Owens v. Clark et al

Filing 37

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 12/23/2016 ORDERING that the action is STAYED for 120 days to allow the parties an opportunity to settle their dispute before the discovery process begins; within 30 days from the date of this order, the parties shall file the attached notice, informing the court whether they waive disqualification for the undersigned to hold the settlement conference, or whether they choose to have the settlement conference held by a different judge; wi thin 30 days from the date of this order, the assigned Deputy Attorney General shall contact Matt Caspar, Courtroom Deputy, at (916) 930-4187, to schedule the settlement conference; at least 7 days prior to the settlement conference, each party sha ll submit a confidential settlement conference statement, as described above, to the judge assigned for settlement; and the Clerk of the Court shall serve copies of (a) plaintiff's amended complaint (ECF No. 24), (b) the screening order (ECF No. 28), and (c) the instant order, on Supervising Deputy Attorney General Monica Anderson. (Jackson, T)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DERRICK OWENS, 12 Plaintiff, 13 14 No. 2:15-cv-0982 TLN KJN P v. JACKIE CLARK, et al., 15 ORDER REFERRING CASE TO POSTSCREENING ADR PROJECT AND STAYING CASE FOR 120 DAYS Defendants. 16 Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding without counsel. Defendants have answered the 17 18 complaint. The undersigned is referring all post-screening civil rights cases filed by pro se inmates to 19 20 the Post-Screening ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Project in an effort to resolve such 21 cases more expeditiously and less expensively. Defense counsel from the Office of the California 22 Attorney General has agreed to participate in this pilot project. No defenses or objections shall be 23 waived by their participation. 24 As set forth in the screening order, plaintiff has stated a potentially cognizable civil rights 25 claim. Thus, the court stays this action for a period of 120 days to allow the parties to investigate 26 plaintiff’s claims, meet and confer, and then participate in a settlement conference. 27 //// 28 //// 1 1 There is a presumption that all post-screening civil rights cases assigned to the 2 undersigned will proceed to settlement conference.1 However, if after investigating plaintiff’s 3 claims and speaking with plaintiff, and after conferring with defense counsel’s supervisor, 4 defense counsel in good faith finds that a settlement conference would be a waste of resources, 5 defense counsel may move to opt out of this pilot project. 6 By filing the attached notice within thirty days, the parties shall notify the court whether 7 they waive disqualification for the undersigned to hold the settlement conference or whether they 8 request a different judge. Failure to timely file such notice will result in the case being set for 9 settlement conference before a different judge. 10 Within thirty days, the assigned Deputy Attorney General shall contact Matt Caspar, 11 Courtroom Deputy, at (916) 930-4187, to schedule the settlement conference. If difficulties arise 12 in scheduling the settlement conference due to the court’s calendar, the parties may seek an 13 extension of the initial 120 day stay. 14 Once the settlement conference is scheduled, at least seven days prior to conference, the 15 parties shall submit to the assigned settlement judge a confidential settlement conference 16 statement. The parties’ confidential settlement conference statement shall include the following: 17 (a) names and locations of the parties; (b) a short statement of the facts and alleged damages; (c) a 18 short procedural history; (d) an analysis of the risk of liability, including a discussion of the 19 efforts made to investigate the allegations; and (e) a discussion of the efforts that have been made 20 to settle the case. 21 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 22 1. This action is stayed for 120 days to allow the parties an opportunity to settle their 23 dispute before the discovery process begins. Except as provided herein or by subsequent court 24 order, no other pleadings or other documents may be filed in this case during the stay of this 25 action. The parties shall not engage in formal discovery, but the parties may elect to engage in 26 informal discovery. 27 28 1 If the case does not settle, the court issue a discovery and scheduling order. 2 1 2. Within thirty days from the date of this order, the parties shall file the attached notice, 2 informing the court whether they waive disqualification for the undersigned to hold the settlement 3 conference, or whether they choose to have the settlement conference held by a different judge. 4 3. Within thirty days from the date of this order, the assigned Deputy Attorney General 5 shall contact Matt Caspar, Courtroom Deputy, at (916) 930-4187, to schedule the settlement 6 conference. 7 4. At least seven days prior to the settlement conference, each party shall submit a 8 confidential settlement conference statement, as described above, to the judge assigned for 9 settlement. 10 11 12 5. 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. 6. The Clerk of the Court shall serve copies of (a) plaintiff’s amended complaint (ECF 13 No. 24), (b) the screening order (ECF No. 28), and (c) the instant order, on Supervising Deputy 14 Attorney General Monica Anderson. 15 7. The parties remain obligated to keep the court informed of their current address at all 16 times during the stay and while the action is pending. Any change of address must be reported 17 promptly to the court in a separate document captioned for this case and entitled “Notice of 18 Change of Address.” See L.R. 182(f). 19 Dated: December 23, 2016 20 21 22 owen0982.adr.post.answer.kjn 23 24 25 26 27 28 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DERRICK OWENS, 12 13 14 No. 2:15-cv-0982 TLN KJN P Plaintiff, v. JACKIE CLARK, et al., 15 NOTICE RE: JUDGE ELECTION FOR SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE (POSTSCREENING ADR PROJECT) Defendants. 16 17 As required by court order, the parties notify the court of the following election: 18 ____ Pursuant to Local Rule 270(b) of the Eastern District of California, the party signing 19 below affirmatively requests that the assigned Magistrate Judge participate in the settlement 20 conference and, further, waives any claim of disqualification of the assigned Magistrate Judge on 21 that basis thereafter. This waiver is not to be construed as consent to the Magistrate Judge’s 22 jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(1). 23 24 25 26 OR ____ The party signing below requests that a different judge hold the settlement conference. DATED: ________________________________ Plaintiff or Counsel for Defendants 27 28 1

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