Securities and Exchange Commission v. Sripetch et al, No. 3:2020cv01864 - Document 144 (S.D. Cal. 2024)
Court Description: ORDER Granting Joint Motion Between Plaintiff and Defendant Wexler for Protective Order [ECF No. 143 ]. Signed by Magistrate Judge Bernard G. Skomal on 03/05/2024. (mjw)
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Securities and Exchange Commission v. Sripetch et al Doc. 144 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Case No.: Number 20-cv-1864-H-BGS 13 Plaintiff, 14 ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION BETWEEN PLAINTIFF AND DEFENDANT WEXLER FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER vs. ONGKARUCK SRIPETCH, AMANDA FLORES, BREHNEN KNIGHT, ANDREW MCALPINE, ASHMIT PATEL, MICHAEL WEXLER, DOMINIC WILLIAMS, [ECF No. 143] ADTRON INC. a/k/a STOCKPALOOZA.COM, ATG INC., DOIT, LTD., DOJI CAPITAL, INC., KING MUTUAL SOLUTIONS INC., OPTIMUS PRIME FINANCIAL INC., ORCA BRIDGE, REDLINE INTERNATIONAL, and UAIM CORPORATION, 11 12 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Defendants. 24 25 26 The Court recognizes that at least some of the documents and information 27 (“materials”) being sought through discovery in the above-captioned action are, for 28 investigative and privacy reasons, normally kept confidential by the parties. The Court 1 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS Dockets.Justia.com 1 therefore orders that the parties are to be bound by the terms of this Protective Order 2 (“Order”) in this action. 3 The materials to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation between the 4 parties may contain personally sensitive information or, with respect to third parties, any 5 personal identifying information, including an individual’s social security number, tax 6 identification number or tax return, home address or home telephone number, date of 7 birth, financial account number or statement as described in Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2 (“PII”) or 8 trade secret or other confidential research, technical, cost, price, marketing or other 9 commercial information, as is contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 10 11 26(c)(1)(G). The purpose of this Order is to protect the confidentiality of such materials as much as practical during the litigation. THEREFORE: 12 DEFINITIONS 13 1. The term “confidential information” will mean and include information 14 contained or disclosed in any materials, including documents, portions of documents, 15 16 answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, trial testimony, 17 deposition testimony, and transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, including data, 18 summaries, and compilations derived therefrom that is marked “CONFIDENTIAL” by 19 any party to which it belongs at the time of production. 20 2. The term “materials” will include, but is not be limited to: documents; 21 correspondence; memoranda; financial information, the true and/or assumed identity of 22 confidential sources and undercover agents, tax returns, credit card information, account 23 numbers, passwords, social security numbers and other forms of PII. 24 3. The term “counsel” will mean counsel of record, and other attorneys, paralegals, 25 secretaries, and other support staff employed by counsel of record or his/her employer 26 and any experts retained by counsel to assist in this litigation. 27 28 2 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS 1 2 GENERAL RULES 4. Each party to this litigation that produces or discloses any materials, answers to 3 interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, trial testimony, deposition testimony, 4 and transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, or information that the producing party 5 believes should be subject to this Protective Order may going forward designate the same 6 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Any party may designate information as “CONFIDENTIAL” at 7 the time of production only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its counsel, the 8 unrestricted disclosure of such information could be potentially prejudicial to the 9 business or operations of such party. 10 11 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 12 purposes of the initial inspection, counsel must notify the inspecting party if it should be 13 treated as “CONFIDENTIAL” pursuant to the terms of this Order. Thereafter, upon 14 selection of specified materials for copying by the inspecting party, the producing party 15 16 must, within a reasonable time prior to producing those materials to the inspecting party, 17 mark the copies of those materials that contain confidential information with the 18 appropriate confidentiality marking. 19 20 6. Whenever a deposition taken on behalf of any party involves a disclosure of confidential information of any party: 21 a. the portions of the deposition may be designated as containing 22 confidential information subject to the provisions of this Order, if materials 23 marked “CONFIDENTIAL” are introduced as an exhibit in the designated 24 portion and/or discussed by the witness; such designation must be made on 25 the record whenever possible, but a party may designate portions of 26 depositions as containing confidential information after transcription of the 27 proceedings; [A] party will have until fourteen (14) days after receipt of the 28 3 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS 1 deposition transcript to inform the other party or parties to the designation of 2 the portions of the transcript to be designated “CONFIDENTIAL.” 3 b. the disclosing party will have the right to exclude from attendance at the 4 deposition, during such time as the confidential information is to be 5 disclosed, any person other than the deponent, counsel (including their staff 6 and associates), the court reporter, and the person(s) agreed upon pursuant to 7 paragraph 8 below; and 8 c. the originals of the deposition transcripts and all copies of the deposition 9 must bear the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” as appropriate, and the original 10 11 or any copy ultimately presented to a court for filing must redacted to remove the portion(s) designated “CONFIDENTIAL.” 12 7. All confidential information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” must not be 13 disclosed by the receiving party to anyone other than those persons designated within this 14 order and must be handled in the manner set forth below and, in any event, must not be 15 16 used for any purpose other than in connection with this litigation, unless and until such 17 designation is removed either by agreement of the parties, or by order of the Court. 18 8. Information designated “confidential” must be viewed only by counsel (as 19 defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, by court personnel, and by the additional 20 individuals listed below, provided each such individual has read this Order in advance of 21 disclosure and has agreed in writing to be bound by its terms: 22 a. Executives and officers who are required to participate in policy decisions 23 with reference to this action; 24 b. Technical personnel of the parties with whom Counsel for the parties find 25 it necessary to consult, in the discretion of such counsel, in preparation for 26 trial of this action; and 27 c. Stenographic and clerical employees associated with the individuals 28 identified above. 4 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS 1 10. With respect to material designated “CONFIDENTIAL” any person indicated 2 on the face of the document to be its originator, author or a recipient of a copy of the 3 document, may be shown the same. 4 11. All information which has been designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” by the 5 producing or disclosing party, and any and all reproductions of that information, must be 6 retained in the custody of the counsel for the receiving party identified in paragraph 3, 7 except that independent experts authorized to view such information under the terms of 8 this Order may retain custody of copies such as are necessary for their participation in 9 this litigation. 10 11 12. Before any materials produced in discovery, answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, deposition transcripts, or other documents which 12 are designated as confidential information are filed with the Court for any purpose, the 13 party seeking to file such material must redact those portions marked “confidential” or, if 14 redaction is impractical, seek permission of the Court to file the material under seal. 15 16 a. No document shall be filed under seal unless counsel secures a court order 17 allowing the filing of a document under seal. An application to file a 18 document under seal shall be served on opposing counsel, and on the person 19 who has or entity that has custody and control of the document, if different 20 from opposing counsel. If opposing counsel, or the person who has or entity 21 who has custody and control of the document, wishes to oppose the 22 application, they must contact the chambers of the judge who will rule on 23 the application, to notify the judge’s staff that an opposition to the 24 application will be filed. 25 13. At any stage of these proceedings, any party may object to a designation of the 26 materials as confidential information. The party objecting to confidentiality must notify, 27 in writing, counsel for the designating party of the objected-to materials and the grounds 28 for the objection. If the dispute is not resolved consensually between the parties, the 5 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS 1 parties must follow the procedures set forth in the assigned Magistrate Judges’s 2 Chambers Rules regarding resolution of discovery disputes. The materials at issue must 3 be treated as confidential information, as designated by the designating party, until the 4 Court has ruled on the objection or the matter has been otherwise resolved. 5 14. All confidential information must be held in confidence by those inspecting or 6 receiving it, and must be used only for purposes of this action. Counsel for each party, 7 and each person receiving confidential information must take reasonable precautions to 8 prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such information. If confidential 9 information is disclosed to any person other than a person authorized by this Order, the 10 11 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, 12 without prejudice to any rights and remedies of the other parties, make every effort to 13 prevent further disclosure by the party and by the person(s) receiving the unauthorized 14 disclosure. 15 16 15. No party will be responsible to another party for disclosure of confidential 17 information under this Order if the information in question is not labeled or otherwise 18 identified as such in accordance with this Order. 19 16. If a party, through inadvertence, produces any confidential information without 20 labeling or marking or otherwise designating it as such in accordance with this Order, the 21 designating party may give written notice to the receiving party that the document or 22 thing produced is deemed confidential information, and that the document or thing 23 produced should be treated as such in accordance with that designation under this Order. 24 The receiving party must treat the materials as confidential, once the designating party so 25 notifies the receiving party. If the receiving party has disclosed the materials before 26 receiving the designation, the receiving party must notify the designating party in writing 27 of each such disclosure. Counsel for the parties will agree on a mutually acceptable 28 6 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS 1 manner of labeling or marking the inadvertently produced materials as 2 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 3 17. Nothing within this order will prejudice the right of any party to object to the 4 production of any discovery material on the grounds that the material is protected as 5 privileged or as attorney work product. 6 18. Nothing in this Order will bar counsel from rendering advice to their clients 7 with respect to this litigation and, in the course thereof, relying upon any information 8 designated as confidential information, provided that the contents of the information must 9 not be disclosed. 10 11 19. 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 12 mere presence of confidential information. The existence of this Order must not be used 13 by either party as a basis for discovery that is otherwise improper under the Federal Rules 14 of Civil Procedure. 15 16 17 18 20. 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. 21. Upon final termination of this action, including any and all appeals, counsel for 19 each party must return all confidential information to the party that produced the 20 information, including any copies, excerpts, and summaries of that information, or must 21 destroy same at the option of the receiving party, and must purge all such information 22 from all machine-readable media on which it resides. However, this provision shall not 23 apply to counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission to the extent it conflicts 24 with its statutory, regulatory or internal recordkeeping obligations. Furthermore, 25 notwithstanding the foregoing, counsel for each party may retain all pleadings, briefs, 26 memoranda, motions, and other documents filed with the Court that refer to or 27 incorporate confidential information, and will continue to be bound by this Order with 28 respect to all such retained information. Further, attorney work product materials that 7 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS 1 contain confidential information need not be destroyed, but, if they are not destroyed, the 2 person in possession of the attorney work product will continue to be bound by this Order 3 with respect to all such retained information. 4 22. The restrictions and obligations set forth within this order will not apply to any 5 information that: (a) the parties agree should not be designated confidential information; 6 (b) the parties agree, or the Court rules, is already public knowledge; (c) the parties agree, 7 or the Court rules, has become public knowledge other than as a result of disclosure by 8 the receiving party, its employees, or its agents in violation of this Order; or (d) has come 9 or will come into the receiving party’s legitimate knowledge independently of the 10 production by the designating party. Prior knowledge must be established by pre- 11 production documentation. 12 23. The restrictions and obligations within this order will not be deemed to prohibit 13 discussions of any confidential information with anyone if that person already has or 14 obtains legitimate possession of that information. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 24. Transmission by email or some other currently utilized method of transmission is acceptable for all notification purposes within this Order. 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. 22 27. Without the need for designation as provided in Paragraph 4 above, any 23 document or information exchanged in connection with the pre-trial phase of this action 24 shall be deemed CONFIDENTIAL to the extent that any portion thereof contains, with 25 respect to third parties, any PII, including an individual’s social security number, tax 26 identification number or tax return, home address or home telephone number, date of 27 birth, medical information, financial account number, brokerage account number, or 28 passwords. 8 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS 1 28. This Order shall not limit Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission 2 (“Commission”) from using or disclosing any materials, including Confidential 3 Information, in a manner consistent with the Commission’s duties and authorities 4 pursuant to any applicable laws and regulations, including as delineated in the 5 Commission’s Form 1662 (available here: https://www.sec.gov/files/sec1662.pdf) 6 (“Form 1662”). 7 8 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 11 Dated: March 5, 2024 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 9 3:20-cv-1864-H-BGS
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