Rosanneh Cunningham, an individual; Bhaskarpillai Gopinath, Trustee of The Karsten Gopinath Irrevocable Trust of 2004 v. Jackson National Life Insurance Company, a company of unknown origin

1 D M a c n D ie O ll W a M EL cD L o H na E g T h H N E o. R 3 I 5 N 3 G 33 T 6 O N LLP 1999 Harrison Street, Suite 2050 2 Oakland, CA 94612 Telephone: 510.628.2145 3 Facsimile: 510.628.2146 4 Email: jodi.swick@mhllp.com daniella.mcdonagh@mhllp.com 5 Attorneys for Defendant 6 JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ROSANNE CUNNINGHAM, an Case No. 2:26-cv-00280-AB-SSC individual; BHASKARPILLAI 12 GOPINATH, Trustee of THE KARSTEN GOPINATH IRREVOCABLE TRUST OF 13 2004, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 14 Plaintiffs, 15 v. 16 JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a company of 17 unknown origin; and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, 18 Defendants. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 1. GENERAL 2 1.1 Purposes and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of 3 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 5 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 6 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on 7 all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure 8 and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 9 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3 10 below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 11 under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards 12 that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 13 1.2 Good Cause Statement. 14 This action is likely to involve the parties’ proprietary information, trade secrets, personal 15 identifying information (PII), and other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, or 16 technical information, including but not limited to insurance claims handling manuals, procedures, 17 and policies, for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose 18 other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and 19 information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial information, 20 information regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, 21 or commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of the insured and 22 owner under the policy and third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the 23 public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal 24 statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of 25 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery 26 materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure 27 that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in 1 justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the 2 parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing 3 be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non- 4 public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 5 Nothing in this Good Cause Statement constitutes a concession or admission by any Party that any 6 particular document, item, or category of information is in fact confidential, proprietary, or a trade 7 secret, or that good cause exists for its protection. The Designating Party retains the burden of 8 persuasion set forth in Section 6.3, and this Good Cause Statement shall not be cited as establishing 9 good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), or compelling reasons under Civil Local 10 Rule 79-5, as to any specific document or item. 11 2. DEFINITIONS 12 2.1 Action: Rosanne Cunningham, et al. v. Jackson National Life Insurance Company, 13 Case No. 2:26-cv-00280-AB-SSC, in the United States District Court for the Central District of 14 California. 15 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 16 information or items under this Order. 17 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is 18 generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule 19 of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 20 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their support 21 staff). 22 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it 23 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 24 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium 25 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony, 26 transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to 27 discovery in this matter. 1 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to 2 the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a 3 consultant in this Action. 4 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House 5 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 6 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 7 entity not named as a Party to this action. 8 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this Action 9 but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared in this Action on 10 behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, 11 including support staff. 12 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 13 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staff). 14 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery 15 Material in this Action. 16 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services 17 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and 18 organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and 19 subcontractors. 20 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as 21 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 22 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a 23 Producing Party. 24 3. SCOPE 25 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material 26 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) 27 all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, 1 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This 2 Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 3 4. DURATION 4 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced that was 5 previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes 6 public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 7 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the 8 trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 9 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 10 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court 11 record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement 12 of the trial. 13 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 14 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or 15 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to 16 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The 17 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or 18 oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 19 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 20 the ambit of this Order. 21 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown 22 to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily 23 encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 24 parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 25 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 26 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other 27 Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 1 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order 2 (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, 3 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so 4 designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 6 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 7 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party 8 affix, at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to 9 each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 10 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 11 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 12 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need not 13 designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it 14 would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the 15 material made available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting 16 Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 17 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 18 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 19 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material 20 on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 21 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 22 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 23 Disclosure or Discovery Material. 24 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other 25 tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container 26 or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion 27 or portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, 1 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 2 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 3 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 4 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated 5 in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 6 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 7 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of 8 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 9 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process 10 under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly comply with the procedures set 11 forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3. 12 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 13 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass 14 or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party 15 to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality 16 designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to 17 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 18 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 20 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, 21 defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to 22 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has 23 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 24 DISPOSITION). 25 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in 26 a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 27 1 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered 2 by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 3 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 4 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 5 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the 6 information for this Action; 7 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 8 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 9 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is 10 reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement 11 to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 12 (d) the Court and its personnel; 13 (e) court reporters and their staff; 14 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to 15 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 16 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian 18 or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 19 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to 20 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the witness 21 sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any 22 confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 23 (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of 24 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 25 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 26 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 27 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 1 7.3 Limitations on Designation. Nothing in this Order, and no designation made under 2 it, shall restrict a Party’s use, disclosure, or dissemination of information or documents that: (a) 3 were lawfully in that Party’s possession, custody, or control before production in this Action, or 4 that the Party lawfully obtained or obtains independently of discovery in this Action; or (b) the 5 Designating Party has agreed in writing may be disclosed. A Party asserting that any of the 6 foregoing applies bears the burden of establishing it. 7 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 8 OTHER LITIGATION 9 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 10 disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party 11 must: 12 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy 13 of the subpoena or court order; 14 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the 15 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this 16 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 17 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the 18 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 19 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena 20 or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” 21 before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has 22 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and 23 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these 24 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to 25 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 26 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN 27 THIS LITIGATION 1 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this 2 Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in 3 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. 4 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking 5 additional protections. 6 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non- 7 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the 8 Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 9 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or 10 all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 11 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order 12 in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the 13 information requested; and 14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if 15 requested. 16 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within 14 days of 17 receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non- 18 Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks 19 a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or 20 control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination 21 by the Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense 22 of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material. 23 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected 25 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective 26 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the 27 unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected 1 terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 2 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 3 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 4 PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 6 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 7 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision 8 is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that 9 provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 10 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 11 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, 12 the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the 13 Court. 14 12. MISCELLANEOUS 15 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to 16 seek its modification by the Court in the future. 17 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, 18 no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 19 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no 20 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence any of the material covered by 21 this Protective Order. 22 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material 23 must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant 24 to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue; good cause must 25 be shown in the request to file under seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal 26 is denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 27 otherwise instructed by the Court. Where a Party seeks to file material under seal solely because 1 comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5.2.2(b), including but not limited to filing the declaration 2 required by Civil Local Rule 79-5.2.2(b) within the time provided by that Rule. If the Designating 3 Party does not timely do so, the filing Party may file the material in the public record as permitted 4 by the Civil Local Rules. 5 13. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (“AI”) 6 To the extent that a receiving party (including anyone acting on or at the receiving party’s 7 behalf or direction, e.g., its vendors, experts, etc.) submits Confidential Information to any AI tool, 8 the receiving party must ensure the following: (1) that the receiving party can delete all 9 Confidential Information from the AI tool at the conclusion of this litigation consistent with 10 Paragraph 14; (2) that Confidential Information submitted to the AI tool and results received from 11 it are not accessible to anyone who is not authorized to receive Confidential Information pursuant 12 to this Order; (3) that the AI tool is used in a secure environment, and (4) the AI tool will not train, 13 fine-tune, or otherwise improve its model with the submission of Confidential Information. 14 14. FINAL DISPOSITION 15 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by the 16 Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party 17 or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, 18 abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 19 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party 20 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to 21 the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) 22 all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party 23 has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing 24 or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to 25 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 26 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work 27 product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to thi 2 || Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). VIOLATION OF ORDER 4 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures including 5 || without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 6 7||ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 8 Dated: October 6, 2026 MCDOWELL HETHERINGTON LLP 9 10 By: /s/ Jodi_K. Swick 11 Jodi K. Swick Daniella M. McDonagh 12 3 Attorneys for Defendant JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 14 15 || Dated: October 6, 2026 HUMPHREY + LAW 16 7 By: /s/ J. Scott Humphrey J. Scott Humphrey 18 Attorney for Plaintiffs 19 ROSANNE CUNNINGHAM and 20 BHASKARPILLAI GOPINATH AS TRUSTEE OF THE KARSTEN GOPINATH IRREVOCABLE 21 TRUST OF 2004 22 ORDER 23 54 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 Dated: 7 Oct. 2026 26 Honorable Stephanie S. Christensen 17 United States Magistrate Judge 28 Cace Na 9-296 pv ANNI. ARB. 12 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ [full 5 address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 6 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central 7 District of California on ____________ [date] in the case of ___________ [insert case name 8 and number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated 9 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to 10 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose 11 in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 12 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 14 Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 15 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 16 17 Date: ______________________________________ 18 19 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 20 21 Printed name: _______________________________ 22 23 Signature: __________________________________ 24 25 26 27