Salazar v. Kokor et al

Filing 44

ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE signed by Magistrate Judge Michael J. Seng on 10/7/2017. Settlement Conference set for 1/11/2018 at 10:30 AM in Courtroom 9 (SAB) before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone. (Jessen, A)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 EFRAIN SALAZAR, Plaintiff, 13 14 15 v. WINFRED KOKOR, Case No.: 1:14-cv-00211-AWI-MJS (PC) ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE Defendant. 16 17 18 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil 19 rights action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court has determined that this 20 case will benefit from a settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to 21 Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone to conduct a settlement conference at the U. S. 22 District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, California 93721 in Courtroom #9 on January 23 11, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. The court will issue the necessary transportation order in due 24 course. 25 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 26 1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Stanley 27 A. Boone on January 11, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at the U. S. District Court, 2500 28 Tulare Street, Fresno, California 93721 in Courtroom #9. 1 1 2 2. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding settlement on the defendants’ behalf shall attend in person.1 3 4 3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and 5 damages. The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to 6 this order to appear in person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In 7 addition, the conference will not proceed and will be reset to another date. 8 4. Defendants shall provide a confidential settlement statement to the following 9 email address: saborders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his 10 confidential settlement statement to U.S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, 11 Fresno, California, 93721, “Attention: Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone.” 12 The envelope shall be marked “Confidential Settlement Statement”. 13 Settlement statements shall arrive no later than January 4, 2018. Parties shall 14 also file a Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement Statement (See 15 Local Rule 270(d)). 16 17 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor 18 served on any other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked 19 “confidential” with the date and time of the settlement conference indicated 20 prominently thereon. 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, 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 4 length, typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 5 6 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 7 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory or other 8 grounds upon which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the 9 parties’ likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a 10 description of the major issues in dispute. 11 c. A summary of the proceedings to date. 12 d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, 13 pretrial, and trial. 14 e. The relief sought. 15 f. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers 16 and a history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 17 g. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 18 conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to 19 pay. 20 21 22 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: October 7, 2017 /s/ 23 Michael J. Seng UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 24 25 26 27 28 3

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