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1 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP
A Limited Liability Partnership
2 Including Professional Corporations ELECTRONICALLY
JASON W. KEARNAGHAN, Cal. Bar No. 207707
3 jkearnaghan@sheppardmullin.com F I L E D
Superior Court of California,
Y. DOUGLAS YANG, Cal. Bar No. 307550 County of San Francisco
4 dyang@sheppardmullin.com
333 South Hope Street, 43rd Floor 09/03/2020
Clerk of the Court
5 Los Angeles, California 90071-1422 BY: EDNALEEN ALEGRE
Telephone: 213.620.1780 Deputy Clerk
6 Facsimile: 213.620.1398
7 AMANDA E. BECKWITH, Cal. Bar No. 312967
Four Embarcadero Center, 17th Floor
8 San Francisco, California 94111-4109
Telephone: 415.434.9100
9 Facsimile: 415.434.3947
Email: abeckwith@sheppardmullin.com
10
Attorneys for Defendant
11 LEVI STRAUSS & CO.
12
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
13
COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
14
15
WINONA POWERS, an individual, Case No. CGC-19-581624
16
Plaintiff, NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF
17 WINONA POWERS’ AMENDED
v. MOTION FOR ORDER TO QUASH
18 SUBPOENAS
LEVI STRAUSS & CO., a Delaware Corp.;
19 and DOES 1-25, inclusive ,
Hearing Information
20 Defendants. Date: August 28, 2020
Time: 9:00 a.m.
21 Dept.: 301
22 [Complaint Filed: December 18, 2019]
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SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH
1
2 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD:
3 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on August 28, 2020, at or around 9:00 a.m., in
4 Department 301 of the above-entitled court, the Honorable Bruce Highman, pro tem, presiding,
5 the Court held a hearing on Plaintiff Winona Powers’ (“Plaintiff”) Amended Motion for Order to
6 Quash Subpoenas (“Motion to Quash”).
7 Appearing on behalf of Plaintiff was Joseph Low IV. Appearing on behalf of Defendant
8 Levi Strauss & Co. (“Levi’s”) was Y. Douglas Yang. Both counsel appeared via Zoom.
9 Upon consideration of the argument of counsel and the papers filed by the parties, the
10 Court ruled that Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART, as
11 follows:
12 I. Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash is granted as to Bank of America, N.A.
13 II. Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash is denied as to Look Model Agency. Look Model
14 Agency shall produce all documents responsive to Levi’s’ subpoena, subject to the
15 limitations outlined in Sections IV-VIII of this Notice of Ruling.
16 III. With respect to Levi’s’ subpoenas to Exalt Model and Talent Agency; Cast Images
17 Model and Talent Agency, LLC; and MDT Talent Agency, Inc., the following
18 apply:
19 A. By September 4, 2020, Plaintiff shall submit a sworn declaration identifying
20 which of these agencies she has had contact with at any time between
21 January 1, 2017 and April 30, 2019, to the extent that Plaintiff has
22 recollection of these contact(s). If Plaintiff does not recall which of these
23 agencies she has had contact with at any time between January 1, 2017 and
24 April 30, 2019, she shall so state in her declaration.
25 1. All agencies identified by Plaintiff in her declaration as those
26 entities with which she has had contact at any time between January
27 1, 2017 and April 30, 2019 shall produce all documents responsive
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SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH
1 to Levi’s’ subpoenas, subject to the limitations outlined in Sections
2 IV-VIII of this Notice of Ruling.
3 B. In the event that Plaintiff’s declaration attests that Plaintiff does not recall
4 whether she has had any contact with any particular agency at any time
5 between January 1, 2017 and April 30, 2019, that agency(ies) shall produce
6 all documents responsive to Levi’s’ subpoenas, subject to the limitations
7 outlined in Sections IV-VIII of this Notice of Ruling.
8 IV. All documents produced by the subpoenaed entities shall be treated as Confidential
9 and subject to a protective order that the Parties will submit to the Court by
10 September 9, 2020. Should the parties fail to agree on a protective order, they shall
11 submit their own proposed protective order to the pro tem judge. These
12 submissions shall be emailed to bruce.highman@highmanlaw.com.
13 V. ProLegal, the service used by Levi’s to administer its subpoenas, will copy and add
14 Bates numbers to all pages obtained from each agency. The records of each agency
15 shall be kept separate from those of the other agencies. Each agency’s records shall
16 have a unique prefix before the Bates number.
17 VI. All agency records shall be provided electronically or by mail to Plaintiff’s counsel
18 only, for them to conduct a First Look. Within seven (7) calendar days from the
19 date Plaintiff’s counsel receives the documents:
20 A. Plaintiff’s counsel shall create and electronically serve upon Levi’s’ counsel
21 a detailed privilege log of:
22 1. Each page Plaintiff is seeking to withhold on account of a
23 recognized privilege. Plaintiff’s counsel may not withhold entire
24 pages unless the entire page is privileged.
25 2. All redactions made by Plaintiff’s counsel on account of a
26 recognized privilege.
27 B. The privilege log must be sufficiently detailed, so as to allow Levi’s’
28 counsel to determine the validity of the asserted reason for the redaction or
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SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH
1 withholding. At the least, the privilege log must identify
2 source(s)/author(s), date(s), a description of the document(s) and
3 redaction(s), and the legal basis for the withholding/redaction.
4 C. Plaintiff’s counsel shall produce electronically or by mail to Levi’s all
5 documents that Plaintiff has not withheld.
6 VII. If Levi’s wishes to challenge the propriety of any withheld documents or
7 redactions, Levi’s shall first initiate a meet and confer with Plaintiff to determine if
8 the matter can be resolved informally. The Parties shall meet and confer in good
9 faith.
10 VIII. In the event that the dispute over withholdings or redactions cannot reasonably be
11 resolved, Levi’s shall file supplemental papers with the Court in support of its
12 challenge, within ten (10) calendar days of receiving Plaintiff’s privilege log and
13 the agencies’ document productions. Levi’s’ supplemental papers shall attach a
14 copy of Plaintiff’s privilege log.
15 A. Should Levi’s file a challenge to Plaintiff’s withholdings or redactions,
16 Plaintiff may file and electronically serve an Opposition within seven (7)
17 court days. Within four (4) court days after it receives Plaintiff’s
18 Opposition, Levi’s may file and serve Reply papers.
19 B. All parties shall email courtesy copies of all filings relating to the
20 supplemental papers to bruce.highman@highmanlaw.com.
21 //
22 //
23 //
24 //
25 //
26 //
27 //
28 //
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SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH
1 C. After all supplemental papers have been filed and served, the parties and the
2 pro tem judge will confer and set a hearing date by video conference.
3
4 Dated: September 3, 2020 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP
5
6 By /s/ Y. Douglas Yang
JASON W. KEARNAGHAN
7 Y. DOUGLAS YANG
8 AMANDA E. BECKWITH
Attorneys for Defendant
9 LEVI STRAUSS & CO.
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SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH
1 PROOF OF SERVICE
2 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
3 At the time of service, I was over 18 years of age and not a party to this action. I
am employed in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. My business address is
4 333 South Hope Street, 43rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071-1422.
5 On September 3, 2020, I served true copies of the following document(s) described
as NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF WINONA POWERS’ AMENDED
6 MOTION FOR ORDER TO QUASH SUBPOENAS on the interested parties in this
action as follows:
7
SERVICE LIST
8
Joseph H. Low IV Attorneys for Plaintiff Winona Powers
9 THE LAW FIRM OF JOSEPH H. LOW IV
100 Oceangate, 12th Floor
10 Long Beach, CA 90802
Tel: (562) 901-0840
11 Fax: (562) 901-0841
E-Mail: joseph@jhllaw.com
12
Roger Y. Muse
13 John R. Matheny
EXCELSIOR LAW
14 9595 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
15 Tel: (310) 205-3981
Fax: (310) 205-0594
16 E-Mail: roger@excelsior-law.com;
john@excelsior-law.com
17
BY E-MAIL OR ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION: I caused a copy of the
18 document(s) to be sent from e-mail address bdelacruz@sheppardmullin.com to the persons
at the e-mail addresses listed in the Service List. I did not receive, within a reasonable
19 time after the transmission, any electronic message or other indication that the
transmission was unsuccessful.
20
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
21 foregoing is true and correct.
22 Executed on September 3, 2020, at Los Angeles, California.
23
24
Beannette De La Cruz
25
26
27
28
SMRH:4820-9270-4178.1
PROOF OF SERVICE
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1 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP A Limited Liability Partnership 2 Including Professional Corporations ELECTRONICALLY JASON W. KEARNAGHAN, Cal. Bar No. 207707 3 jkearnaghan@sheppardmullin.com F I L E D Superior Court of California, Y. DOUGLAS YANG, Cal. Bar No. 307550 County of San Francisco 4 dyang@sheppardmullin.com 333 South Hope Street, 43rd Floor 09/03/2020 Clerk of the Court 5 Los Angeles, California 90071-1422 BY: EDNALEEN ALEGRE Telephone: 213.620.1780 Deputy Clerk 6 Facsimile: 213.620.1398 7 AMANDA E. BECKWITH, Cal. Bar No. 312967 Four Embarcadero Center, 17th Floor 8 San Francisco, California 94111-4109 Telephone: 415.434.9100 9 Facsimile: 415.434.3947 Email: abeckwith@sheppardmullin.com 10 Attorneys for Defendant 11 LEVI STRAUSS & CO. 12 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 13 COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 14 15 WINONA POWERS, an individual, Case No. CGC-19-581624 16 Plaintiff, NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF 17 WINONA POWERS’ AMENDED v. MOTION FOR ORDER TO QUASH 18 SUBPOENAS LEVI STRAUSS & CO., a Delaware Corp.; 19 and DOES 1-25, inclusive , Hearing Information 20 Defendants. Date: August 28, 2020 Time: 9:00 a.m. 21 Dept.: 301 22 [Complaint Filed: December 18, 2019] 23 24 25 26 27 28 -1- SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH 1 2 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: 3 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on August 28, 2020, at or around 9:00 a.m., in 4 Department 301 of the above-entitled court, the Honorable Bruce Highman, pro tem, presiding, 5 the Court held a hearing on Plaintiff Winona Powers’ (“Plaintiff”) Amended Motion for Order to 6 Quash Subpoenas (“Motion to Quash”). 7 Appearing on behalf of Plaintiff was Joseph Low IV. Appearing on behalf of Defendant 8 Levi Strauss & Co. (“Levi’s”) was Y. Douglas Yang. Both counsel appeared via Zoom. 9 Upon consideration of the argument of counsel and the papers filed by the parties, the 10 Court ruled that Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART, as 11 follows: 12 I. Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash is granted as to Bank of America, N.A. 13 II. Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash is denied as to Look Model Agency. Look Model 14 Agency shall produce all documents responsive to Levi’s’ subpoena, subject to the 15 limitations outlined in Sections IV-VIII of this Notice of Ruling. 16 III. With respect to Levi’s’ subpoenas to Exalt Model and Talent Agency; Cast Images 17 Model and Talent Agency, LLC; and MDT Talent Agency, Inc., the following 18 apply: 19 A. By September 4, 2020, Plaintiff shall submit a sworn declaration identifying 20 which of these agencies she has had contact with at any time between 21 January 1, 2017 and April 30, 2019, to the extent that Plaintiff has 22 recollection of these contact(s). If Plaintiff does not recall which of these 23 agencies she has had contact with at any time between January 1, 2017 and 24 April 30, 2019, she shall so state in her declaration. 25 1. All agencies identified by Plaintiff in her declaration as those 26 entities with which she has had contact at any time between January 27 1, 2017 and April 30, 2019 shall produce all documents responsive 28 -2- SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH 1 to Levi’s’ subpoenas, subject to the limitations outlined in Sections 2 IV-VIII of this Notice of Ruling. 3 B. In the event that Plaintiff’s declaration attests that Plaintiff does not recall 4 whether she has had any contact with any particular agency at any time 5 between January 1, 2017 and April 30, 2019, that agency(ies) shall produce 6 all documents responsive to Levi’s’ subpoenas, subject to the limitations 7 outlined in Sections IV-VIII of this Notice of Ruling. 8 IV. All documents produced by the subpoenaed entities shall be treated as Confidential 9 and subject to a protective order that the Parties will submit to the Court by 10 September 9, 2020. Should the parties fail to agree on a protective order, they shall 11 submit their own proposed protective order to the pro tem judge. These 12 submissions shall be emailed to bruce.highman@highmanlaw.com. 13 V. ProLegal, the service used by Levi’s to administer its subpoenas, will copy and add 14 Bates numbers to all pages obtained from each agency. The records of each agency 15 shall be kept separate from those of the other agencies. Each agency’s records shall 16 have a unique prefix before the Bates number. 17 VI. All agency records shall be provided electronically or by mail to Plaintiff’s counsel 18 only, for them to conduct a First Look. Within seven (7) calendar days from the 19 date Plaintiff’s counsel receives the documents: 20 A. Plaintiff’s counsel shall create and electronically serve upon Levi’s’ counsel 21 a detailed privilege log of: 22 1. Each page Plaintiff is seeking to withhold on account of a 23 recognized privilege. Plaintiff’s counsel may not withhold entire 24 pages unless the entire page is privileged. 25 2. All redactions made by Plaintiff’s counsel on account of a 26 recognized privilege. 27 B. The privilege log must be sufficiently detailed, so as to allow Levi’s’ 28 counsel to determine the validity of the asserted reason for the redaction or -3- SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH 1 withholding. At the least, the privilege log must identify 2 source(s)/author(s), date(s), a description of the document(s) and 3 redaction(s), and the legal basis for the withholding/redaction. 4 C. Plaintiff’s counsel shall produce electronically or by mail to Levi’s all 5 documents that Plaintiff has not withheld. 6 VII. If Levi’s wishes to challenge the propriety of any withheld documents or 7 redactions, Levi’s shall first initiate a meet and confer with Plaintiff to determine if 8 the matter can be resolved informally. The Parties shall meet and confer in good 9 faith. 10 VIII. In the event that the dispute over withholdings or redactions cannot reasonably be 11 resolved, Levi’s shall file supplemental papers with the Court in support of its 12 challenge, within ten (10) calendar days of receiving Plaintiff’s privilege log and 13 the agencies’ document productions. Levi’s’ supplemental papers shall attach a 14 copy of Plaintiff’s privilege log. 15 A. Should Levi’s file a challenge to Plaintiff’s withholdings or redactions, 16 Plaintiff may file and electronically serve an Opposition within seven (7) 17 court days. Within four (4) court days after it receives Plaintiff’s 18 Opposition, Levi’s may file and serve Reply papers. 19 B. All parties shall email courtesy copies of all filings relating to the 20 supplemental papers to bruce.highman@highmanlaw.com. 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 // -4- SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH 1 C. After all supplemental papers have been filed and served, the parties and the 2 pro tem judge will confer and set a hearing date by video conference. 3 4 Dated: September 3, 2020 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP 5 6 By /s/ Y. Douglas Yang JASON W. KEARNAGHAN 7 Y. DOUGLAS YANG 8 AMANDA E. BECKWITH Attorneys for Defendant 9 LEVI STRAUSS & CO. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -5- SMRH:4822-9584-1481.1 NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH 1 PROOF OF SERVICE 2 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 3 At the time of service, I was over 18 years of age and not a party to this action. I am employed in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. My business address is 4 333 South Hope Street, 43rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071-1422. 5 On September 3, 2020, I served true copies of the following document(s) described as NOTICE OF RULING RE: PLAINTIFF WINONA POWERS’ AMENDED 6 MOTION FOR ORDER TO QUASH SUBPOENAS on the interested parties in this action as follows: 7 SERVICE LIST 8 Joseph H. Low IV Attorneys for Plaintiff Winona Powers 9 THE LAW FIRM OF JOSEPH H. LOW IV 100 Oceangate, 12th Floor 10 Long Beach, CA 90802 Tel: (562) 901-0840 11 Fax: (562) 901-0841 E-Mail: joseph@jhllaw.com 12 Roger Y. Muse 13 John R. Matheny EXCELSIOR LAW 14 9595 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 900 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 15 Tel: (310) 205-3981 Fax: (310) 205-0594 16 E-Mail: roger@excelsior-law.com; john@excelsior-law.com 17 BY E-MAIL OR ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION: I caused a copy of the 18 document(s) to be sent from e-mail address bdelacruz@sheppardmullin.com to the persons at the e-mail addresses listed in the Service List. I did not receive, within a reasonable 19 time after the transmission, any electronic message or other indication that the transmission was unsuccessful. 20 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the 21 foregoing is true and correct. 22 Executed on September 3, 2020, at Los Angeles, California. 23 24 Beannette De La Cruz 25 26 27 28 SMRH:4820-9270-4178.1 PROOF OF SERVICE