Harbridge v. Yates et al

Filing 132

ORDER SETTING Settlement Conference, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 8/18/16. (Marrujo, C)

Download PDF
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CHRISTOPHER HARBRIDGE, 12 13 14 15 Plaintiff, 1:10-cv-00473-DAD-JLT (PC) ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE v. YATES, et al., Defendants. 16 17 On August 1, 2016, the Court ordered parties to file statements indicating whether a 18 settlement conference would be beneficial. (Doc. 129.) All parties filed statements responding 19 they would not be opposed. (Docs. 130, 131.) Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate 20 Judge Stanley A. Boone to conduct a settlement conference at the U. S. District Court, 2500 21 Tulare Street, Fresno, California 93721 in Courtroom #9 on December 5, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. 22 23 A separate order and writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum will issue closer to the date of the settlement conference. 24 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 25 1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone 26 on December 5, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. at the U. S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, 27 Fresno, California 93721 in Courtroom #9. 28 2. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding 1 1 settlement on the defendant’s behalf shall attend in person.1 2 3 3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. 4 The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in 5 person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will not 6 proceed and will be reset to another date. 7 4. The parties are directed to submit confidential settlement conference statements to the 8 court using the following email address: saborders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall 9 mail his confidential settlement statement to Sujean Park, ADR & Pro Bono Program 10 Director, USDC CAED, 501 I Street, Suite 4-200, Sacramento, California 95814. The 11 envelope shall be marked “Confidential Settlement Statement.” Settlement statements 12 shall arrive no later than November 28, 2016. Upon submission of confidential 13 settlement statements, each party shall file on the docket a “Notice of Submission of 14 Confidential Settlement Statement.” 15 16 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on any 17 other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with the date and time 18 of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 19 /// 20 /// 21 // 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the authority to order parties, including the federal government, to participate in mandatory settlement conferences… .” United States v. United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, 694 F.3d 1051, 1053, 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2012)(“the district court has broad authority to compel participation in mandatory settlement conference[s].”). The term “full authority to settle” means that the individuals attending the mediation conference must be authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to the parties. G. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989), cited with approval in Official Airline Guides, Inc. v. Goss, 6 F.3d 1385, 1396 (9th Cir. 1993). The individual with full authority to settle must also have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of the party, if appropriate. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485-86 (D. Ariz. 2003), amended on recon. in part, Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 2003 WL 23353478 (D. Ariz. 2003). The purpose behind requiring the attendance of a person with full settlement authority is that the parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. Pitman, 216 F.R.D. at 486. An authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be found not to comply with the requirement of full authority to settle. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 596-97 (8th Cir. 2001). 2 1 2 3 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 4 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 5 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds upon 6 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of 7 prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in 8 dispute. 9 c. A summary of the proceedings to date. 10 d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and 11 trial. 12 e. The relief sought. 13 f. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a 14 history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. g. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 15 16 conference. 17 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: August 18, 2016 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


Why Is My Information Online?