Alfonso Hall v. Smith et al

Filing 50

ORDER Referring Case to Post-Screening ADR and STAYING Case for 120 Days, signed by Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe on 5/17/2018: Settlement Conference set for 8/30/2018 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 9 (SAB) before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone. (Hellings, J)

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1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 ALFONSO HALL, 9 10 Plaintiff, v. 11 D. SMITH, et al., 12 13 Defendants. Case No. 1:15-cv-00860-LJO-BAM (PC) ORDER REFERRING CASE TO POSTSCREENING ADR AND STAYING CASE FOR 120 DAYS Date: August 30, 2018 Time: 10:00 a.m. Place: Courtroom 9 (SAB) Before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone 14 15 Plaintiff Alfonso Hall is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this 16 action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This case proceeds on Plaintiff’s second amended complaint 17 against Defendant D. Smith and Defendant Does 1-4 for conditions of confinement in violation of 18 the Eighth Amendment. Plaintiff is in the process of amending his complaint to substitute the 19 identifies of the Defendant Does. (Doc. 48.) 20 The Court finds that a court-led settlement conference would be beneficial in this matter, 21 and the parties have agreed. (Docs. 45, 49.) Defense counsel also indicates that they will likely 22 represent the recently-identified Defendant Does once they are served, which would be conducive 23 to a potential settlement of this action in its entirety. Although a discovery and scheduling order 24 was recently issued in this matter, (Doc. 40), this case is at an early stage where many expenses 25 and resources may be saved by a potential settlement. 26 Accordingly, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone to conduct a 27 settlement conference at United States Courthouse in Fresno, California on August 30, 2018, at 28 10:00 a.m. The Court will issue the necessary transportation order in due course. 1 The parties shall each submit to Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone a confidential 2 settlement conference statement, as described below, to arrive at least seven days (one week) 3 prior to the conference. Further, the Court puts the parties on notice that if Plaintiff has any 4 outstanding criminal restitution obligation, fines and/or penalties, these settlement negotiations 5 shall not be geared towards what the restitution obligation is, but what the value the of the case 6 itself is to each side, irrespective of any outstanding restitution obligation. 7 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 8 1. This action is STAYED for 120 days to allow the parties an opportunity to settle 9 their dispute. Plaintiff may submit his third amended complaint to substitute the identities of the 10 Doe Defendants, as previously ordered. (Doc. 48.) No other pleadings or other documents may be 11 filed in this case during the stay of this action, except as provided herein or by subsequent court 12 order. The parties are relieved from the obligation to respond to any discovery served prior to the 13 issuance of this order, but may engage in informal discovery to prepare for the conference. 14 2. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. 15 Boone on August 30, 2018, at 10:0 a.m., at Courtroom 9 (SAB) in the United States Courthouse 16 located at 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, California. 17 18 19 3. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding settlement shall attend in person. 4. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. 20 The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in person 21 may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will not proceed and may 22 be reset to another date. 23 5. Defendants shall provide a confidential settlement statement to the following email 24 address: saborders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential settlement 25 statement to U.S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, California, 93721, “Attention: 26 Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone.” The envelope shall be marked “Confidential Settlement 27 Statement”. Settlement statements shall arrive no later than August 23, 2018. Parties shall also 28 file a Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement Statement. 2 See Local Rule 270(d). 1 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on any other 2 party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with the date and time of the 3 settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 4 5 6. The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 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 grounds upon 8 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of prevailing on 9 the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in dispute. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 c. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and d. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a trial. history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. e. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay. 7. If a settlement is reached at any point during the stay of this action, the parties shall file a Notice of Settlement in accordance with Local Rule 160. 8. The parties remain obligated to keep the Court informed of their current address 19 during the stay and while the action is pending. Any change of address must be reported 20 promptly to the Court in a separate document captioned for this case and entitled “Notice of 21 Change of Address.” See Local Rule 182(f). 22 9. 23 A failure to follow these procedures may result in the imposition of sanctions by the court. 24 25 26 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: /s/ Barbara May 17, 2018 A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 28 3

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