National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Young's Commercial Transfer, Inc. et al.

Filing 184

ORDER regarding settlement conference procedures signed by Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean on 2/14/2017. (Rooney, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER
CORPORATION, ET AL.
Plaintiffs,

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v.

No. 1:13-CV-01506-DAD EPG

ORDER REGARDING SETTLEMENT
CONFERENCE PROCEDURES

YOUNG’S COMMERCIAL TRANSFER,
INC., ET AL.,
Defendants

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The Court sets a settlement conference for April 11, 2017, at 1:00 p.m., before Magistrate

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Judge Erica P. Grosjean. Despite the provisions of Local Rule 270(b), the settlement conference

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will be conducted by the undersigned Magistrate Judge.

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Unless otherwise permitted in advance by the Court, the attorneys who will try the case

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shall appear at the Settlement Conference. Pertinent evidence to be offered at trial, documents or

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otherwise, should be brought to the settlement conference for presentation to the settlement judge.

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Neither the settlement conference statements nor communications during the settlement

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conference with the settlement judge can be used by either party in the trial of this case.

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Absent permission from the Court, in addition to counsel who will try the case being

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present, in addition to counsel who will try the case being present, the individual parties shall also

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be present, and in the case of corporate parties, associations or other entities, and insurance

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carriers, a representative executive with unrestricted authority to discuss, consider, propose and

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agree, or disagree, to any settlement proposal or offer shall also be present. If for any reason the

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representative with unlimited authority cannot attend, such a person must be available by phone

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throughout the conference. In other words, having settlement authority “up to a certain amount”

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is not acceptable.

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In the event settlement authority delegated to any defense representative appearing at the

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settlement conference has been set by a committee and such authority may not be unilaterally

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exceeded in any amount by the representative designated to attend the settlement conference, then

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the entire committee must be fully identified in the defense settlement statement (name, position,

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work address for each member) AND the entire committee or a quorum thereof empowered to

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enter into any agreement to settle the case MUST be available in person or by phone, unless the

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Court grants permission otherwise. Failure to follow this directive may result in a re-scheduled

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settlement conference AND payment of attorney's fees, expenses and other costs incurred by any

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other party during preparation for the settlement conference and attendance at the conference.

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Additional sanctions, including default, may be appropriate.

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IF ANY PARTY BELIEVES THAT A SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE WOULD

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BE FUTILE, THEN THAT PARTY SHALL CONTACT THE COURT NOT LATER

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THAN SEVENTY-TWO HOURS PRECEDING THE SCHEDULED SETTLEMENT

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CONFERENCE.

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Confidential Settlement Statements

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At least five (5) court days prior to the settlement conference, each party shall submit a

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Confidential Settlement Conference Statement in Word format directly to Judge Grosjean’s

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Chambers at [e-mail]. The statement shall not be filed on the docket or

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served on any other party. Each statement shall be clearly marked "confidential" with the date

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and time of the settlement conference clearly noted on the first page. The Confidential Settlement

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Conference Statement shall include the following:

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A. A brief statement of the facts of the case.

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B. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other grounds

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upon which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties'
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likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major

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issues in dispute.

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C. A summary of the proceedings to date.

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D. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial

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and trial.

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E. The relief sought.

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F. The party's position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a

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history of past settlement discussions, offers and demands.

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The parties shall contact that the designated settlement conference judge’s chambers to
ascertain whether additional settlement conference procedures are required.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

February 14, 2017

/s/
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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