Duane Henderson v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Equifax Information Services, LLC, TransUnion, LLC, and Early Warning Services, LLC

Summary

This document is a proposed stipulated protective order in Duane Henderson v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc. et al., pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It governs the designation, use, disclosure, challenge, filing, and final disposition of confidential discovery materials. The order was stipulated through counsel on July 11, 2025, and includes an acknowledgment and agreement to be bound.

Holdings

1. Good cause having been shown, the court entered the parties' stipulated protective order to protect qualifying confidential discovery material from public disclosure and use for purposes unrelated to the litigation.
2. Material designated as confidential under the order may be used only to prosecute, defend, or attempt to settle the action and may be disclosed only to specified persons subject to the order's conditions.
3. A party or nonparty may challenge a confidentiality designation through the procedures in Local Rule 37, but the designating party bears the burden of persuasion and the material remains protected pending the court's ruling unless the designation is withdrawn or waived.
4. The protective order does not itself authorize filing confidential material under seal; a party must comply with Central District of California Local Rule 79-5 and obtain a court order authorizing sealing of the specific material.
5. The protective order's terms do not extend beyond commencement of trial, and court-filed information introduced at trial is presumptively public absent compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings.
6. After final disposition of the action, a receiving party must, upon written request and within 60 days, return or destroy protected material and provide written certification, subject to counsel's limited right to retain archival litigation files that remain subject to the order.

Questions Presented

1. Whether good cause supported entry of a stipulated protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c).
2. What procedures should govern designation, challenge, disclosure, use, filing, and final disposition of confidential discovery material.
3. Whether the protective order should preserve the parties' rights to seek sealing orders, assert discovery objections, and obtain sanctions or contempt remedies for violations.

Disposition

other