McNeal v. Evert, et al

Filing 305

ORDER signed by District Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr on 10/19/17 ORDERING that this case is SET for a Settlement Conference before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 11/8/2017 at 09:30 AM at the U. S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, California 93721 in Courtroom #9. (Mena-Sanchez, L)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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VERNON WAYNE MCNEAL,

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No. 2:05-cv-0441-GEB-EFB P

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT
CONFERENCE

EVERT, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42

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U.S.C. § 1983. The court has determined that this case will benefit from a settlement conference.

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Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone to conduct a settlement

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conference at the U. S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, California 93721 in Courtroom

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#9 on November 8, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.

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A separate order and writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum will issue concurrently with
this order.

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In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone

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on November 8, 2017, at 9:30 a.m. at the U. S. District Court, 2500 Tulare Street,

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Fresno, California 93721 in Courtroom #9.

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2. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding
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settlement shall attend in person.1

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3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages.

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The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in

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person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will not

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proceed and will be reset to another date.
4. Each party shall provide a confidential settlement statement to the following email

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address: [e-mail]. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential settlement

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statement Attn: Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone, USDC CAED, 2500 Tulare

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Street, Fresno, California 93721. The envelope shall be marked “Confidential

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Settlement Statement”. Settlement statements shall arrive no later than November 1,

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2017. Parties shall also file a Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement

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Conference Statement (See Local Rule 270(d)).

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Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on

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any other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked Aconfidential@ with

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the date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon.

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The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length,

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typed or neatly printed, and include the following:

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

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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 (9 th 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).

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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

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dispute.

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c. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and
trial.
d. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a
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.
Dated: October 19, 2017

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