Vertical Tank, Inc. v. BakerCorp

Filing 53

ORDER GRANTING JOINT REQUEST FOR A SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 8/9/2019. Settlement Conference set for 9/11/2019 at 01:30 PM in Bakersfield, 510 19th Street before Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston. (Apodaca, P)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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VERTICAL TANK, INC.,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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Case No.: 1:18-cv-00145 LJO LJT
ORDER GRANTING JOINT REQUEST FOR A
SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE
(Doc. 52)

BAKERCORP,

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Defendant.

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At the request of the parties, the Court sets a settlement conference on September 11, 20191 at

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1:30 p.m., located at 510 19th Street, Bakersfield, California.

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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 with the parties and the person or persons having full

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authority to negotiate and settle the case on any reasonable terms2 discussed at the conference.

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Consideration of settlement is a serious matter that requires preparation prior to the settlement

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conference. Set forth below are the procedures the Court will employ, absent good cause, in

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conducting the conference.

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The Court could conduct the settlement conference on September 4, 2019, the parties preferred date, but because the
bankruptcy court will be in session on that day, it would lack the ability to place any settlement on the record. If the
parties understand this and still wish to have the settlement conference moved to September 4, 2019, they may submit
a joint request for this to occur.
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Insurance carriers, business organizations, and governmental bodies or agencies whose settlement agreements
are subject to approval by legislative bodies, executive committees, boards of directors or the like may be represented by
a person whose recommendations about settlement are relied upon by the ultimate decision makers.

At least 21 days before the settlement conference, the plaintiff SHALL submit to the

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defendant via fax or e-mail, a written itemization of damages and a meaningful3 settlement demand

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which includes a brief explanation of why such a settlement is appropriate. Thereafter, no later than

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14 days before the settlement conference, the defendant SHALL respond via fax or e-mail, with an

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acceptance of the offer or with a meaningful counteroffer, which includes a brief explanation of why

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such a settlement is appropriate. They SHALL continue to exchange offers in advance of the

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settlement conference is doing so is productive.
If settlement is not achieved, each party SHALL attach copies of their settlement offers to

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their Confidential Settlement Conference Statement, as described below. Copies of these documents
shall not be filed on the court docket.
CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE STATEMENT

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At least five a week before the settlement conference, the parties shall submit, directly to

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Judge Thurston's chambers by e-mail to [e-mail], a Confidential Settlement

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Conference Statement. The statement should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on

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any other party, although the parties may file a Notice of Lodging of Settlement Conference

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Statement. Each statement shall be clearly marked "confidential" with the date and time of the

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Settlement Conference indicated prominently thereon.

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The Confidential Settlement 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 upon

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which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties' likelihood of

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prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major 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 and

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The relief sought.

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trial.

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“Meaningful” means the offer is reasonably calculated to settle the case on terms acceptable to the offering
party. “Meaningful” does not include an offer which the offering party knows will not be acceptable to the other party.
If, however, the offering party is only willing to offer a settlement which it knows the other party will not accept, this
should trigger a recognition the case is not in a settlement posture and the parties should confer about continuing the
settlement conference via stipulation.
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F.

The party's position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a history
of past settlement discussions, offers and demands.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

August 9, 2019

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE