and all reproductions of that information, must 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.
11. 	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 must seek permission of the Court to file the material under
seal.
a. 	No document shall be filed under seal unless counsel secures a court order
allowing the filing of a document under seal. An application to file a document under
seal shall be served on opposing counsel, and on the person who has or entity that
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has custody and control of the document, if different from opposing counsel. If
opposing counsel, or the person who has or entity who has custody and control of
the document, wishes to oppose the application, they must contact the chambers of
the judge who will rule on the application, to notify the judge’s staff that an
opposition to the application will be filed.
12. 	At any stage of these proceedings, any party may object to a designation of
the materials as confidential information. The party objecting to confidentiality must
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,
the parties must follow the procedures set forth in the assigned Magistrate Judge’s
Chambers Rules regarding resolution of discovery disputes. The materials at issue must 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.
13. 	All confidential information must be held in confidence by those inspecting
or receiving it, and must be used only for purposes of this action. Counsel for each party,
and each person receiving confidential information must 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.
14. 	No party will 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.
15. 	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 designating party may give written notice to the receiving party that the
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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 will agree on a mutually acceptable manner
of labeling or marking the inadvertently produced materials as “CONFIDENTIAL” -
SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER.
16. 	Nothing within this order will 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.
17. 	Nothing in this Order will 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 must
not be disclosed.
18. 	This Order will 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 must not be used by either
party as a basis for discovery that is otherwise improper under the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure.
19. 	Nothing 	within 	this 	order 	will 	be 	construed 	to 	prevent 	disclosure 	of
confidential information if such disclosure is required by law or by order of the Court.
20. 	Upon final termination of this action, including any and all appeals, counsel
for each party must, upon request of the producing party, return all confidential information
to the party that produced the information, including any copies, excerpts, and summaries
of that information, or must destroy same at the option of the receiving party, and must
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,
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memoranda, motions, and other documents filed with the 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.
21. 	The restrictions and obligations set forth within this order will not apply to
any information that: (a) the parties agree in writing should not be designated confidential
information; (b) the parties agree in writing, or the Court rules, is already public
knowledge; (c) the parties agree in writing, 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 will 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.
22. 	The restrictions and obligations within this order will not be deemed to
prohibit discussions of any confidential information with anyone if that person already has
or obtains legitimate possession of that information.
23. 	Transmission 	by 	email 	or 	some 	other 	currently 	utilized 	method 	of
transmission is acceptable for all notification purposes within this Order.
24. 	This Order may be modified by agreement of the parties, subject to approval
by the Court.
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25. 	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.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: January 20, 2026
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